McCreary County, Kentucky, et al. v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky et al.

Decided June 27, 2005. David Hackett Souter delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 03-1693 · 545 U.S. 844 (2005) · Cited 509 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 5–4.

“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.

• Stone v. Graham · 449 U.S. 39 (1980)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Roper v. Simmons · 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Deck v. Missouri · 544 U.S. 622 (2005)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union · 542 U.S. 656 (2004)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Regan · 444 U.S. 646 (1980)
• Crawford v. Washington · 541 U.S. 36 (2004)
• Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission · 432 U.S. 333 (1977)
• Reynolds v. Sims · 377 U.S. 533 (1964)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)

Cited by

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

• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Trump v. Hawaii · 585 U.S. 667 (2018)
• Town of Greece v. Galloway · 572 U.S. 565 (2014)
• Salazar v. Buono · 559 U.S. 700 (2010)
• Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
• United States v. Rahimi · 602 U.S. 680 (2024)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)

Official text

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

Explore from here

David Hackett Souter’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).