less than 1 minute read

Mueller v. Allen

Significance, Tax Breaks For All--in Theory, Applying The "lemon Test", A Strong Dissent



Petitioners

Van D. Mueller and June Noyes

Respondent

Clyde E. Allen, Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue

Petitioners' Claim

That a Minnesota statute allowing parents to deduct certain school expenses on their state income tax promoted religious schooling, violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners

William I. Kampf

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Douglas C. Blomgren

Justices for the Court

Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist (writing for the Court), Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

29 June 1983

Decision

Affirmed the decision of the lower courts that the tax statute did not violate the Establishment Clause.

Related Cases

  • Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971).
  • Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty v. Nyquist, 413 U.S. 756 (1973).
  • Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985).

Sources

Eastland, Terry. Religious Liberty in the Supreme Court. Washington, DC: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1993.

Additional topics

Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationNotable Trials and Court Cases - 1981 to 1988