In the Bender et al. v. Williamsport Area School District et al., 1985, a group of high school students sought to hold religious meetings during their lunch period at school. The case was brought before the Supreme Court after the Third Circuit Court ruled in favor of the students, stating that prohibiting these meetings violated their First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly. However, upon reaching the Supreme Court, it was determined that none of its members had standing to bring forth this appeal as they were not personally affected by or involved in enforcing the policy barring student-led religious groups from meeting on campus during instructional time. Therefore, without proper jurisdiction over this matter due to lack of standing among appellants (school board members), who did not have direct stake in enforcement or non-enforcement of said policy nor personal harm from it; thus could not challenge lower court's decision -the Supreme Court vacated judgement made by Third Circuit court and remanded case for dismissal.

In the dissenting opinion for Bender et al. v. Williamsport Area School District et al., Justice Rehnquist disagreed with the majority's decision that a student-led religious group could not hold meetings on school property during instructional hours, arguing it violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. He contended that this ruling was based on an overly broad interpretation of what constitutes government endorsement of religion and failed to consider students' rights to free speech and assembly under Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969). Furthermore, he argued that allowing such groups access to school facilities did not equate to state sponsorship or endorsement of their beliefs but merely provided them equal opportunity as other non-religious clubs enjoyed in schools across America.