Case Citator › Lemon v. Kurtzman

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Is it still good law? What later courts have actually done to this case.

Overruled
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Citation
403 U.S. 602
Decided
Confirmed treatments
4
Flagged citations read
240 of 240
Citing cases (total)
3,142
Treatment dates
1997–2022
Overruled
A reviewed court has overruled this case. Lemon v. Kurtzman has been overruled: all 240 flagged citations have been read, with the 4 confirmed treatments listed below. Agostini v. Felton folded Lemon's separate entanglement prong into its effects inquiry, and American Legion v. American Humanist Association later declined to apply Lemon to longstanding monuments, symbols, and practices.
More on how this was screened

After decades of criticism, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District abandoned Lemon and replaced it with an Establishment Clause analysis based on historical practices and understandings. The other reviewed opinions applied Lemon before Kennedy, reported those Supreme Court developments, directed nearby adverse language at different authorities, or appeared only in vacated panels and noncontrolling separate opinions.

Every treatment on this page is written from the citing opinion itself, with a verbatim quote, never copied from a commercial citator. A citation flagged by our screen but not shown here was read and found not to weaken this case.

3,142 later cases cite Lemon v. Kurtzman; 240 of those citations sat close to treatment language and were flagged for reading, and all of them have been read. Citations that did not sit near treatment language were not flagged and were not read one by one, so a court that weakened this case without using any of that language would not appear here.

Relying on Lemon v. Kurtzman?

This page shows what later courts did to it. Ask about your specific facts and see whether it still carries your argument, with citations you can check.

Treatments

Overruled

  • The Supreme Court abandoned Lemon and replaced its test with an Establishment Clause analysis grounded in historical practices and understandings.

    Kennedy v. Bremerton School District · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    this Court long ago abandoned Lemon and its endorsement test offshoot.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Limited

  • The Supreme Court modified Lemon by treating excessive entanglement as part of the effects inquiry rather than as an independent prong.

    Agostini v. Felton · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    Indeed, in Lemon itself, the entanglement that the Court found “independently” to necessitate the program’s invalidation also was found to have the effect of inhibiting religion. ... Thus, it is simplest to recognize why entanglement is significant and treat it — as we did in Walz — as an aspect of the inquiry into a statute’s effect.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

  • The Supreme Court declined to apply Lemon to longstanding religious monuments, symbols, and practices and adopted a presumption of constitutionality for that category.

    American Legion v. American Humanist Association · Supreme Court of the United States · filed

    For at least four reasons, the Lemon test presents particularly daunting problems in cases, including the one now before us, that involve the use, for ceremonial, celebratory, or commemorative purposes, of words or symbols with religious associations.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

Criticized

  • The Wisconsin Supreme Court called Lemon's continuing authority uncertain and criticized its test as a doctrinal “ghoul,” while acknowledging that the court remained bound to apply it.

    Jackson v. Benson · Supreme Court of Wisconsin · filed

    While the continued authority of the test established in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971), is uncertain, we have no choice but to apply it in this case. ... Unlike the Supreme Court, we cannot command this “ghoul” to return to its tomb when we wish it to do so.
    Read the full opinion on CourtListener →

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