A state legislature enacts a law authorizing public schools to prominently display a copy of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, citing the need to recognize the text's historical and cultural significance. A group of parents files suit, alleging a violation of the Establishment clause of the First Amendment. What is the BEST method to evaluate whether the law is constitutional?
Assessing whether the law impacts individual religious beliefs.
A review of historical traditions to determine the inclusion of religious references.
A framework to evaluate whether a government action conveys endorsement of a specific religion to the general public.
A three-part evaluation to consider purpose, influence, and connections with religion.
The correct evaluation method is the 'Lemon Test,' established in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971). This three-part test assesses whether a governmental action has a legitimate secular purpose, whether its primary effect advances or inhibits religion, and whether it creates excessive entanglement with religion. Displaying religious texts in schools, even when justified on historical grounds, likely violates the test because it may lack a primarily secular purpose and could be seen as advancing religion. The other options are incorrect because they either rely on overly narrow tests or focus on subjective impacts rather than constitutional standards. For instance, evaluating whether the law impacts individual religious beliefs or relies on historical tradition is not sufficient under the Lemon framework, which requires analyzing the broader implications of state action on religion.
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