The Aftermath

Chapter 6 traces the impact of the Zobrest decision, as precedent, on U.S. Supreme Court Establishment Clause doctrine and on the practices of public school districts throughout the United States; and it discusses the lives of the Zobrest family since the decision. While strict separationists, such as the leaders of Americans United, predicted the decision would profoundly remake the meanings of the Establishment Clause in the critical area of the sharing of public resources with religiously affiliated schools, William Bentley Ball was closer to being correct, believing the decision would have an incremental impact, pushing the court modestly toward a less strict standard than had prevailed under the Lemon Test. The most important of the decisions growing out of the Zobrest lawsuit, Agostini v. Felton, is discussed.