Quote:
Originally Posted by mg1942
The Constitution prevents the State (Federal government) but not the states. The right to establish, or disestablish, an offical religion for a state (little S) is totally within their rights. The Establishment Clause was written to prevent the Fed forcing a religion on the states. In the Everson ruling the SC flipped the original intent so now the Fed can force the states to do EXACTLY what the Clause was intended to protect them from.
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Article 4 Section 2:
"The citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states."
14th amendment section 1:
"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.
No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
In other words, states can't violate a right that the federal government grants its citizens. Thus, states cannot violate a person's right to freedom of religion anymore than the federal government can.
