In his 1964 editorial cartoon, Herblock addressed proposed constitutional amendments guaranteeing states the right to create prayers for students to recite in public schools. In 1962, the Supreme Court had decided, in Engle v. Vitale, that states could not compose a prayer for students recitation after parents opposed the existing practice. Religious leaders initially charged the Supreme Court with having expelled God from school, but as they confronted the issue of institutionalized public prayer, many embraced the decision upholding the separation of church and state.