Lee v. Weisman

E36571

Lee v. Weisman is a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held clergy-led prayer at public school graduation ceremonies unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause.

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Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf 1992 court decision
Establishment Clause case
First Amendment case
United States Supreme Court case
arguedDate 1991-11-06
citation 505 U.S. 577
concurrenceBy David H. Souter NERFINISHED
Harry A. Blackmun NERFINISHED
John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED
constitutionalProvision Establishment Clause
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
country United States of America
surface form: United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1992-06-24
dissentBy Antonin Scalia NERFINISHED
docketNumber 90-1014
doctrine prohibition on state-sponsored prayer in public schools
fullCaseName Robert E. Lee, Individually and as Principal of Nathan Bishop Middle School, et al. v. Daniel Weisman, et al.
holding Clergy-led prayer at public school graduation ceremonies violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
Including state-sponsored, clergy-delivered prayers in public school graduation ceremonies is unconstitutional.
impact Limited the role of religious exercises in public school-sponsored events.
issue Whether including clergy-led prayer in a public school graduation ceremony violates the Establishment Clause.
joinedDissent Byron R. White NERFINISHED
Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED
William H. Rehnquist
joinedMajority David H. Souter NERFINISHED
Harry A. Blackmun NERFINISHED
John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED
Sandra Day O’Connor
surface form: Sandra Day O'Connor
jurisdiction United States federal law
languageOfOpinion English
legalTestApplied coercion test
locationOfDispute Providence
surface form: Providence, Rhode Island
lowerCourtCitation 908 F.2d 1090 (1st Cir. 1990)
majorityOpinionBy Anthony M. Kennedy NERFINISHED
originatingCourt United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
petitioner Robert E. Lee
precedentFor cases challenging religious activities at public school events
relatedTopic school graduation ceremonies
separation of church and state in the United States
respondent Daniel Weisman
result Judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed.
subjectMatter religion in public schools
school prayer
typeOfPrayerChallenged nonsectarian, clergy-delivered invocation and benediction at graduation
yearDecided 1992

Referenced by (5)

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

Establishment Clause keyCase Lee v. Weisman
David H. Souter notableCase Lee v. Weisman
Engel v. Vitale relatedCase Lee v. Weisman