1ST AMENDMENT- ESTABLISHMENT

Question 1

Lemon v. Kurtzman - facts

Answer 1

state funding religious schools with tax payer dollars. parents sought an injunction against the statute as it violated the establishment clause.

rule: direct state funding of religious school teachers’ salaries and instrumental materials is unconstitutional bc they reuslt in an excessive govt entagelemt in religion.

Question 2

Lemon- Analysis

Answer 2

LEMON TEST IS CREATED!!!

Question 3

LEMON TEST … also what case overruled it?

Answer 3

3 prongs must be met for govt action to be const:
1. must not have the primary intent of advancing or inhibiting religion.
2. must have a secular legislative purpose .
3. must not result in excessive govt entaglement with religion.

Question 4

Town of Greece- facts and rule

Answer 4

facts- prayer before board meetings, was open to all religions but it was mainly christans.

rule- the court must interpret the 1st amendment according to historical practices and understandings of legislative prayer.

Question 5

Town of Greece- analysis

Answer 5

CJR, Alito, Thomas (kennedy and scalia too)
* marsh- held that there was no 1st amendment violation for opening legislative sessions with prayer delivered through state- paid funds.
* requiring non sectarian prayers to generid gods woul violate free speech as it would be too restrictive over religious messages
* its ok here bc it was at the opneing of the session and no one was forced.

Question 6

Town of greece- alito concurrence

Answer 6

they tried their best to be inclusive and would even call places to find someone

Question 7

town of greece- concurrence thomas and scalia

Answer 7

the establishment clause is not incorporated
* there was no coercive state establishment here (threats by force of law or threat of penalty)

Question 8

town of greece- breyer dissent

Answer 8

the town is not exclusively chirstian, they could have tried harder to find more people and be inclusive.

Question 9

town of greece- kagan, rbg, breyer, sotomayor dissent

Answer 9

• this violates the norm of religious equality
• does not need to be a religious free zone, but it cannot align itself with any particular creed remember they are not separationists.

Question 10

Kennedy v. Bremerton

Answer 10

facts: kennedy loses his high school football coach job bc he would pray midfield after games.

rule- a public school may not prohibit a football coach from praying privately on the school foorball field immediately following a game.

Question 11

Bremerton- rationale + majority

Answer 11

Gorsuch, CJR, Thomas, Alito, ACB, Kavanaugh

• free speech and free exercise protect his conduct.
• • Establishment case does not require govt to single out private religiou speech.
• The district’s policies were neither neutral nor generally applicable
• Teachers not students shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate
• The speech was private speech and not govt speech.
• ABANDONS LEMON- replaces with the historical practices and understandings of the establishment clause- focus is on coercion.
  o Here, this was not coerced. Caren u remember the stupid arguments.

Question 12

Bremerton- alito concurrence

Answer 12

religious expression by public employees engaged in private activities is fine.

Question 13

Bremerton- sotomayor, kagan, and breyer dissent

Answer 13

school officials leading prayer is imperssible, the coach invited those players.
* there is a coercive nature to this and the court improeprly overruled lemon.

Question 14

American Legion (2019) - facts and rule

Answer 14

facts- secular crossa t the wwii memorial violates establishment clause.
rule- the maintenance of the cross by tax payers is not unconst.

Question 15

American legion- rationale and majority

Answer 15

Alito, CJR, Kavanaugh, Kagan, Breyer

• the cross is assocuated with teh memoral and has secular connotations.
  removoal would be seen as hostile towards religion.

Question 16

american legion- breyer and kagan concurrence

Answer 16

establishment claise analysis should be distinguished between a real threat and a shadow, no real threat here.

Question 17

American legion- kavanaugh concurrence

Answer 17

lemon is bad. he proposed a new coercion test.

Question 18

american legion- kagan solo concurrence

Answer 18

gotta focus on purpose and effect.

Question 19

american legion- thomas concurrence

Answer 19

• should be incorporated
• only deals with legislative action, does not involve actual legal coercion
• majoirty does not actually law out a test, but we need to get rid of lemon
  *

Question 20

american legion- gorsuch + thomas concurrence

Answer 20

OFFENSE IS NOT AN INJURY THAT CREATES STANDING.

Question 21

American legion- rbg and sotomayor dissent

Answer 21

using the cross at a war memorial does not make it secular.

Question 22

Espinoza v. Montana (2020) facts and tile

Answer 22

facts- Montana strikes down a program providing tuition assistance for parents who send their kids to private school and gave tax credits for donations.

rule- A state program subsidizing private school tuition may not exclude otherwise qualified religious schools.

Question 23

Espinoza- majority + rationale

Answer 23

CJR, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh

• • They compare this case to Trinity Lutheran where the court held that not giving a public benefit solely on the grounds they are religious is discrimination in violation of free exercise and subject to strict scrutiny.
    o The state had an interest in stringently separating church and state, but the court said it was not compelling bc it infringed free exercise. The state also said that they were promoting religious freedom by preventing govt entanglement in religion and the court said nahh this is not convincing bc taking away a religious schools ability to receive funding doesn’t add to their freedom.

Question 24

espinoza- thomas and gorsuch concurrence

Answer 24

• The court’s interpretation of the Establishment Clause hampers free exercise.
• There is no prohibition against favoring religion.

Question 25

espinoza- alito concurrence

Answer 25

• The Montana law was originally adopted to discriminate against Catholics. Religious private schools are important for parents who don’t think that public schools teach correctly.

Question 26

espinoza- gorsuch conurrence

Answer 26

this not only discriminates agaunst religious status but religious action

Question 27

espinoza- rbg and kagan dissent

Answer 27

• The decision below was designed to maintain neutrality by not funding at all.

Question 28

espinoza- breyer and kagan dissent

Answer 28

• The majority holds the free exercise clause forbids a state to draw any distinction bt secular and religious uses of govt aid.
• This holding risks entanglement and conflict with church and state.

kagan does not completely join bs hse does not believe that there was coercion here .

Question 29

espinoza- sotomayor dissent

Answer 29

weakens separation of church and state.

Question 30

carson v makin- 2022 facts and rule

Answer 30

Facts: Maine gives tuition assistance for parents who live in school districts with no secondary school. Private schools are eligible, but only secular schools.
Issues: Whether the restriction on giving tuition to sectarian schools violates free exercise? Yes!

Question 31

carson v makin- majority + rationale

Answer 31

CJR, Thomas, Alito. Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, ACB.
* Free exercise protects against indirect coercion or penalties on free exercise, not just outright prohibitions.
* Applies Trinity and Espinoza (strict scrutiny)

Question 32

carson v makin - breyer, kagan, sotomayor dissent

Answer 32

• The court is ignoring the Establishment Clause.
• Precedents show that the state may provide funding, not that it has to
• Difference between funding playgrounds and funding tuition
• The law does not punish status, but use of funds

Question 33

carson v makin- sotomayor solo dissent.

Answer 33

y’all are weighing free exercise over the establishment clause when they are both separate.