The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”; and most citizens take this amendment very seriously. This volume looks at 64 Supreme Court cases, from 1879 to 2012, where the separation of church and state comes into question. Each entry opens with the vote and a narrative description of the case, followed by excerpts from primary sources. Seven additional historical documents include Thomas Jefferson’s 'A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia,' from 1786, and George Washington’s 'Letter to the Hebrew Congregation at Newport,' from 1790. A thorough index and a supplemental table of contents of cases by subject matter offer easy navigation. Recommended for most public and academic libraries.

Booklist

Religious liberty has become an increasingly contentious issue in the US in recent years. Most works that address the issue though, take the form of polemic from one perspective or another. In this volume, however, editor Muñoz, a professor of political science and law at the University of Notre Dame, presents a very exhaustive compendium of large excerpts from the actual landmark Supreme Court cases on religious liberty. The introduction largely concerns the two parts of the First Amendment, the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. It discusses important cases bearing on both aspects of the Amendment such as Everson v. Board of Education (1947) where the concept of the 'wall of separation' between church and state originated and Employment Division v. Smith (1990), which tested the limits of the Free Exercise Clause. After this, the book is divided into two sections. In the first there are 64 cases, arranged in chronological order from Reynolds v. United States in 1879 to Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2012. For each case there is a brief introduction which begins with the names of the justices involved, how they voted, and the authorship of the various opinions on the case. There is also a discussion of the background and context of each case here. The second section presents seven vital historical documents on religious liberty by authors such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington. There is also a helpful table that lists every case categorized by subject matter. This volume is an essential reference on the way the view of the Supreme Court on religious liberty has evolved through time. Both lawyers and the layman will find it valuable.

Book News, Inc.

Religious liberty in the American constitutional tradition has been shaped by not only the text of the U.S. Constitution, but also by a rich body of historical documents written by influential founders and U.S. Supreme Court case law. Vincent Phillip Muñoz has expertly compiled and edited the key historical documents and judicial opinions that have defined the prudential and constitutional principles of religious liberty and church-state relationships in the American experience.

Daniel L. Dreisbach, American University, author of Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation between Church and State

Professor Muñoz, one of our most perceptive scholars of religion and government, has assembled an outstanding compendium of the cases and controversies that have created the distinctly American approach to church-state constitutional issues. This volume is an ideal resource for both classroom and reference use.

Donald L. Drakeman, Chairman of the James Madison Program, Princeton University, and author of Church, State, and Original Intent

Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court is a contribution of surpassing significance. For the first time between two covers all the relevant Supreme Court cases are generously excerpted, organized chronologically and edited to show the historical influences upon and the sequential development of the Court’s caselaw. The selection is just right, as one would expect from one of the country’s leading scholars of the Religion Clauses. Vincent Phillip Muñoz has wisely decided to limit his own commentary to concise but marvelous introductions to the cases. For these materials speak for themselves, and most professors will welcome relief from the turgid and tendentious commentary so characteristic of other books in the field. Muñoz’ deep understanding of the founding and of the judicial corpus nonetheless suffuses the whole work.

Gerard Bradley, University of Notre Dame

Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court is an important addition to the literature on American church and state by a leading scholar. It is an excellent text for undergraduate and law school courses on church and state and a handy resource for anyone interested in how the Supreme Court has struggled to address this controversial issue.

Steven K. Green, Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law, Willamette University and former Legal Director and Special Counsel for Americans United for Separation of Church and State