The purpose here is to encourage further exploration and discussion of the issues that arise out of the Constitution's
guarantees of religious freedom, which are likely to be on society's agenda for several decades. First, the text presents to the reader excerpts from a few of the documents that shed light on the meaning and effect of the First Amendment guarantees. Second, and most important, it will discuss the major religious liberty cases and the Justices who have played the most significant roles in the last half century in interpreting this section of the Constitution. Finally, it will briefly examine
what the Burger Court has sought to accomplish in the past several years and look into the future to suggest a way out of the present morass. |