Final arguments in Miami’s religion-in-the-schools trial one of the most significant test cases affecting religious liberty and separation of church and state within recent years–were presented today before Judge J. Fritz Gordon in Dade County Circuit Court. The Judge indicated that he will reserve judgment. The case is expected eventually to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
At issue in the case is a series of ten sectarian practices in Miami public schools that have been challenged by five Miami parents as divisive and unconstitutional. Three of the parents are Jewish and one is a Unitarian. They are being represented by Leo Pfeffer, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, and Bernard S. Mandler of Miami Beach, a leader of the A.J. Congress locally. The fifth plaintiff, an agnostic, is represented in a companion case by attorneys provided by the Florida Civil Liberties Union.
Defendants in the case are the members of the Dade County Board of Public Instruction. Nine “intervenors” in the case joined with the school board in denying unlawfulness of the religious practices in the Miami public schools and in seeking to retain these practices in the schools. The “intervenors” are mostly members of the board of the Dade County Council of Churches.
The trial is widely regarded as an historic one, since it marks the first time in American jurisprudence that a whole constellation of school religious practices have been attacked in a single suit. Evidence was introduced that religious observances regularly held in Miami public schools included:
1. Bible instruction; 2. Prayers and grace; 3. Sermons; 4. Religious films; 5. Religious hymns; 6. Religious holiday observances; 7. Religious symbols posted in classrooms; 8. Baccalaureate programs; 9. Religious censuses; 10 Religious tests for teachers.
The trial began July 18, 1960 and continued for four days before it was adjourned because of a death in the family of Judge Gordon. The trial resumed on October 31, at which time the plaintiffs concluded their cases and the defendants presented theirs. Written briefs were submitted December 10 by the plaintiffs, the defendants and the intervenors and arguments were heard today.
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