Meek v. Pittenger

In Meek v. Pittenger (1975), the plaintiffs, three individuals and four organizations, filed suit alleging that two Pennsylvania statutes violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment by authorizing the use of state purchased books, materials, and equipment in religious schools. One of the statutes, Act 194, authorized commonwealth officials to provide auxiliary services, including counseling, testing, and psychological services, to all children in Pennsylvania's non-public schools, free of charge. The other law, Act 195, provided that the commonwealth would loan textbooks, instructional materials, and equipment to these same children.

On direct appeal from a federal trial court in Pennsylvania, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Act 195, only as it relates to the loan of textbooks, did not violate the Establishment Clause. Affirming the constitutionality ...