Clause in a few Supreme Court opinions, see School Dist. ofAbington Township v. Schempp. 374 U.S. 203, 220 (1963); American Communications Ass'n. 339 U.S. at 414; Girouard v. United States. 328 U.S. 61, 65 (1946), there are no Supreme Court cases actually analyzing a Religious Test Clause claim. In the one case where the Court was presented with such a claim, it resolved the test oath question on Establishment Clause/Free Exercise grounds. See Torcaso v. Watkins. 367 U.S. 488, 489 n.l (1961) (requirement that a State notary declare belief in God as a condition for holding State office violates the First Amendment as incorporated; finding it unnecessary to decide whether the Religious Test Clause applies to state offices). Torcaso at least suggests that any protection provided by the Religious Test Clause is subsumed by the "majestic generalities" of the First Amendment. Cf. School Dist. ofAbington. 374 U.S. at 236 (Brennan, J., concurring).
Of the few lower court decisions analyzing the Religious Test Clause, Anderson v. Laird. 316 F.Supp. 1081 (D.D.C. 1970), appears to contain the most thorough discussion. In Anderson. a challenge to compulsory chapel attendance at military academies, this court (per Judge Corcoran) analyzed the history behind the adoption of the Clause, concluding that, where there is no violation of the Establishment Clause, "it necessarily follows that there can be no violation of the test oath prohibition." Id; at 1093; see also id, (noting, among other things, that "the banning of the religious test oath in the Constitution was to keep the Federal Government from creating an established religion"). Although Anderson was reversed on other grounds, see 466 F.2d 283 (D.C. Cir.). cert. denied. 409 U.S. 1076 (1972),20 Judge Corcoran's view of the Clause is
"After Judge Corcoran upheld the mandatory chapel attendance requirement, the D.C. Circuit reversed in a one-paragraph per curiam opinion. Judge Bazelon filed a separate opinion concluding that the attendance requirement violated the Establishment and Free Exercise
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