Edgerton Bible Case

State ex rel. Weiss v. District Board
Seal of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
Court	Wisconsin Supreme Court
Full case name	State ex rel. Weiss et al. v. District Board of School District No. Eight
Decided	March 18, 1890
Citation	76 Wis. 177
Case history
Appealed from	Wisconsin Circuit Court for the 12th Judicial Circuit
Court membership
Judges sitting	Orsamus Cole, Chief Justice William P. Lyon, David Taylor, Harlow S. Orton, John B. Cassoday, Justices
Case opinions
Readings from the Bible in public schools constitute sectarian instruction, in violation of Art. X, Sec. 3, and Art. I, Sec. 18, of the Constitution of Wisconsin
Decision by	Lyon
Concurrence	Cassoday, Orton

State ex rel. Weiss v. District Board, 76 Wis. 177 (1890), popularly known as the Edgerton Bible case, was an important court case involving religious instruction in public schools of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The case was unanimously decided in favor of the appellants, and declared that the use of the King James Bible in Edgerton public schools was unconstitutional sectarian education.

Background[edit]

In the early days of Edgerton, Wisconsin, it was common practice for public school teachers to read aloud to their students from the King James Bible. In 1886, Roman Catholic parents protested about that to the school board, citing their belief that the Douay version of the Bible was the only correct translation for their children.^[1]

After failing to convince the school board to end the practice, the parents—Frederick Weiss, W. H. Morrissey, Thomas Mooney, James McBride, J. C. Burns, and John Corbett—took their case to court. In November 1888, the circuit court judge, John R. Bennett, decided that the readings were not sectarian because both translations were of the same work. The parents then appealed the decision to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

In State ex rel Weiss v. District Board 76 Wis. 177 (1890), 3, otherwise known as the Edgerton Bible Case, the judges overruled the circuit court's decision by concluding that it illegally united the functions of church and state.^[2]

In 1963, the United States Supreme Court banned government-sponsored compulsory prayer from public schools (see Abington School District v. Schempp), and Justice William Brennan Jr. cited the Edgerton Bible Case in his decision.^[1][3]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Geiger, John O. (Winter 1978). "The Edgerton Bible Case: Humphrey Desmond's Political Education of Wisconsin Catholics". Journal of Church and State. 20 (1): 13–28. doi:10.1093/jcs/20.1.13. JSTOR 23915085.

External links[edit]

• Odd Wisconsin: Edgerton Bible case helped set a key precedent