Lee v. Weisman - Significance, Political Landscape, Graduation Traditions, Application Of Lemon, A Test For Lemon, Impact

court school washington petitioners

Petitioners

Robert E. Lee, et al.

Respondent

Daniel Weisman

Petitioners' Claim

That nonsectarian prayers offered as invocations and benedictions at public school graduation ceremonies do not represent an infringement of the Establishment Clause suggesting separation of church and state.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners

Charles J. Cooper

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Sandra A. Blanding

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Anthony M. Kennedy (writing for the Court), Sandra Day O'Connor, David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens

Justices Dissenting

William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

24 June 1992

Decision

Affirmed rulings of the district court and court of appeals, which held that, regardless of their content, the offering of prayers at public school graduation ceremonies constituted a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Related Cases

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 430 (1962).
Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963).
Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971).
Marsh v. Chambers, 463 U.S. 783 (1983).
Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38 (1985).
Board of Education of Kiryas Joel v. Grumet, 93 U.S. 517 (1994).

Lee v. Weisman - Political Landscape

Amid what many people saw as increasing social disorder and lawlessness in the 1980s, a strong political movement emerged favoring a more prominent role for religion within the public schools of the United States. This movement particularly emphasized the supposed benefits of prayer in the public schools, believing that a renewed emphasis on religious teachings in a school setting would lessen the…

Lee v. Weisman - Graduation Traditions

For many years it was customary for the principals of middle and high schools in Providence, Rhode Island to invite religious leaders to give nonsectarian prayers as invocations and benedictions at school-sponsored graduation ceremonies. The school system had, in fact, prepared guidelines for clergy delivering such prayers, to insure that the prayers would not include any direct references to spec…

Lee v. Weisman - Application Of Lemon

The district court held that the use of prayer at public school graduation ceremonies did constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. To reach its verdict, the district court applied the three-pronged test for establishing infringement of the Establishment Clause devised in Lemon v. Kurtzman. The so-called Lemon Test directed that any state-sponsored program, in order to adhere to the Esta…

Lee v. Weisman - A Test For Lemon

In its argument before the Supreme Court, the petitioners maintained that prayer represents an appropriate and effective means to enable students and parents to seek spiritual guidance at important events such as school graduations. The Court was unmoved by either this logic or the prevailing conservative political climate, however, and upheld the ruling of the appeals court by a vote of 5-4. Just…

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