Background Of The Case: Ishmael Jaffree, an American Citizen, was a resident of Mobile County, Alabama and a parent of three students who attended school in the Mobile County public school system; two of the three children were in the second grade and the third was in kindergarten. On May 28, 1982, Jaffree brought suit naming the Mobile County School Board, various school officials, and the minor plaintiffs' three teachers as defendants. Jaffree sought a declaratory judgement and an injunction restraining the defendants from "maintaining or allowing the maintenance of regular religious prayer services or other forms of religious observances in the Mobile County Public Schools in violation of the First Amendment as made applicable to states by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution". Jaffree's complaint further alleged that two of his children had been subjected to various acts of religious indoctrination and that the defendant teachers had led their classes in saying certain prayers in unison on a daily basis; that as a result of not participating in the prayers his minor children had been exposed to ostracism from their peer group classmates; and that Jaffree had repeatedly but unsuccessfully requested that the prayers be stopped.
Who: Ishmael Jaffree
What: Three states passed so called "moment of silence" laws. These laws were designed to promote a new type of school prayer. Although these laws varied slightly, in general they allowed teachers to set aside a moment in each classroom each day for students to engage in quiet meditation. Ishmael Jaffree, a parent of three school children, challenged Alabama's law by filing a complaint against the mobile county schools. Jaffree claimed the law violated the first amendment against the establishment of religion.
Where: Mobile County, Alabama, Schools.
When: !985
Why is it important?: The Court held that Alabama’s law regarding prayer in schools was a violation on the 1st amendment’s Establishment Clause and is therefore unconstitutional. This case was significant because it reinforced the protection against an establishment of religion.
What: Three states passed so called "moment of silence" laws. These laws were designed to promote a new type of school prayer. Although these laws varied slightly, in general they allowed teachers to set aside a moment in each classroom each day for students to engage in quiet meditation. Ishmael Jaffree, a parent of three school children, challenged Alabama's law by filing a complaint against the mobile county schools. Jaffree claimed the law violated the first amendment against the establishment of religion.
Where: Mobile County, Alabama, Schools.
When: !985
Why is it important?: The Court held that Alabama’s law regarding prayer in schools was a violation on the 1st amendment’s Establishment Clause and is therefore unconstitutional. This case was significant because it reinforced the protection against an establishment of religion.