CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-JUDCIAL POWERS-STATE TAXPAYER DENIED STANDING AS PARTY IN INTEREST IN BIBLE READING CASE

Authors

Frank M. Bowen, Jr. S.Ed., University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Plaintiffs sought a judgment to declare unconstitutional a New Jersey statute which required the reading of five verses of the Old Testament at the opening of each day in the public schools. Plaintiffs contended that the practice under the statute was an "establishment of religion" prohibited by the First Amendment and applicable to the several states through the "due process" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Both plaintiffs were taxpayers of New Jersey, and one was also the parent of a child who had attended a public school, but had left school before the appeal was taken. The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that the law was constitutional. On appeal, held, dismissed, three justices dissenting. The dispute is not a "case or controversy" within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of the United States. Doremus v. Board of Education, 342 U.S. 429, 72 S.Ct. 394 (1952).

Recommended Citation

Frank M. Bowen, Jr. S.Ed., CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-JUDCIAL POWERS-STATE TAXPAYER DENIED STANDING AS PARTY IN INTEREST IN BIBLE READING CASE, 50 Mich. L. Rev. 1100 (1952).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol50/iss7/12