Home › Case briefs › Constitutional Law

Board of Education v. Allen

Supreme Court of the United States · 1968 · Constitutional Law

Constitutional LawFirst AmendmentEstablishment ClauseFree Exercise ClauseEstablishment ClauseFree Exercise Clausetextbook loansparochial schools

Facts

New York amended Education Law § 701 to require local school boards to purchase and lend textbooks free of charge to all children in grades seven through twelve attending public or private schools that comply with compulsory education law. The books loaned to private-school students had to be textbooks designated for use in public schools or approved by public school authorities, and the statute did not authorize the loan of religious books. The appellant school boards believed the law violated the Federal Constitution because it required lending books to parochial school students, but they complied to avoid removal from office and reduction of state funds. The record contained no evidence that religious books had been loaned or that the books furnished were unsuitable for public-school use because of religious content.

Issue

Does a New York statute requiring public school authorities to lend secular textbooks free of charge to students in grades seven through twelve, including students attending parochial schools, violate the Establishment Clause or the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment?

Rule

To withstand the Establishment Clause, a law must have a secular legislative purpose and a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion. A generally available public benefit directed to children and parents rather than to religious schools does not constitute an unconstitutional establishment on this record where only secular textbooks approved by public authorities are loaned. A Free Exercise challenge requires a showing that the enactment has a coercive effect on the claimant in the practice of religion.

🔒

See the holding & full analysis

Create a free KwikCourt account to unlock the rest of this brief — and practice the case.

The court's holding and reasoning
Doctrine tests, pitfalls & exam hypotheticals
10 practice questions + 4 AI-graded essays on this case

Free sample · practice this case

Test yourself

One of 10 multiple-choice questions for this case. Pick an answer to see why.

Colorado enacts a statute requiring school districts in Denver and other cities to lend state-owned algebra, chemistry, and history textbooks without charge to every student in grades 8 through 12 who attends any school complying with compulsory-attendance laws. The statute says its purpose is to improve educational opportunity and public welfare, and the books must be titles approved for use in public schools.

A taxpayer challenges the law under the Establishment Clause solely because students at religious schools receive the books too. On these facts, how should a court most likely rule?

Explanation. The controlling rule is that a law survives Establishment Clause review if it has a secular legislative purpose and a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion. A general program lending secular, publicly approved textbooks to all eligible students fits that rule where the benefit is directed to children and parents, not to religious schools as such.