Lynch v. Donnelly

E36509

Lynch v. Donnelly is a 1984 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the inclusion of a nativity scene in a city’s Christmas display and helped shape modern Establishment Clause analysis of government endorsement of religion.

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Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Establishment Clause case
First Amendment case
United States Supreme Court case
appliesTo Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution
hasArgumentDate 1983-10-04
hasCitation 465 U.S. 668
hasConcurrenceBy Justice Sandra Day O’Connor
hasCountry United States
hasCourt Supreme Court of the United States
hasDecisionDate 1984-03-05
hasDissentBy Justice Harry A. Blackmun
linked to: Harry A. Blackmun

Justice John Paul Stevens
linked to: John Paul Stevens

Justice Thurgood Marshall
linked to: Thurgood Marshall

Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
hasDocketNumber 82-1256
hasHolding The inclusion of a nativity scene in a city’s Christmas display did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
hasJoinedMajority Justice Byron R. White
linked to: Byron R. White

Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.
linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (concurring)
Justice William H. Rehnquist
Justice William J. Brennan Jr. (in part and dissent in part)
hasJurisdiction United States federal law
hasKeyConcept endorsement test
excessive government entanglement with religion
primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion
secular purpose
hasLegalIssue Whether a municipality’s inclusion of a creche in a Christmas display constitutes an establishment of religion.
hasLocation Pawtucket, Rhode Island
linked to: Pawtucket
hasMajorityOpinionBy Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
linked to: Warren E. Burger
hasPage 668
hasPetitioner Dennis Lynch, Mayor of Pawtucket, Rhode Island
hasReporter United States Reports
hasRespondent Daniel Donnelly et al.
hasSignificance Helped shape modern Establishment Clause analysis of government endorsement of religion.
Influenced later holiday display cases under the Establishment Clause.
Recognized that government may acknowledge the role of religion in American life in certain ceremonial contexts.
hasSubjectMatter constitutional law
law and religion
hasVolume 465
hasVote 5-4
involves government endorsement of religion
municipal Christmas display
nativity scene
relatedCase County of Allegheny v. ACLU
Lemon v. Kurtzman
McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky
Van Orden v. Perry
usesTest Lemon test

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Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Establishment Clause keyCase Lynch v. Donnelly
County of Allegheny v. ACLU relatedCase Lynch v. Donnelly
Dennis Lynch participantIn Lynch v. Donnelly
Daniel Donnelly et al. partyInCase Lynch v. Donnelly
Daniel Donnelly et al. caseCitation Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
linked to: Lynch v. Donnelly