Stone v. Graham (1980)

In this First Amendment case, the Court held that a Kentucky law requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in public school classrooms was an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause. The Court held that the law failed the Lemon Test, from Lemon v. Kurtzman (1965), which requires that laws have a secular purpose. The Ten Commandments concern worshipping God and observing the Sabbath and were “plainly religious in nature” and therefore did not meet this requirement.

The case touched on constitutional principles including natural rights and majority rule versus minority rights, and civic values including respect.