<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Laws applied </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> U.S. Const . amend . I </Td> </Tr> <P> Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that ruled it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools . </P> <P> The case was brought by a group of families of public school students in New Hyde Park, New York, who complained that the voluntary prayer written by the state board of regents to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs . Led by Steven Engel, a Jewish man, the plaintiffs sought to challenge the constitutionality of the state's prayer in school policy . They were supported by groups opposed to the school prayer including rabbinical organizations, Ethical Culture, and Jewish organizations . The acting parties were not members of one particular religion; despite being listed in the court papers as an atheist, plaintiff Lawrence Roth later denied that and described himself as religious but uncomfortable with prayer . The five plaintiffs were made up of three Jews and two self - proclaimed "spiritual" people who did not belong to any one organized religion . The prayer in question was: </P>

What was the engel v. vitale case about