Lemon et al. v. Kurtzman, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Pennsylvania, et al.

Decided June 28, 1971. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89 · 403 U.S. 602 (1971) · Cited 3,142 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–0.

“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.

• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Cooper v. Aaron · 358 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• Griffin v. School Bd. of Prince Edward Cty. · 377 U.S. 218 (1964)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Lane v. Wilson · 307 U.S. 268 (1939)

Cited by

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

• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Meek v. Pittenger · 421 U.S. 349 (1975)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Wolman v. Walter · 433 U.S. 229 (1977)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 411 U.S. 192 (1973)
• Sloan v. Lemon · 413 U.S. 825 (1973)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Regan · 444 U.S. 646 (1980)
• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind · 474 U.S. 481 (1986)

Official text

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).