Lynch v. Donnelly

E36509

Establishment Clause case First Amendment case United States Supreme Court case

Lynch v. Donnelly is a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the inclusion of a nativity scene in a city’s Christmas display and helped shape modern Establishment Clause analysis of government endorsement of religion.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
Lynch v. Donnelly canonical	4
Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984)	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Establishment Clause case ⓘ First Amendment case ⓘ United States Supreme Court case ⓘ
appliesTo	Establishment Clause ⓘ surface form: Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
hasArgumentDate	1983-10-04 ⓘ
hasCitation	465 U.S. 668 ⓘ
hasConcurrenceBy	Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ surface form: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
hasCountry	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
hasCourt	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
hasDecisionDate	1984-03-05 ⓘ
hasDissentBy	Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ surface form: Justice Harry A. Blackmun John Paul Stevens ⓘ surface form: Justice John Paul Stevens Thurgood Marshall ⓘ surface form: Justice Thurgood Marshall William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
hasDocketNumber	82-1256 ⓘ
hasHolding	The inclusion of a nativity scene in a city’s Christmas display did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. ⓘ
hasJoinedMajority	Byron R. White ⓘ surface form: Justice Byron R. White Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. Sandra Day O’Connor ⓘ surface form: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (concurring) William H. Rehnquist ⓘ surface form: Justice William H. Rehnquist William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ surface form: Justice William J. Brennan Jr. (in part and dissent in part)
hasJurisdiction	United States federal law ⓘ
hasKeyConcept	endorsement test ⓘ excessive government entanglement with religion ⓘ primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion ⓘ secular purpose ⓘ
hasLegalIssue	Whether a municipality’s inclusion of a creche in a Christmas display constitutes an establishment of religion. ⓘ
hasLocation	Pawtucket ⓘ surface form: Pawtucket, Rhode Island
hasMajorityOpinionBy	Warren E. Burger ⓘ surface form: Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
hasPage	668 ⓘ
hasPetitioner	Dennis Lynch, Mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island ⓘ
hasReporter	United States Reports ⓘ
hasRespondent	Daniel Donnelly et al. ⓘ
hasSignificance	Helped shape modern Establishment Clause analysis of government endorsement of religion. ⓘ Influenced later holiday display cases under the Establishment Clause. ⓘ Recognized that government may acknowledge the role of religion in American life in certain ceremonial contexts. ⓘ
hasSubjectMatter	constitutional law ⓘ law and religion ⓘ
hasVolume	465 ⓘ
hasVote	5-4 ⓘ
involves	government endorsement of religion ⓘ municipal Christmas display ⓘ nativity scene ⓘ
relatedCase	County of Allegheny v. ACLU ⓘ Lemon v. Kurtzman ⓘ McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky ⓘ Van Orden v. Perry ⓘ
usesTest	Lemon test ⓘ

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Establishment Clause → keyCase → Lynch v. Donnelly ⓘ

County of Allegheny v. ACLU → relatedCase → Lynch v. Donnelly ⓘ

Dennis Lynch, Mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island → participantIn → Lynch v. Donnelly ⓘ

subject surface form: Dennis Lynch

Daniel Donnelly et al. → partyInCase → Lynch v. Donnelly ⓘ

Daniel Donnelly et al. → caseCitation → Lynch v. Donnelly ⓘ

this entity surface form: Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984)