A family of the Unitarian faith, the Schempp family, sued to enjoin enforcement of the Pennsylvania law. Children may excuse themselves from the Bible reading with a parent’s note. The State of Pennsylvania required that ten verses from the Holy Bible be read at the opening of each day in public school. Supreme Court held that public schools cannot require Bible readings or recitation of the Lord’s Prayer under the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

In Maryland, the state trial court and highest appellate court held that the law did not violate the First Amendment.

The federal district court held that the law violated the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In Pennsylvania, a family sued in federal court.The Maryland law allowed the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer in lieu of Bible readings. Both Pennsylvania and Maryland passed laws requiring readings from the Holy Bible in public school at the opening of school each day.

This case involves two companion cases, one from Pennsylvania and the other from Maryland.

Abington township v. schempp