Does a Hyperlink pass the “Lemon Test”?
The second part of today’s question concerns the school’s Web page – it has a link to the teacher’s personal web page which in turn features religious content. Whether the existence of that hyperlink on a school website violates the Establishment Clause is a fascinating question. Courts often evaluate questions like this based on the so-called “Lemon test.” This has nothing to do with citrus fruits or used cars; it comes from the Supreme Court case of Lemon v. Kurtzman. Under the Lemon est, government action involving religion has to meet three criteria: (i) it has to promote a secular purpose; (ii) its primary effect must be neither to advance nor inhibit religion; and (iii) it must not foster an excessive entanglement with religion. It’s a pretty fuzzy standard, and it’s hard to predict how a court would come out in any particular case. A Link and a Prayer Although I’m not aware of a case directly “on point,” in May 2008, a federal court in Tennessee held that a school had violated t
