The Eleventh Circuit Breaks the Lemon Test
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Politics and Activism

The Eleventh Circuit Breaks the Lemon Test

The Lemon Test has long governed interpretations of the Constitution's Establishment Clause, however, the Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling might finally prove that test to be dead.

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The Eleventh Circuit Breaks the Lemon Test
Keem Ibarra

The Lemon Test comes from the Supreme Court's 1971 ruling in Lemon v. Kurtzman, where the Court required that government actions implicating religion have a "secular purpose" that "neither advances nor inhibits religion." In 1984 the Court added that a "reasonable observer" must conclude the government is not endorsing religion.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. that a cross erected by the American Legion to memorialize U.S. servicemen who died overseas in World War I on public property "did not offend the Constitution." Thus, this was the first hit to the Lemon Test.

On similar grounds, the Eleventh Circuit last week ruled in Kondrat'yev v. Pensacola that a cross erected in a public park in Pensacola, Florida did not violate the Constitution's Establishment Clause, which prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress. This comes after Justice Alito stated in the American Legion case, "A government that roams the land, tearing down monuments with religious symbolism and scrubbing away any reference to the divine will strike many as aggressively hostile to religion."

While I understand that the Bayview Cross in Pensacola held more historical than religious importance for those in the community, as the cross was erected in 1941 as the nation prepared to enter World War II, it begs the question whether the government would rule the same regardless of the religion of the symbol.

I think it is no longer a question of whether religious freedom and rights exist in America, as it is extremely apparent that in many cases religious rights win over civil liberties - it is a question of whose religious rights the government supports and which religion it is willing to endorse.

I disagree with the ruling purely because the intention comes from a deeply Christian background rather than a mindset of respecting the needs of the community. If it was a star of David or the swastik of Hinduism, the government undeniably would not rule in the same way regardless of the context. This discrimination is deeply embedded in the fabric of America - it is just hidden under the guise of religious liberty

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