Landmark Supreme Court Case: Everson v. School Board of Township of Ewing (1947)

by Kwaisi France · August 14, 2020

Everson v. School Board of Township of Ewing (1947) is the 91st landmark Supreme Court case, sixth in the Education module, featured in the KTB Prep American Government and Civics series designed to acquaint users with the origins, concepts, organizations, and policies of the United States government and political system. The goal is greater familiarization with the rights and obligations of citizenship at the local, state, national, and global levels and the history of our nation as a democracy. While there is overlap, these landmark cases are separated into cases addressing:

The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Article III of the U.S. Constitution created the Supreme Court and authorized Congress to pass laws establishing a system of lower courts. The Constitution elaborated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Supreme Court nor the organization of the Judicial Branch as a whole. Thus, it has been left to Congress and to the Justices of the Court through their decisions to develop the Federal Judiciary and a body of Federal law.

The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869. Since the formation of the Court in 1790, there have been only 17 Chief Justices* and 102 Associate Justices, with Justices serving for an average of 16 years. On average a new Justice joins the Court almost every two years.

The Supreme Court of the United States hears about 100 to 150 appeals of the more than 7,000 cases it is asked to review every year. That means the decisions made by the 12 Circuit Courts of Appeals across the country and the Federal Circuit Court are the last word in thousands of cases.

Court of Appeals

In the federal court system’s present form, 94 district level trial courts and 13 courts of appeals sit below the Supreme Court. The 94 federal judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a court of appeals. The appellate court’s task is to determine whether or not the law was applied correctly in the trial court. Appeals courts consist of three judges and do not use a jury.

The appellate courts do not retry cases or hear new evidence. They do not hear witnesses testify. There is no jury. Appellate courts review the procedures and the decisions in the trial court to make sure that the proceedings were fair and that the proper law was applied correctly.

A court of appeals hears challenges to district court decisions from courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

District Courts

The nation’s 94 trial courts are called U.S. District Courts. At a trial in a U.S. District Court, witnesses give testimony and a judge or jury decides who is guilty or not guilty — or who is liable or not liable. District courts resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles to decide who is right.

Trial courts include the district judge who tries the case and a jury that decides the case. Magistrate judges assist district judges in preparing cases for trial. They may also conduct trials in misdemeanor cases.

There is at least one district court in each state, and the District of Columbia. Each district includes a U.S. bankruptcy court as a unit of the district court.

Bankruptcy Courts

Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases involving personal, business, or farm bankruptcy. This means a bankruptcy case cannot be filed in state court. Bankruptcy Appellate Panels (BAPs) are 3-judge panels authorized to hear appeals of bankruptcy court decisions. These panels are a unit of the federal courts of appeals, and must be established by that circuit. Five circuits have established panels: First Circuit, Sixth Circuit, Eighth Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and Tenth Circuit.

Everson v. School Board of Township of Ewing (1947)

Everson Facts:

After repealing a former ban, a New Jersey law authorized payment by local school boards of the costs of transportation to and from schools, including private schools. Of the private schools that benefited from this policy, 96% were parochial Catholic schools.

Arch R. Everson, a taxpayer in Ewing Township, filed a lawsuit alleging that the indirect aid to religion through the mechanism of reimbursing parents and students for costs incurred as a result of attending religious schools violated both the New Jersey Constitution and the First Amendment of the US Constitution. After a loss in the New Jersey Court of Errors and Appeals, then the state’s highest court, Everson appealed to the US Supreme Court, purely on federal constitutional grounds.

Everson Legal Questions and Answers

Q: Did the New Jersey statute violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?

A: No. The New Jersey law reimbursing parents for transportation costs to parochial schools did not violate the Establishment Clause.

Everson Conclusion

5-4 holding:

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment is incorporated against the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
New Jersey law providing public payment of the costs of transportation to and from parochial Catholic schools is not in violation of the Establishment Clause.

The law did not pay money to parochial schools, nor did it support them directly in anyway. It was rather enacted to assist parents of all religions with getting their children to school. The Constitution required a sharp separation between government and religion with both the majority and the dissent defining the First Amendment religious clause in terms of a “wall of separation between church and state.

Prior to this decision, the First Amendment’s words, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion” imposed limits only on the federal government, and many states continued to grant certain religious denominations legislative or effective privileges. The 1940 decision in Cantwell v. Connecticut was the first Supreme Court decision to apply the First Amendment’s religious protections to the states.

It was the first Supreme Court case incorporating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as binding upon the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Everson marked a turning point in the interpretation and application of disestablishment law in the modern era.

Christian Tours of America on Everson v. School Board (1947)

Next Education Case: Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Previous Education Case: West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

Next Case: Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)

Previous Case: Adamson v. California (1947)

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