Con law essay

Introduction

The Lincoln High School seal designed by the School Seal Committee

does not violate the Establishment Clause nor does it violate Leslie

Fosters or anyone else’s right to Freedom of Religion granted by the

First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First

Amendment contains the Establishment Clause which states that the

government shall make no law “Respecting an establishment of

religion”. In other words the government shall not endorse religion and it shall not

give preference to one religion over another but it does not prohibit the

government's entry into religious domain to make accommodations. In this case the

way to determine if the governments actions have endorsed religion it is required to

apply the Lemon Test, created by the United States and obtained from Lemon

v. Kurtzman. The Lemon Test is used to determine whether or

not a display violates the First Amendment by endorsing religion. The first prong of

the Lemon Test articulates that the government’s actions must have a secular

purpose. The second prong affirms that the government’s action must not have

the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion. Last but not

least, the third prong expresses that the governments action must not

result in an “excessive entanglement” alongside religion. To determine if the

Lincoln High School seal is constitutional it must pass all three parts of the Lemon

Test. Therefore, since the Lincoln High Seal does pass all three parts of the Lemon

Test it is proven that the seal does not violate the establishment clause nor does

it violate Leslie Fosters right to Freedom of Religion.

Secular Purpose

A. Stated Purpose

The Lincoln High School seal passed the first prong of the Lemon

Test because it