Lemon V. Kurtzman Case
One of the many landmark cases heard by the United States Supreme Court in American history was Lemon vs Kurtzman. In 1971 the Supreme Court had to decide if states could give money to certain religious based schools to hire staff even if the teachers couldn’t teach religious classes. The first amendment to the Constitution established the law of separation of church and state. What is the established boundary between church and state? This case would be the defining point in that fight between the involvement of a state and the churches.
The case was filed by Alton Lemon, a teacher in Pennsylvania who believed the state had violated the US Constitution, namely the first amendment, by putting religious beliefs and interests against the people.
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“In Walz v. Tax Commission, 1970, the Court created precedents that at times appeared contradictory, but that aimed to uphold a "constitutional neutrality." As Chief Justice
Burger put it in his majority opinion in Walz, 1970, "[let] no religion be sponsored nor favored, none commanded, and none inhibited (Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971 par 1).” This prior case was used as a basis for Lemon v. Kurtzman in order to dispute about the separation case by case.
Lemon v. Kurtzman and Walz v Tax Commission weren’t the only things going on in the 1970’s, the United States pulled out of Vietnam in 1973. Another thing that happened around the ending of this case was when President Nixon resigned as a result of the Watergate scandal. “More importantly, Lemon v. Kurtzman took place in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania before it was moved to the Supreme Court (Lemon v. Kurtzman par 1).” The case was argued by the defense and the prosecution on March 3, 1971, and was the verdict was decided on by June 28,
1971. The manner in which this case was held was extremely controversial because the government could’ve minimized the rights of citizens if the government won. Also the
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