...First, the Court ruled that Coach Kennedy had a constitutional right to publicly recite a quiet prayer, and in doing so, protected that right for all religious public school employees. Second, in a decision likely to have even broader impact, the Court took the important step of clearly overturning Lemon v. Kurtzman, a 1971 case that has served as a continuing source of harm for religious Americans.
...the Supreme Court went further, and it finally drove the last stake into the heart of Lemon v. Kurtzman, a case that has troubled religious Americans ever since it was decided. It is necessary to explore Lemon's long and sordid history in order to understand just how important this development will be.
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court created a highly subjective test that "called for an examination of a law's purposes, effects, and potential for entanglement with religion" in order to determine whether it created an unconstitutional "establishment" of religion. If you find that difficult to understand, you are not alone. No one has ever been able to figure out what the Court actually meant.
In 1984, the Court, in a misguided attempt at making Lemon easier to understand, explained that it prohibited states from acting in a manner that seemed to "endorse" religion. Needless to say, this explanation did not actually provide additional clarity. If anything, it made matters worse.
...In 1995, a plurality of the Supreme Court declared that Lemon "supplies no standard whatsoever."...
...Given Lemon's lack of guidance, it unsurprisingly led to unpredictable outcomes in the cases in which it was applied. Many cases with nearly identical facts—for example, concerning displays of menorahs on public property—came out differently....
...Over the years, the Supreme Court continued to criticize Lemon and declined to apply it in case after case. Unfortunately, before today, the Court never formally and expressly declared that Lemon was no longer binding precedent....
...In fact, in just this year's Supreme Court term, there were at least three cases in which Lemon harmed religious Americans....Carson v. Makin...Shurtleff v. Boston...Coach Kennedy's case...
...That unstable and ultimately unjust jurisprudential season has now come to an end. In the Kennedy case, the Supreme Court seems to have finally struck the decisive blow that will permanently keep Lemon in its grave. The Court adopted a new test "in place of Lemon" whereby "the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by reference to historical practices and understandings." While applying this test will require historical research and intellectual rigor, it is far less malleable than the Lemon test. It is safe to say that some of the most anti-religious understandings of Lemon are no longer tenable.
...Kennedy v. Bremerton School District represents a tremendous victory for religious minorities in America both because of its narrower holding—that acts of religious expression by public school teachers are constitutionally protected—and because of the broader implication that Lemon has been finally vanquished.
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Originally Posted by Peter1469
