Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39 (1980)

Facts:
In 1978, the state of Kentucky enacted a law requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. Each plaque would be purchased with private contributions and would bear the following statement: "[T]he secular application of the Ten Commandments is clearly seen in its adoption as the fundamental legal code of Western Civilization and the Common Law of the United States."

Issue:
Whether the Ten Commandments may be permanently and compulsorily posted in public school classrooms by state law.

Holding:
By a vote of 5-4, the Court ruled that a state law requiring public schools to permanently post the Ten Commandments violates the Establishment Clause.

Reasoning:
In this case, the Court issued a per curiam decision and reversed the lower court without hearing argument. Invoking the Lemon test, the Court found that there was no secular purpose behind the posting of the Ten Commandments. The Commandments are a sacred religious text, and their posting, without any connection to the curriculum, can only be for the purpose of promoting certain religious views.

Majority:
"This is not a case in which the Ten Commandments are integrated into the school curriculum, where the Bible may constitutionally be used in an appropriate study of history, civilization, ethics, comparative religion, or the like. [See Abington School District v. Schempp.] Posting of religious texts on the wall serves no such educational function. If the posted copies of the Ten Commandments are to have any effect at all, it will be to induce the schoolchildren to read, meditate upon, perhaps to venerate and obey, the Commandments. However desirable this might be as a matter of private devotion, it is not a permissible state objective under the Establishment Clause of the Constitution." (Per Curiam)

Dissent:
"The Establishment Clause does not require that the public sector be insulated from all things which may have a religious significance or origin . . . Kentucky has decided to make students aware of this fact by demonstrating the secular impact of the Ten Commandments." (Justice William Rehnquist)

Read more about this case at firstamendmentcenter.org:

Last updated: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 | 06:06:44