Pepperdine Law Review Volume 38 Issue 4 Article 1 4-20-2011 Constitutional Divide: The Transformative Significance of the School Prayer Decisions Steven D. Smith Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr Part of the First Amendment Commons Recommended Citation Steven D. Smith Constitutional Divide: The Transformative Significance of the School Prayer Decisions, 38 Pepp. L. Rev. Iss. 4 (2011) Available at: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/plr/vol38/iss4/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Caruso School of Law at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pepperdine Law Review by an authorized editor of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Constitutional Divide: The Transformative Significance of the School Prayer Decisions Steven D. Smith* I. INTRODUCTION II. CONTINGENCIES AND UNCERTAINTIES A. The Conclusion: Engel B. The Explanation: Schempp C. Unanswered Questions III. A CRAZY-QUILT, QUASI-CONSTITUTIONAL TRADITION A. The PerennialContenders B. Incompatible but (Sometimes) Indistinguishable C. Patterns ofDominance? D. The Conceptions as Quasi-Constitutional E. The Virtues of Quasi-Constitutionalism 1. Quasi-Constitutionalism as the Default Position 2. The Positive Advantages of Quasi-Constitutionalism F. On the Eve of the School PrayerDecisions IV. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SCHOOL PRAYER DECISIONS A. How the Decisions Transformed ConstitutionalDoctrine 1. Secularism as the Doctrinal "Test" 2. The Significance of the Public Schools 3. The Importance of Prayer B. Why the Significance of the School PrayerDecisions Went Largely Unnoticed (by Their Supporters) V. TRANSFORMATIONS: THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE SCHOOL PRAYER DECISIONS A.