Law 790 - Religion and the Constitution
Final Examination
Professor Harpaz
July 17, 2006

Question I
(Suggested time: 60 minutes) (50 points out of 150 total exam points)

   Granger Elementary School is a public school located in the Springdale School District. Students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade attend the school. Granger Elementary has a Facilities Use Policy which permits community-based nonprofit organizations to use school facilities after the end of the official school day if those facilities are not needed for school purposes. The school also permits community organizations to distribute literature to students about afterschool educational and recreational programs suitable for elementary school students through the use of the intraschool mail system.

   The school day officially ends at 2:55 p.m. when school is dismissed, but the school sponsors various extracurricular activities after that hour including an afterschool day care program, music and drama instruction and several athletic activities. The Facilities Use Policy allows community organizations to use the school building at the same time as these school-sponsored extracurricular activities on a space available basis. Last year, the Child Worship Club (CWC) of Springdale sought permission to use the Granger Elementary School cafeteria for meetings of the CWC each Wednesday afternoon from 3 to 4 during the school year. No other community organization currently utilizes space in the school building during that time period.

   The stated objectives of the Child Worship Club include cultivating self-esteem, character, and morals in children, and instructing children to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. A CWC brochure distributed to students via the intraschool mail system states:

The Child Worship Club is designed to serve boys and girls in grades one through five through Bible-oriented and character building learning and moral object lessons, as well as recreational activities. Club activities include a snack, singing, playing learning games, memorizing Bible verses, listening to a Bible lesson and praying.

To participate in the CWC, a child must provide a signed permission slip from a parent.

   Michael Morgan (MM), the principal of Granger Elementary, granted the request of the CWC to use the school cafeteria for its meetings. To avoid disruption of the regular school dismissal procedures, he arranged for students enrolled in the Club to gather in a designated waiting area immediately inside the entrance to the school building. CWC leaders meet Club participants at the waiting area and accompany them to the school cafeteria for the Club meeting. The adult leaders of the CWC are two retired teachers who taught for many years at Granger Elementary School before retiring several years ago and becoming active in the CWC of Springdale. During its first year of operation, 14 students signed up to participate in the CWC including 5 students in the first grade, 4 in the second grade, 3 in the third grade and 2 in the fourth grade.

   The Granger Elementary School cafeteria is a large space filled with tables and chairs, a food preparation and storage area and a food service area. A partition separates one corner of the cafeteria into a semi-private eating area. The partition is a half wall so that persons seated in the semi-private area cannot be seen, but can be heard by other occupants of the cafeteria. The CWC sought permission to use the semi-private area where it would be possible to have some privacy during its meetings, but also to provide students with a snack through the use of the cafeteria facilities. Before permitting the CWC to use the school cafeteria, MM spoke with the teachers who operate the afterschool day care program. On a typical day, approximately 50 students are enrolled in the day care program. At 3:30 each afternoon, students in the day care program use the school cafeteria to eat a snack. The principal was concerned that the simultaneous use of the cafeteria by the day care program and the CWC would create a conflict. The teachers running the afterschool day care program assured the principal that they used only the main cafeteria area and not the semi-private area so both programs could use the cafeteria simultaneously.

   Linda Lerner (LL) is the parent of a second grade student at Granger Elementary. Her child participates in the afterschool day care program and he has told her that each Wednesday he hears Bible verses and Christian prayers while eating his snack in the school cafeteria. LL has filed suit challenging the use of the school cafeteria for meetings of the Child Worship Club as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

   You are a law clerk to the judge assigned to the case. The judge has asked you to write an analysis of the Establishment Clause arguments available to LL in challenging the use of the Granger Elementary School cafeteria by the Child Worship Club as well as the arguments available to the Springdale School District in defending its right to permit use of the cafeteria by the CWC. Be sure to consider the relevance of Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2006 Casebook Supplement - page 70) as part of your analysis.

Question II
(Suggested time: 60 minutes) (50 out of 150 total exam points)

   Forest Park is a city park located in the City of Springdale. The park was created in 1873 on land donated to the city by Edgar Evans (EE), a wealthy resident. Several structures are located in the park including a mansion that was the residence of Mr. Evans, a bronze sculpture of Mr. Evans and a memorial that Mr. Evans erected on his property after the Civil War to honor residents of the city who fought and died in the war. The memorial is a tall granite pillar. On the top of the pillar is a large Latin Cross inscribed with the Latin text: “In nomine Domini requiescant in pace.” In English, the text would mean “In the name of the Lord may they rest in peace.” At the base of the memorial is the following inscription: “In memory of the brave men and women of Springdale who defended our country in its hour of peril - 1861-1865.” The memorial is 65 feet high. Because of its height, the cross can be seen from several neighborhoods in the city.

   Several years ago the memorial was destroyed by an act of vandalism. The city paid to have an exact replica of the memorial created to place in the location occupied by the original granite structure. The city’s decision to replace the memorial created a minor controversy. Several groups including an antiwar group and a group of Jewish veterans spoke out against the decision, but the majority of city residents were in favor of replacing the memorial. Most of the visitors to the park are unaware that the memorial is not the original. However, a small plaque is located next to the memorial which states: “This memorial is an exact replica of the Civil War Memorial erected by Edgar Evans in 1867 to honor residents of Springdale who fought and died in the war. The original memorial was destroyed by vandals in 2002.”

   Each year since 1955, the city has held both Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day ceremonies in the park at the site of the memorial. In addition, several private groups regularly obtain permits from the Springdale Parks Department to hold events at the memorial. A local church holds an Easter Sunday sunrise service at the site of the memorial and a veterans organization holds an annual Flag Day event at the memorial each June. In addition, the memorial has been the site of numerous weddings.

   James Jordan (JJ) is a resident of Springdale. He is a regular visitor to Forest Park. He has filed suit claiming that the memorial violates the Establishment Clause. You are a law clerk to the judge assigned to the case. The judge has asked you to write an analysis of the arguments that JJ can make in supporting his claim that the memorial violates the Establishment Clause as well as the arguments that the City of Springdale can make in defense of the memorial.

Question III
(60 minutes) (50 out of 150 total exam points)

   In 2004, the Springdale School District adopted a mandatory school uniform policy.   The purpose of the policy requiring students to wear school uniforms was to instill discipline and school spirit in students as well as reduce financial pressure on parents and prevent gang violence which is often triggered by the wearing of gang colors. The school uniform policy contains exemptions for (1) financial hardship; (2) children wearing the uniforms of "nationally recognized youth organizations such as the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts; (3) children wearing the uniforms of certain approved school clubs; and (4) sincerely held religious beliefs.

   As originally drafted, the uniform policy exempted students with "moral" objections to uniforms instead of the narrower exemption for religious beliefs. However, the exemption for moral beliefs proved unworkable. Many students claimed they were morally opposed to wearing anything other than tee shirts and jeans and other similar objections. After its first year of operation, the school district concluded that it was impossible to enforce the uniform policy with such a broad exemption in place. The following year the school district narrowed the "moral" exemption to encompass only objections based on "sincerely held religious beliefs."

   Andrea Anderson (AA) is the mother of two children attending schools in the Springdale School District. She has asserted her right to dress her children in clothing she designs and sews herself that is made of all natural fibers and colored with dyes that are extracted from plants. Using these methods, she cannot produce clothing that satisfies the school uniform policy.

   AA sought an exemption for sincerely held religious beliefs. She asserted that her religious philosophy required that she live in harmony with nature, eating only organic foods, wearing clothes produced with natural substances, living in a house built with natural and not manmade products and rejecting modern medicine in favor of natural healing. While AA and her children do not engage in traditional worship activities or belong to a traditional religious movement, AA asserted that her belief system, which is rooted in the belief that each human being is responsible for the world and has an obligation to live in harmony with nature, should be considered a religious belief for purposes of the school district’s uniform policy. While AA does not believe in a Supreme Being, she does read the Bible. AA argued that her philosophy has roots in the Biblical text: “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater.” (Isaiah 55:10).

   The school district denied her request for an exemption from the uniform policy, concluding that the exemption policy protects traditional religious beliefs requiring specific clothing such as Muslim headscarfs and Amish “plain” dressing. Shortly after the denial, AA filed suit against the school district asserting claims under both the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses. She argues that she is entitled to an exemption from the school uniform policy under the Free Exercise Clause to the United States Constitution. In the alternative, she argues that the school district exemption for “sincerely held religious beliefs” as drafted and interpreted by the school district is an unconstitutional accommodation of religion in violation of the Establishment Clause.

   You are a law clerk to the judge assigned to the case. The judge has asked you to write an analysis of the Free Exercise and Establishment Clause arguments available to AA in challenging the school uniform policy and its religious exemption as well as the Free Exercise and Establishment Clause arguments available to the Springdale School District in defense of the uniform policy and its religious exemption.

END OF EXAMINATION