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1 1 (June 21, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbafz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional ______ * Research Service No More Lemon Law? Supreme Court Rethinks Religious Establishment Analysis June 21, 2019 The Supreme Court weighed in on the constitutionality of public monuments involving crosses and other religious symbols when it issued its decision in American Legion v. American Humanist Association on June 20, 2019. Seven Justices agreed that the Bladensburg Peace Cross does not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. But several separate opinions revealed divisions among the Justices on how to approach religious establishment claims-and more generally, disagreements about the proper role of sectarian religious displays in public life. As discussed in more detail in this previous Sidebar, American Legion presented the Court with the opportunity to fundamentally rethink its Establishment Clause jurisprudence. While a majority of Justices appear to have abandoned a prior approach known as the Lemon test, at least in the context of government use of religious symbols, there was no single majority opinion agreeing on what test should apply in future Establishment Clause claims. The decision therefore leaves significant room for debate on how to resolve Establishment Clause challenges. Background The First Amendment's Establishment Clause provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. In Everson v. Board ofEducation, issued in 1941, the Supreme Court defined the prohibitions of the Establishment Clause as follows: The establishment of religion clause of the First Amendment means at least this: Neither a state nor the Federal Government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. . . . No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. . . . In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect a wall of separation between church and State. As suggested in the above quotation, the Court has held that the Establishment Clause's protections exceed what the plain text might suggest: the Clause prohibits more than formal government establishments of national religions, and applies beyond Congress, to the entire federal government and also to states, through the Fourteenth Amendment. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB10315 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress

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