Other Free Encyclopedias » Law Library - American Law and Legal Information » Notable Trials and Court Cases - 1989 to 1994

Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District - Significance, Was The School District Discriminatory?, Federal Court, Further Readings

petitioner claim justices decision

Petitioner

Lamb's Chapel, et al.

Respondent

Center Moriches Union Free School District, et al.

Petitioner's Claim

That the Center Moriches Union Free School District violated the First Amendment rights of the Lamb's Chapel by not allowing them to use the school facilities for the showing of a religious-based film series on family values.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Jay Alan Sekulow

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

John W. Hoefling

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, Anthony M. Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor, William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens, Clarence Thomas, Byron R. White (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting

None

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

7 June 1993

Decision

Overturned the trial court and appeal's court decisions by stating that the claim by Lamb's Chapel alleging that they had been discriminated against on basis of religion was accurate.

Related Cases

  • Lemon v. Kurtzman, 411 U.S. 192 (1973).
  • Bronx Household of Faith v. Community School District No. 10, 127 F.3d 207 (1997).
  • The Good News Club v. Milford Center School, 21 F.Supp.2d 147 (1998).

Additional Topics

Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District - Significance

By ruling in favor of the Lamb's Chapel, the Court sent a firm message regarding the role of "content" in First Amendment issues as well as taking what some viewed as a conservative stand on the freedom of religion. In 1971 the Supreme Court, in Lemon v. Kurtzman, issued a standard on church and state relations that held government programs to three regulations. The programs: (1) had to have a sec…

Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District - Further Readings

Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District - Was The School District Discriminatory?

When the church brought the case to the district court, it alleged that the school district had broken state law by discriminating against them on the basis of religion and restricting their right to free speech--two actions not allowed to be taken by a public institution. The court, however, ruled in favor of the district, affirming that the school facilities constituted a "limited public forum,"…

Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District - Federal Court

Following this ruling, Lamb's Church proceeded to take the case to the Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the rulings of the lower courts were overturned. In essence, the Court ruled that the district did violate the chapel's freedom of speech by refusing their request to show movies on their property solely because the movies had a religious theme. It also stated that granting permission to …

Inc. v. NLRB Lechmere - Significance, Unfair Labor Practices Charged, Property Rights Upheld, Minority Opinion, Impact [next] [back] Ladue v. Gilleo - The Facts Of The Case, The Lower Courts Rule, The Supreme Court Rules

User Comments

Your email address will be altered so spam harvesting bots can't read it easily.
Hide my email completely instead?

Cancel or