What Is the Lemon Test Used For?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." Or so says the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This so-called "Establishment Clause" has been the basis for what is understood as the separation of church and state--that there is no official religion of the United States. But, to what extent can federal policies or, more importantly, money, promote religious organizations or causes? Over the years, exactly where the line must be drawn as to what constitutes an establishment of religion became blurred until the brightline rule was established by Chief Justice Warren Burger (pictured), called the Lemon Test.
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Identification
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The Lemon Test is the logical criteria used by the Supreme Court to decide Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971). The case involved laws in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island that permitted public funds to go to church-related schools. These funds were used to pay teacher's salaries in part and to provide instructional materials and books. The Burger Court determined these laws violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and, in doing so, also provided a clear set of criteria (the Lemon Test) that has guided lower courts ever since.
Features
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The Lemon Test has three features. For a law to survive the test, and not be an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause, it must pass all three. The first feature of the test is that the law must have a secular (nonreligious) purpose. Second, it must be neutral with respect toward religion, neither advancing nor diminishing any particular form of faith. Finally, it must not encourage too great an entanglement between the institutions of government and religion.
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Effects
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It was under the third criterion that the case of Lemon v. Kurtzman was decided. Using public money for parochial schools, especially when these schools were an important part of a particular religion's activities (the Catholic Church in this case), created too great an entanglement between religion and government. Under the ruling, teachers who only taught secular subjects using only materials available in the regular public schools could be eligible to receive public funds.
Considerations
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The Lemon Test is not without its critics. To some, it is "anti-Christian" because it does not allow any religious practice or displays in schools. By forbidding school prayer and other overt displays of faith, the Lemon Test creates a secular public school system. Others more objectively note that the test relies too heavily on dichotomies between religious and secular practices, and advance or diminish religion. In reality, these critics claim, the relationship between religious and government institutions has more nuance than the Lemon Test perceives.
Potential
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All constitutional questions are always open. The Supreme Court has the power to overturn itself at any time, and, therefore, the Lemon Test cannot be regarded as necessarily permanent. Antonin Scalia, the highly regarded but controversial conservative Supreme Court justice, has been outspoken in his criticism of the Lemon Test. In his thinking, traditions (particularly those like school prayer that give a Christian flavor to public education) should be regarded more highly than judge-made legal tests. Despite this and other high profile criticism, the Lemon Test remains the legal cornerstone of the separation of church and state principle in America.
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References
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- Photo Credit Supreme Court of the United States
