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Law School Case Briefs

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Edwards v. Aguillard

Supreme Court of the United States (1987) | 96 L. Ed. 2d 510; 107 S. Ct. 2573; 482 U.S. 578; 1987 U.S. LEXIS 2729; 55 U.S.L.W. 4860

4 min read

TL;DR: A Louisiana law required public schools to teach "creation science" if they taught evolution. The Supreme Court invalidated the law, finding its actual purpose was to promote a specific religious belief, thus violating the First Amendment's Establishment Clause.

Legal Significance: This case solidified the Lemon test's "purpose" prong as a significant barrier to laws promoting religious concepts in public school science curricula, establishing that a law's stated secular purpose must be sincere and not a sham to survive an Establishment Clause challenge.

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