Ellery's Protest: How One Young Man Defied Tradition and Sparked the Battle over School Prayer (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Solomon's fascinating and sweeping history of the legal fight over mandatory school prayers is compelling, judicious, and elegantly written. Fabulous!" -- David Rudenstine, Dean, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University

"Stephen Solomon's Ellery's Protest provides a brilliant analysis of a major Supreme Court decision that redefined the relationship between church and state almost a half century ago. This study goes well beyond simply offering a gripping account of the course of litigation that brought before the Justices the contentious issue of prayer and Bible reading in public schools, though the thoroughness of that account would merit careful reading by itself. Especially impressive is the author's deep probing of hitherto neglected sources, and invaluable primary material including extensive direct contact with the plaintiff, the `Ellery' of the book's title. Finally, and perhaps most impressive, is Solomon's careful placement of the issue and the case in a far broader context that is as critical to national life and policy today as it was four and a half decades ago when the high Court first tackled these questions." -- Robert O'Neil, Professor of Law, University of Virginia

Product Description

Great legal decisions often result from the heroic actions of average citizens. Ellery's Protest is the story of how one student's objection to mandatory school prayer and Bible reading led to one of the most controversial court cases of the twentieth century--and a decision that still reverberates in the battle over the role of religion in public life.

Abington School District v. Schempp began its journey through the nation's courts in 1956, when sixteen-year-old Ellery Schempp protested his public school's compulsory prayer and Bible-reading period by reading silently from the Koran. Ejected from class for his actions, Schempp sued the school district. The Supreme Court's decision in his favor was one of the most important rulings on religious freedom in our nation's history. It prompted a conservative backlash that continues to this day, in the skirmishes over school prayer, the teaching of creationism and intelligent design, and the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance with the phrase "under God."

Author Stephen D. Solomon tells the fascinating personal and legal drama of the Schempp case: the family's struggle against the ugly reactions of neighbors, and the impassioned courtroom clashes as brilliant lawyers on both sides argued about the meaning of religious freedom. But Schempp was not the only case challenging religious exercises in the schools at the time, and Ellery's Protest describes the race to the Supreme Court among the attorneys for four such cases, including one involving the colorful atheist Madalyn Murray.

Solomon also explores the political, cultural, and religious roots of the controversy. Contrary to popular belief, liberal justices did not kick God out of the public schools. Bitter conflict over school Bible reading had long divided Protestants and Catholics in the United States. Eventually, it was the American people themselves who removed most religious exercises from public education as a more religiously diverse nation chose tolerance over sectarianism. Ellery's Protest offers a vivid account of the case that embodied this change, and a reminder that conservative justices of the 1950s and 60s not only signed on to the Schempp decision, but strongly endorsed the separation of church and state.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (July 11, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472108379
• ISBN-13: 978-0472108374
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,073,898 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic Church / State Decision, September 4, 2007

By	R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ellery Schempp was not a troublemaker. He was sixteen years old in 1956, a junior in high school with fine grades and no disciplinary problems. And yet he went to school after the Thanksgiving holiday determined to call attention to himself and to what he saw as unfairness within the school. It worked, and it wound him up in the Supreme Court. _Ellery's Protest: How One Young Man Defied Tradition and Sparked the Battle over School Prayer_ (University of Michigan Press) by Stephen D. Solomon tells the story of how Ellery and his family conscientiously changed public policy, helping define how church and state were to be separated in American public schools. Solomon, who teaches First Amendment law, has not only told the story of the Schempp family and their protest and the legal ins and outs as their case went to different court levels, but also has given an account of church and state conflicts back through European history, and has summarized the challenges currently faced by a society and a Supreme Court that can never have a complete solution to what will always be an ongoing conflict. This is a great book bringing a vast subject into focus as its one particular court case plays out.

The Schempp name is not nearly as well known as that of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, the fervent, loud-mouthed (and foul-mouthed) atheist whose similar suit was joined with that of the Schempps. They were not atheists, but Unitarians, who frequently discussed religious matters, especially the idea that government had no business supporting any particular religion or religious idea. The Abington school district instructed teachers that they were to comply with a Pennsylvania state law requiring that every day ten Bible verses be read without comment, and that this was to be followed by the reading of the Lord's Prayer. One morning, when it came time for the verses and prayer one morning, Ellery took out a Koran from his book bag, and began reading silently. He didn't stand for the Lord's Prayer. The homeroom teacher sent him to the principal's office. He wrote the ACLU to ask for help. Solomon describes an intricate process of the case threading its way to the Supreme Court, and the tactics used by the ACLU as well as by the school board and state government. It was not until 1963 that the court, by an eight to one majority that included three of its most conservative members, ruled that the schools as a government agency could not lead prayers.

Solomon's comprehensive account includes descriptions of what happened after the 1963 Supreme Court decision, which was extremely unpopular. The Abington school system itself had a model response: the superintendent explained that teachers should discuss with their students how the Supreme Court had interpreted the Constitution; thereupon Bibles were removed from classrooms and the devotionals stopped. Many other schools made no changes, and some states passed school prayer laws that were in flagrant noncompliance with the federal ruling. There was agreement from some religious bodies; the National Council of Churches registered agreement that public schools should never compel any specific religious practice, and that such teachings should come only from homes and from the churches themselves. Solomon's final chapter has to do with the future of the Schempp decision, and how some who favor school prayer are attempting to find ways to make it happen again. The history of that decision, and the history of church and state issues that led up to it, is given here with clarity and comprehensiveness; anyone interested in issues of church and state will find this book a rich resource.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic tale of the fight for religious freedom, November 10, 2007

By	A. Bass - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

With Ellery's Protest, Stephen Solomon has written a compelling and thoroughly engaging account of how one Abington family, with the help of the ACLU, made history by convincing the Supreme Court to strike down Bible readings in the public schools in 1962. Solomon not only tells us the story of how the Schempp family's protest within the Abington public schools made it all the way to the highest court in the land, but he also paints a much broader historic landscape. Solomon traces the evolution of religious freedom in the U.S. (so different from Europe's history of bloody intolerance) and shows how the inclusion of the free exercise of religion clause in the First Amendment gave rise to this country's defining belief in the separation of church and state.

The story Solomon tells is riveting, in large part because he takes the time to describe the colorful minor characters that populate this story - people like Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who sued the Baltimore schools and found herself and her son the target of vicious harassment and attack. (O'Hair's lawsuit reached the Supreme Court around the same time as the Schempp case and was considered along with it). Solomon vividly shows how such an historic decision hung on the leanings of one or two Supreme Court Justices, a timely reminder in an era when so many other civil liberties are at stake.