Final answer:
The Establishment Clause prevents the government from supporting one religion over another, while the Lemon v. Kurtzman case provided the Lemon Test to determine government actions' compliance with the Clause. This test and its criteria are used widely in cases involving public funding for religious education, such as voucher programs, to ensure separation of church and state.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Establishment Clause and Lemon v. Kurtzman
The Establishment Clause is part of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and prohibits Congress from making any law "respecting an establishment of religion." This clause is commonly interpreted as creating a separation between church and state, effectively preventing the government from endorsing or supporting any religion over another, or religion over non-religion. The landmark case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) significantly impacted the interpretation and enforcement of the Establishment Clause within the areas of public education and government-sponsored events.
In Lemon v. Kurtzman, the Supreme Court developed a three-pronged test, known as the Lemon Test, to determine when government actions are in violation of the Establishment Clause. For any law or government action to pass this test, it must meet three criteria: (1) have a secular legislative purpose; (2) not have the primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion; and (3) avoid excessive government entanglement with religion. This test has been used to evaluate a wide range of issues, including government funding for private religious schools and prayer in public schools. While the legality of certain actions has evolved over time, such as the relaxation of standards for allowing public funds to be used for private religious schools, the Lemon Test remains influential in assessing whether specific government actions are constitutional under the Establishment Clause.
An example of this test in action today is the ongoing debate over school vouchers, which may provide public funding for students to attend private, often religious, schools. The question under the Lemon Test would be whether providing such vouchers has a secular purpose, whether it advances or inhibits religion, and whether it results in the government becoming overly entangled with religion. Decisions in such cases continue to define the relationship between religion and public education.