Thomas Bickel on Overruling Engle v. Vitale
Michael Ramsey
In the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy Per Curium, Thomas H. Bickel (B.A. Brown '22), Engel Was Grievously Wrong and Should Be Overruled. From the introduction:
A jurisprudential shift is underway in the area of Establishment Clause law. The slow and painful death of the long derided “Lemon Test” is merely a symptom of the Supreme Court’s increasing adherence to text, history, and tradition. Against that backdrop, this essay will briefly overview this recent shift as it pertains to Establishment Clause doctrine to suggest that there now exists a viable roadmap to chip away at and revisit Engel v. Vitale. Then, after substantiating how this largely forgotten public prayer precedent is again relevant in light of this ongoing shift, this paper will elucidate why Engel was egregiously wrong and why it warrants being formally overruled at the earliest opportunity to do so.
Via Josh Blackman at Volokh Conspiracy, who has further thoughts on the significance of the court's recent decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton for previous Establishment Clause cases: Texas Will Test Whether Kennedy v. Bremerton Abrogated Engel v. Vitale, Stone v. Graham, and Wallace v. Jaffree.