Robert Martin - Timeline Contributor
Events
| Event | Introduction | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Abington School District v. Schempp | In 1963, the Supreme Court ruled that required Bible readings and recitation of the Lord's Prayer in the public schools was unconstitutional. | |
| Allegheny County v. ACLU | This 1989 case dealt with religious holiday symbols on government property and found that a combination of religious symbols does not violate the Establishment Clause. | |
| City of Boerne v. Flores | In this 1997 case, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had overstepped its constitutional powers in enacting the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. | |
| Employment Division v. Smith | This 1990 case determined that citizens could not be exempt from generally applicable and religiously neutral laws because those laws burdened their exercise of religion. | |
| Everson v. Board of Education | In this 1947 case, the Supreme Court first applied the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (i.e. no law establishing religion) to the states. | |
| Lemon v. Kurtzman | This 1971 ruling established an influential precedent (the "Lemon test") for whether a law violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. | |
| Lynch v. Donnelly | This case interpreted the Establishment Clause as an accommodation between church and state, not an absolute separation of the two. | |
| Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 | The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 allowed the "compelling state interest" test to apply to federal level, not just the state level. | |
| Sherbert v. Verner | This 1963 case introduced the "Sherbert test"; the government must show that burdening the individual's practice of religion is based on a compelling state interest. |
