Board of Education of Kiryas Joel v. Grumet - Lower Court Rulings

The first ruling in Grumet v. New York State Education Department was delivered by the New York State trial court, which found that Chapter 748 failed all three tests for determining violation of the Establishment Clause as laid out in the Supreme Court's decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman: it lacked at least one legitimate secular purpose; its primary effect was to advance a particular religious belief; and it resulted in excessive government entanglement in religion. As such, it was unconstitutional at both the state and federal levels. Subsequent legal actions at the state level resulted in rulings from the appellate division and the court of appeals upholding the trial court's findings. Following these rulings the Board of Education of Kiryas Joel appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.