American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey v. Black Horse Pike Regional Board of Education
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
84 F.3d 1471 (1996)

- Written by Alex Ruskell, JD
Facts
The Black Horse Pike Regional Board of Education (defendant) enacted a policy where it allowed senior students to vote whether a prayer would be included in graduation ceremonies. The senior class ultimately voted 128 students for prayer, 120 for a moment of silence, and 20 for nothing. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey (plaintiff) sued, arguing that Black Horse’s policy violated the First Amendment. The district court ruled in favor of the (ACLU), and Black Horse appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McKee, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 815,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.