Van Orden v. Perry

E38158

Van Orden v. Perry is a 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of a Ten Commandments monument on Texas State Capitol grounds against an Establishment Clause challenge.


Statements (49)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Establishment Clause case
First Amendment case
United States Supreme Court case
constitutional law case
areaOfLaw United States constitutional law
law and religion in the United States
challengedUnder Establishment Clause
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
chiefJusticeAtDecision William H. Rehnquist
citation 125 S. Ct. 2854
162 L. Ed. 2d 607
545 U.S. 677
concurringOpinionBy Stephen G. Breyer NERFINISHED
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted First Amendment Establishment Clause
contrastWith McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 2005-06-27
decisionType fragmented decision
dissentingOpinionBy David H. Souter NERFINISHED
John Paul Stevens NERFINISHED
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Sandra Day O’Connor
docketNumber 03-1500
holding Passive monuments with religious content on government property can be constitutional depending on context and history
The Ten Commandments monument on the Texas State Capitol grounds does not violate the Establishment Clause
joinedByInPlurality Anthony M. Kennedy NERFINISHED
Antonin Scalia NERFINISHED
Clarence Thomas NERFINISHED
jurisdiction United States federal law
legalIssue Establishment Clause of the First Amendment
constitutionality of religious displays on government property
lowerCourtDisposition affirmed
majorityOpinionBy William H. Rehnquist
monumentLocation grounds of the Texas State Capitol
monumentState Texas
monumentSubject Ten Commandments
originatingCourt United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
petitioner Thomas Van Orden
pluralityOpinionBy William H. Rehnquist
relatedCase McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky
respondent Rick Perry
respondentOffice Governor of Texas
resultForMonument monument upheld
stateParty Texas
subjectMatter church-state separation
religious symbols in public spaces
term 2004 term
testApplied contextual analysis rather than strict Lemon test
vote 5-4

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Establishment Clause
keyCase
Lynch v. Donnelly
relatedCase

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