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

Decided April 2, 1973. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 71-1470 · 411 U.S. 192 (1973) · Cited 591 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

“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)
• Linkletter v. Walker · 381 U.S. 618 (1965)
• Norton v. Shelby County · 118 U.S. 425 (1886)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Great Northern Railway Co. v. Sunburst Oil & Refining Co. · 287 U.S. 358 (1932)
• City of Phoenix v. Kolodziejski · 399 U.S. 204 (1970)
• Stovall v. Denno · 388 U.S. 293 (1967)
• Johnson v. New Jersey · 384 U.S. 719 (1966)
• Chevron Oil Co. v. Huson · 404 U.S. 97 (1971)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Chicot County Drainage District v. Baxter State Bank · 308 U.S. 371 (1940)
• Allen v. State Board of Elections · 393 U.S. 544 (1969)
• Cipriano v. City of Houma · 395 U.S. 701 (1969)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• Delli Paoli v. United States · 352 U.S. 232 (1957)
• United States v. Estate of Donnelly · 397 U.S. 286 (1970)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Bruton v. United States · 391 U.S. 123 (1968)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education · 402 U.S. 1 (1971)
• Holmberg v. Armbrecht · 327 U.S. 392 (1946)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 349 U.S. 294 (1955)
• Desist v. United States · 394 U.S. 244 (1969)
• Hecht Co. v. Bowles · 321 U.S. 321 (1944)
• England v. Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners · 375 U.S. 411 (1964)
• Hanover Shoe, Inc. v. United Shoe MacHinery Corp. · 392 U.S. 481 (1968)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Roberts v. Russell · 392 U.S. 293 (1968)
• Tehan v. United States ex rel. Shott · 382 U.S. 406 (1966)

Cited by

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

• American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Smith · 496 U.S. 167 (1990)
• Danforth v. Minnesota · 552 U.S. 264 (2008)
• Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co. · 424 U.S. 747 (1976)
• James B. Beam Distilling Co. v. Georgia · 501 U.S. 529 (1991)
• United States v. Peltier · 422 U.S. 531 (1975)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Md. · 426 U.S. 736 (1976)
• International Brotherhood of Teamsters v. United States · 431 U.S. 324 (1977)
• Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail · 502 U.S. 367 (1992)
• Keyes v. School Dist. No. 1, Denver · 413 U.S. 189 (1973)
• McDaniel v. Paty · 435 U.S. 618 (1978)
• Sloan v. Lemon · 413 U.S. 825 (1973)

Official text

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

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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).