U.S. Supreme Court Frees Christmas From the “Lemon Test”

---

ORLANDO, FL – The return of the Christmas season prompts a return of the annual scrutiny of Christmas expressions in the public square. For years, opponents to religious expression and activist courts have fought using the U.S. Supreme Court created “Lemon Test” to remove the Ten Commandments, crosses, Nativity scenes, and other religious symbols and displays from public property. However, the “Lemon Test” had been inconsistently applied through the years and the High Court recently abandoned it in favor of the original and historical textual meanings of the Constitution. The ruling changed the legal landscape in America where the public and private sector cannot censor religious expression.

The “Lemon Test” Is Dead

The “Lemon Test” was a three-part test developed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 (Lemon v. Kurtzman) to evaluate if government actions would favor one religion over another and violate the Establishment Clause. The test was designed to be a universal way to resolve cases arising under the First Amendment Establishment Clause, and whether they involved government expression of religious speech, such as legislative prayer, public funding that flows to religious groups, religious displays, etc.

For 51 years, the “Lemon Test” had been used by courts to distort the Free Exercise Clause and the Free Speech Clause to remove religious symbols and displays from the public square. However, all that changed in 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the “Lemon Test” over a series of rulings favoring a new “test” of “historical practices and understandings” to determine the extent of religious expression in the public square.

Support Canada Free Press