<P> Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...</P> <P> The first part of the amendment ("Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion") is known as the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, while the second part ("or prohibiting the free exercise thereof") is known as the Free Exercise Clause . </P> <P> Though each of these clauses originally applied only to the central US government, the Fourteenth Amendment extended the scope of the entire First Amendment to all levels of government, including the state level, thus compelling states and their subject schools to adopt an equally detached approach to religion in schools . </P> <P> In the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, it was common practice for public schools to open with an oral prayer or Bible reading . Catholics would sometimes object to the distinct Protestant observations performed in the local schools . For instance, in the Edgerton Bible Case (Weiss v. District Board (1890)), the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in favor of Catholics who objected to the use of the King James Bible in Wisconsin public schools . This ruling was based on the state constitution and only applied in Wisconsin . </P>

When was the law passed to take prayer out of schools