Released time and the Supreme Court
Released time refers to a practice in which public school students are allowed to leave school during school hours to participate in religious instruction, typically offered by local clergy. This practice has been subject to legal scrutiny regarding its alignment with the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing an official religion. The Supreme Court examined this issue in two key cases. In **Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Education** (1948), the Court ruled that a program allowing religious instruction within public school buildings violated the Establishment Clause, as it used tax-supported property for religious purposes. Conversely, in **Zorach v. Clauson** (1952), the Court upheld a New York program where religious instruction occurred off school grounds, viewing it as a sufficient separation of church and state. Justice William O. Douglas, in the latter case, acknowledged the nation's religious heritage, suggesting a more accommodating stance toward religion in public life. These rulings illustrate the ongoing tension between religious freedom and the principle of separation of church and state in American education.
Subject Terms
Released time and the Supreme Court
Description: Practice of permitting public school students to attend classes in religious instruction offered by community volunteers during regular school hours.
Significance: The effort to inculcate religious values into public school students through released time was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1948. It was the first time an activity was found to violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Under a 1943 state law, a Champaign, Illinois, school board undertook a program whereby local clergy came into public school buildings to offer religious instruction for one class period each week to those students whose parents consented to the exercise. For others, study hall was available. Justice Hugo L. Black, writing for the Supreme Court in Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Education (1948), ruled that the practice violated the establishment clause because tax-supported property was used for religious purposes and because the state’s compulsory attendance law assisted in a fundamental way the program of religious instruction.
Wishing to avoid the same constitutional infirmity, New York state permitted its public school students to attend religious instruction classes off school grounds. Challenged in Zorach v. Clauson (1952), the practice was upheld. Justice William O. Douglas, writing for the Court, ruled that the change in locale constituted a sufficient separation of church and state. Adopting a more accommodating position than the Court had in McCollum, Douglas said, “We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being.”