Malnak v. Yogi
| Citation | 592 F.2d 197 |
| Decision Date | 02 February 1979 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 78-1568,78-1882,s. 78-1568 |
| Parties | Alan B. MALNAK, and Edwina K. Malnak, Harry C. Boone and Evelyn M. Boone, Harry C. Boone and Evelyn M. Boone, as guardians ad litem for their infant son David, William E. Gury and Margaret M. Gury, William E. Gury and Margaret M. Gury, as guardians ad litem for their infant daughter Laura Jean, Joseph G. Lerner, Joseph M. Duffy, Rev. Dr. Samuel A. Jeanes, Americans United For Separation of Church and State, a Non-Profit Corporation, Spiritual Counterfeit Project, Inc., a Non-Profit Corporation, Coalition For Religious Integrity, an Unincorporated Association v. Maharishi Mahesh YOGI, Spiritual Regeneration Movement Foundation, World Plan Executive Council United States American Foundation For Creative Intelligence, Maharishi International University, Charles F. Lutes, Jerome W. Jarvis, Robert B. Kory, Janet Aaron, Board of Education of Maplewood South Orange, New Jersey School District, Board of Education of Glen Ridge, New Jersey School District, Board of Education of West New York, New Jersey School District, Board of Education of Union City, New Jersey School District, New Jersey State Department of Education, New Jersey State Board of Education, Fred G. Burke, as New Jersey Commissioner of Education, Charles Wilson, State of New Jersey, United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and United States of America, David Mathews, Secretary of the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Appeal of WORLD PLAN EXECUTIVE COUNCIL United States, Jerome W. Jarvis, Robert B. Kory, and Janet Aaron. |
| Court | United States Courts of Appeals. United States Court of Appeals (3rd Circuit) |
Steven M. Druker, Fairfield, Iowa, Peter R. Sterling, Morristown, N. J., for appellants, McCarter & English, Newark, N. J., of counsel.
Julius B. Poppinga, on brief, Geoffrey M. Johnson, Newark, N. J., for appellees.
Before ALDISERT, ADAMS and HUNTER, Circuit Judges.
This appeal requires us to decide whether the district court erred in determining that the teaching of a course called the Science of Creative Intelligence Transcendental Meditation (SCI/TM) in the New Jersey public high schools, under the circumstances presented in the record, constituted an establishment The course under examination here was offered as an elective at five high schools during the 1975-76 academic year and was taught four or five days a week by teachers specially trained by the World Plan Executive Council United States, an organization whose objective is to disseminate the teachings of SCI/TM throughout the United States. The textbook used was developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of the Science of Creative Intelligence. It teaches that "pure creative intelligence" is the basis of life, and that through the process of Transcendental Meditation students can perceive the full potential of their lives. 1
of religion in violation of the first amendment of the United States Constitution. Plaintiffs sought injunctive and declaratory relief and, after defendants had filed numerous depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, and other affidavits, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs. The court held that SCI/TM was religious activity for purposes of the establishment clause and that the teaching of SCI/TM in public schools is prohibited by the first amendment. The World Plan Executive Council United States and certain individual defendants have appealed. We affirm, essentially for the reasons set forth by Judge H. Curtis Meanor in Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F.Supp. 1284 (D.N.J.1977).
Essential to the practice of Transcendental Meditation is the "mantra"; a mantra is the sound aid used while meditating. Each meditator has his own personal mantra which is never to be revealed to any other person. It is by concentrating on the mantra that one receives the beneficial effects said to result from Transcendental Meditation.
To acquire his mantra, a meditator must attend a ceremony called a "puja." Every student who participated in the SCI/TM course was required to attend a puja as part of the course. A puja was performed by the teacher for each student individually; it was conducted off school premises on a Sunday; and the student was required to bring some fruit, flowers and a white handkerchief. During the puja the student stood or sat in front of a table while the teacher sang a chant and made offerings to a deified "Guru Dev." Each puja lasted between one and two hours. 2 The district court found that the SCI/TM course constituted a religious activity under the first amendment. In its exhaustive and well-reasoned opinion, the court concluded its analysis by stating:
When courts are faced with . . . forms of "religion" unknown in prior decisional law, they must look to the prior interpretations of the constitutional provisions for guidance as to the substantive characteristics of theories or practices which have been found to constitute "religion" under the first amendment. The Supreme Court has interpreted the religion clauses of the first amendment several times in its recent history. E. g., Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756, 93 S.Ct. 2955, 37 L.Ed.2d 948 (1973); Epperson v. Arkansas, 393 U.S. 97, 89 S.Ct. 266, 21 L.Ed.2d 228 (1968); Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 83 S.Ct. 1560, 10 L.Ed.2d 844 (1963); Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 82 S.Ct. 1261, 8 L.Ed.2d 601 (1963); Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488, 81 S.Ct. 1680, 6 L.Ed.2d 982 (1961); Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1, 67 S.Ct. 504, 91 L.Ed. 711 (1947); Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296, 60 S.Ct. 900, 84 L.Ed. 1213 (1940). The historical development and purpose of the religion clauses have been elaborated in a number of these cases, especially in Engel and in Everson. Religion, as comprehended by the first amendment now includes mere affirmation of belief in a supreme being, Torcaso, supra, invocation of a supreme being in a public school, Engel, supra, and reading verses from the Bible without comment, Schempp, supra.
Defendants argue that all of the above-discussed decisions are inapposite to the issues in this suit because the activity in question in each of the prior cases was represented or conceded to be religious in nature whereas defendants in the instant action assert that the activities are not religious in nature. The court notes the distinction but cannot accept defendants' conclusion that the decisions are not relevant. The cases, at the very least, reveal the types of activity and belief that have been considered religious under the first amendment.
Malnak v. Yogi, 440 F.Supp. at 1315.
We agree with the district court's finding that the SCI/TM course was religious in nature. Careful examination of the textbook, the expert testimony elicited, and the uncontested facts concerning the puja convince us that religious activity was involved and that there was no reversible error in the district court's determination.
A recognition of the religious nature of the teachings and activities questioned here is largely determinative of this appeal because of the apparent governmental action which is involved. Under the most recent Supreme Court pronouncement in this area, Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756, 773, 93 S.Ct. 2955, 37 L.Ed.2d 948 (1973), the Court reiterated the three criteria within which to scrutinize the involved governmental action. To pass muster, the action in question must: (1) reflect a clearly secular legislative purpose; (2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; and (3) avoid excessive government entanglement with religion. The district court applied the Nyquist test and determined that the SCI/TM course has a primary effect of advancing religion and religious concepts, School District of Abington Township v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203, 83 S.Ct. 1560, 10 L.Ed.2d 844 (1963); Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, 82 S.Ct. 1261, 8 L.Ed.2d 601 (1962), and that the government aid given to teach the course and the use of public school facilities constituted excessive governmental entanglement with religion. Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 91 S.Ct. 2105, 29 L.Ed.2d 745 (1971).
Appellants urge that even if the SCI/TM course and the puja are clearly religious, the district court erred in applying the controlling legal precept because the religious effect of the course and the puja was not significant. In advancing this argument, appellants rely on Grossberg v. Deusebio, 380 F.Supp. 285 (E.D.Va.1974); Wood v. Mt. Lebanon Township School District, 342 F.Supp. 1293 (W.D.Pa.1972); and Wiest v. Mt. Lebanon School District, 457 Pa. 166, 320 A.2d 362 (1974), for the proposition that religious effect must be substantial in order to be unconstitutional. Grossberg, Wood, and Wiest upheld as constitutional the delivery of invocations and benedictions at high school graduation ceremonies. 3 We are not persuaded that the reasoning employed in those cases requires reversal in this case because of the factual differences between a benediction at a non-instructional high school commencement exercise open to the public and the teaching of SCI/TM which includes ceremonial student offerings to deities as part of a regularly scheduled course in the schools' educational programs.
The judgment of the district court will be affirmed.
I concur in the judgment of the Court that the teaching of a course in the Science of Creative Intelligence, which was offered as an elective in certain New Jersey public schools, and was funded, in part, by a grant from a federal agency, constitutes an establishment of religion proscribed by the first amendment. In contrast to the majority, however, I am convinced that this appeal presents a novel and important question that may not be disposed of simply on the basis of past...
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