Town of Greece v. Galloway

E37572

Town of Greece v. Galloway is a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of opening town meetings with predominantly Christian prayers under the Establishment Clause.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf 2014 court decision
Establishment Clause case
First Amendment case
United States Supreme Court case
allowedPractice Sectarian references in legislative prayers
areaOfLaw Constitutional law
Law and religion in the United States
citation 134 S. Ct. 1811
188 L. Ed. 2d 835
572 U.S. 565
concernedPractice Opening town board meetings with prayer
Predominantly Christian invocations at town meetings
concurrenceBy Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED
Samuel A. Alito Jr. NERFINISHED
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Establishment Clause
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 2014-05-05
dissentBy Elena Kagan
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Sonia Sotomayor
Stephen G. Breyer NERFINISHED
docketNumber 12-696
holding A legislative prayer practice is constitutional if it fits within the tradition upheld in Marsh v. Chambers
Opening town board meetings with sectarian prayer does not violate the Establishment Clause
impact Clarified constitutionality of legislative prayer at local government meetings
Expanded protection for sectarian legislative prayer practices
joinedMajority Antonin Scalia NERFINISHED
Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED
John G. Roberts Jr. NERFINISHED
Samuel A. Alito Jr. NERFINISHED
jurisdiction United States
legalIssue Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
legislative prayer
limitation Government may not coerce participation in prayer
Prayer practice may not be exploited to proselytize or disparage other faiths
locationOfDispute Greece, New York
majorityOpinionBy Anthony M. Kennedy NERFINISHED
petitioner Town of Greece, New York
plurality Anthony M. Kennedy NERFINISHED
pluralityJoinedBy John G. Roberts Jr. NERFINISHED
Samuel A. Alito Jr. NERFINISHED
precedentCited Marsh v. Chambers
rejectedClaim That predominantly Christian prayers at town meetings necessarily violate the Establishment Clause
rejectedTest Endorsement test as controlling for legislative prayer
respondent Linda Stephens
Susan Galloway
standardApplied Historical practice and understanding test for legislative prayer
term October Term 2013

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Establishment Clause
keyCase

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