Lamb'S Chapel and John Steigerwald v. Center Moriches Union Free School District et al.

Decided June 7, 1993. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 91-2024 · 508 U.S. 384 (1993) · Cited 789 times

Holding

Denying the Church access to school premises to exhibit the film series violates the Freedom of Speech Clause.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 9–0.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Members of the City Council of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent · 466 U.S. 789 (1984)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Adderley v. Florida · 385 U.S. 39 (1966)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Greer v. Spock · 424 U.S. 828 (1976)
• United States Postal Service v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Associations · 453 U.S. 114 (1981)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Md. · 426 U.S. 736 (1976)
• Hunt v. McNair · 413 U.S. 734 (1973)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
• Board of Comm'rs, Wabaunsee Cty. v. Umbehr · 518 U.S. 668 (1996)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. · 597 U.S. 507 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1993). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).