Lemon v. Kurtzman

Lemon v. Kurtzman is important for establishing the "Lemon Test," a three-pronged test for determining whether a statute passes scrutiny under the First Amendment's prohibition of laws "respecting an establishment of religion."

Two separate state laws were at issue in Lemon v. Kurtzman. The first of these was the Rhode Island Salary Supplement Act of 1969; the second was the Pennsylvania Non-Public Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1968. Both laws permitted state government to supplement the salaries of teachers of secular subjects in religious schools. Alton J. Lemon was one of the residents and taxpayers who challenged these laws in federal court, claiming they violated the First Amendment's prohibition against state establishment of religion. After his suit was dismissed by the federal district court, he appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court for review of this decision.

The first modern Supreme Court case concerning the First Amendment's Establishment of Religion Clause was Everson v. Board of Education (1947), in which the Court ruled that not only is government not allowed to favor one religion over another, it also cannot favor religion over secularism. Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) added the requirement that laws touching on freedom of religion must have a secular legislative function. And in 1968, in Board of Education v. Allen, the Court also concluded that the primary effect of such laws must neither advance nor restrict religion.