Lemon test
E32822
The Lemon test is a three-pronged legal standard used by U.S. courts to determine whether a government action violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Establishment Clause test
ⓘ
constitutional law doctrine ⓘ legal test ⓘ |
| appliesStandardOfReview | constitutional scrutiny under the Establishment Clause ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
Establishment Clause
ⓘ
surface form:
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
administrative practices involving religion ⓘ government action ⓘ public school policies involving religion ⓘ statutes involving religion ⓘ |
| areaOfLaw |
First Amendment law
ⓘ
church–state separation law ⓘ |
| criticizedFor |
inconsistent application
ⓘ
judicial subjectivity ⓘ perceived indeterminacy ⓘ |
| hasDoctrinalRole | framework for analyzing church–state separation issues ⓘ |
| hasNumberOfProngs | 3 ⓘ |
| hasProng |
excessive entanglement prong
ⓘ
primary effect prong ⓘ secular purpose prong ⓘ |
| hasStatus |
partially limited by later Supreme Court decisions
ⓘ
sometimes avoided by the Supreme Court in recent cases ⓘ |
| influencedBy | prior Establishment Clause cases ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| legalConsequenceOfFailure | government action is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause ⓘ |
| legalStandardType | three-pronged test ⓘ |
| namedAfter | Alton Lemon ⓘ |
| originatedInCase | Lemon v. Kurtzman ⓘ |
| originatedInCourt | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| originatedInYear | 1971 ⓘ |
| purpose | to determine whether government action violates the Establishment Clause ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Coercion test
ⓘ
Endorsement test ⓘ Establishment Clause jurisprudence ⓘ Neutrality principle ⓘ |
| requires |
government action must have a secular legislative purpose
ⓘ
government action must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion ⓘ principal or primary effect of government action must neither advance nor inhibit religion ⓘ |
| requiresEvaluationOf |
degree of entanglement between government and religion
ⓘ
primary effect of the challenged government action ⓘ purpose of the challenged government action ⓘ |
| usedBy |
Supreme Court of the United States
ⓘ
surface form:
U.S. Supreme Court
federal judiciary of the United States ⓘ
surface form:
U.S. federal courts
lower federal courts ⓘ |
| usedIn |
cases involving prayer in public schools
ⓘ
cases involving public funding of religious schools ⓘ cases involving religious displays on public property ⓘ cases involving religious symbols in government settings ⓘ |
Referenced by (4)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.