Lemon v. Kurtzman
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Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) was a landmark, liberal Supreme Court decision imposing a test for separation of church and state under the First Amendment that is hostile to almost any religious expression on government property.
Under the "Lemon Test," to pass constitutional muster as a law that does not violate the Establishment Clause, a law must:
- Have a legitimate secular purpose, and,
- Not have the primary effect of either inhibiting or advancing religion, and,
- Not promote excessive entanglement between church & state.
Any law can be invalidated on any one of the above three requirements of the Lemon Test.
The "Lemon Test" was the one applied to invalidate the Dover School Board's intelligent design policy in Kitzmiller v. Dover Independent School District.