Main Content
Kennedy v. Bremerton School District
This case is doctrinally important for reasons you'll cover in a Religion and the Law class, if you choose to take it. The Court officially overruled the Lemon test for the Establishment Clause and replaced it with a "history and traditions" approach. I'm less concerned with the doctrine here. I want you to focus on the diverging descriptions of the facts by the majority and the dissent.
Setting aside any potential ethical questions or civil procedure-ish questions about how appellate courts deal with trial courts' fact-finding, the case serves as a strong example of how the way you state facts matters.
READ Majority p. 1-8 (Intro and Section I) and Dissent p. 1-11 (Intro and Section IA and IB)
This book, and all H2O books, are Creative Commons licensed for sharing and re-use with the exception of certain excerpts. Any excerpts from the Restatements of the Law, Principles of the Law, and the Model Penal Code are copyright by The American Law Institute. Excerpts are reproduced with permission, not as part of a Creative Commons license.