Beck v. McElrath

• Decision Date: 07 October 1982
• Docket Number: No. 82-3577.,82-3577.
• Citation: 548 F. Supp. 1161
• Court: U.S. District Court — Middle District of Tennessee
• Parties: William and Terry BECK, individually and on behalf of their minor children; Margaret Capron; and John Doe, individually and on behalf of his minor child, v. Robert L. McELRATH, in his capacity as Commissioner of Education; Lamar Alexander, in his capacity as Governor of the State of Tennessee; William M. Leech, in his capacity as Attorney General of the State of Tennessee.

548 F. Supp. 1161

William and Terry BECK, individually and on behalf of their minor children; Margaret Capron; and John Doe, individually and on behalf of his minor child, v. Robert L. McELRATH, in his capacity as Commissioner of Education; Lamar Alexander, in his capacity as Governor of the State of Tennessee; William M. Leech, in his capacity as Attorney General of the State of Tennessee.

No. 82-3577.

United States District Court, M.D. Tennessee, Nashville Division.

October 7, 1982.

Lionel Barrett, Jr., Nashville, Tenn., Bruce S. Kramer, Memphis, Tenn., Thomas M. Daniel, Memphis, Tenn., for plaintiffs.

Michael Terry, Deputy Atty. Gen. of Tenn., Nashville, Tenn., for defendants.

MEMORANDUM

MORTON, Chief Judge.

In this civil action plaintiffs seek declaratory relief pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Section 3 of the Tennessee Constitution. It is alleged that an enactment by the General Assembly of Tennessee must be declared unconstitutional.

I.

The challenged provision states:

At the commencement of the first class of each day in all grades in all public schools, the teacher in charge of the room in which such class is held shall announce that a period of silence not to exceed one minute of duration shall be observed for meditation or prayer or personal beliefs and during any such period, silence shall be maintained.

1982 Tenn.Pub. Acts ch. 899, § 1 (amending Tenn.Code Ann. § 49-1922). The basic question presented in this lawsuit concerns whether the General Assembly could enact this amendment in light of the Establishment Clause.

As a preliminary matter, defendants point out that prayer has never been prohibited in public schools, and that those who generally state that prayer is prohibited do so incorrectly. This statement is obviously correct, for "the Free Exercise Clause ... recognizes the value of religious training, teaching and observance and, more particularly, the right of every person to freely choose his own course with reference thereto, free of any compulsion from the state." School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 222, 83 S.Ct. 1560, 1571, 10 L.Ed.2d 844 (1963). Defendants also point out that the Constitution does not require an anti-religious government. This statement is also clearly supported by the above-quoted authority. Moreover, the Supreme Court has expressly noted elsewhere that the First Amendment "requires the state to be a neutral in its relations with groups of religious believers and nonbelievers; it does not require the state to be their adversary. State power is no more to be used so as to handicap religions, than it is to favor them." Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1, 18, 67 S.Ct. 504, 513, 91 L.Ed. 711 (1947). Identifying these concepts as constitutional realities, defendants set out to fashion an argument in support of the challenged statute. Such realities under the Free Exercise Clause are not determinative of the issues in this case, however. Defendants recognize, as does the court, that no issue in this case touches upon alleged infringement of rights secured under that clause. To the contrary, it is claimed that the state has attempted to promote, rather than inhibit, religious exercises in the public schools. The Establishment Clause, as an interrelated and complementary provision, prohibits action by the state which transcends the bounds of neutrality on the opposite side of the issue to which the identified realities address themselves. A decision cannot be reached in this case without also looking at the other side of the coin, so to speak, for "while the Free Exercise Clause clearly prohibits the use of state action to deny the rights of free exercise to anyone, it has never meant that a majority could use the machinery of the State to practice its beliefs." Schempp, supra, 374 U.S. at 226, 83 S.Ct. at 1573.

II.

The history of the First Amendment as it relates to religious freedom has been detailed on numerous occasions. Most commonly recognized is the principle that the framers of the Constitution sought to prevent the establishment of any single denomination as a state church, because it is well known that "a large proportion of the early settlers of this country came here from Europe to escape the bondage of laws which compelled them to support and attend government favored churches." Everson, supra, 330 U.S. at 8, 67 S.Ct. at 508. The story behind the religion clauses goes further, however. With Thomas Jefferson and James Madison as leading proponents of complete individual freedom in matters concerning religion,

the people in Virginia, as elsewhere, reached the conviction that individual religious liberty could be achieved best under a government which was stripped of all power to tax, to support, or otherwise to assist any or all religions, or to interfere with the beliefs of any religious individual or group.

Id. at 11, 67 S.Ct. at 509. Thus governments in this country are not only powerless to establish an official church; governments in this country are powerless to support, assist, suppress, or hinder religious beliefs in any respect whatsoever. The meaning of the Establishment Clause, in particular, can therefore be stated as follows:

Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or nonattendance. No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect "a wall of separation between Church and State."

Id. at 15-116, 67 S.Ct. at 511-12 (citations omitted). Upon this foundation, the test which generally confronts legislation alleged to contravene the Establishment Clause has been stated as follows:

To pass muster under the Establishment Clause the law in question first must reflect a clearly secular legislative purpose, second, must have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and, third, must avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.

Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756, 774, 93 S.Ct. 2955, 2965, 37 L.Ed.2d 948 (1973).

A.

Defendants suggest that the statute merely provides for enforcement of a moment of silence in public schools. This approach begs the preeminent question, however. Plaintiffs do not challenge simply a moment of silence here; they challenge a moment of silence which, by legislative mandate in Tennessee, "shall be observed for meditation or prayer or personal beliefs." It may well be, as defendants contend, that a moment of silence in and of itself is nondiscriminatory and may serve a secular purpose in aid of the educative function. Certainly a statutory enactment is unnecessary to provide for a moment of silence. The court is unable to agree, however, that the statute reflects such a clearly secular purpose. In the abstract it is true that "meditation" and "reflection upon personal beliefs" can be viewed as carrying meanings that do not touch upon religion. Individual terms within a statute are not to be construed in a purely abstract sense or in a vacuum, however. As all terms in the statute are viewed together and accorded reasonable meaning, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the legislative purpose was advancement of religious exercises in the classroom. Ordinary principles of statutory construction do not comprehend the straining that defendants would urge upon the court.

At the very best, it might be said that the statute on its face is ambiguous, and that the court should consider underlying legislative history. If that is the case, the record of debate upon this statute is devastating to defendants' position. The overwhelming intent among legislators supporting the bill, including the sponsors, was to establish prayer as a daily fixture in the public schoolrooms of Tennessee. Even if much that was said can be passed off as political rhetoric, it is rhetoric clearly inconsistent with standards set in place by the Constitution, and therefore reflects upon an inappropriate purpose. There were indications that certain legislators have concluded that prayer should be a routine part of a school day because a majority of their constituents support such a practice. But such reliance, even upon the sentiments of a public majority whose existence might be subject to judicial notice, takes no account of the principle that:

The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to ... freedom of worship ... and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.

West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 638, 63 S.Ct. 1178, 1185, 87 L.Ed. 1628 (1943). If this is not correct, by leaving political favor and majority sentiment to carry the day on all issues we have no need for a Constitution at all, and we might determine our most basic rights by consulting the latest Gallup Poll.

In support of their contention that the legislative purpose was secular in nature, defendants partially quote the comments of...