Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/21pdf/20-1800_7lho.pdf
Page Number: 37.0

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SHURTLEFF v. BOSTON 

 GORSUCH, J., concurring
GORSUCH, J., concurring in judgment 

inquiry  into  the  Clause’s  original  meaning.
  It  ignored
longstanding precedents.  And instead of bringing clarity to 
the area, Lemon produced only chaos.  In time, this Court 
came to recognize these problems, abandoned Lemon, and 
returned to a more humble jurisprudence centered on the 
Constitution’s original meaning.  Yet in this case, the city 
chose to follow Lemon anyway.  It proved a costly decision,
and Boston’s travails supply a cautionary tale for other lo-
calities and lower courts. 

* 

To  see  how  all  this  unfolded,  start  with  Lemon  itself. 
Lemon held out the promise that any Establishment Clause
dispute could be resolved by following a neat checklist fo-
cused on three questions:  (1) Did the government have a 
secular purpose in its challenged action?  (2) Does the effect
of that action advance or inhibit religion?  (3) Will the gov-
ernment  action  “excessive[ly]  . . .  entangl[e]”  church  and
state?  403  U. S.,  at  612–613  (internal  quotation  marks 
omitted).  But  from  the  start,  this  seemingly  simple  test 
produced  more  questions  than  answers.    How  much 
religion-promoting  purpose  is  too  much?  Are  laws  that 
serve  both  religious  and  secular  purposes  problematic?
How much of a religion-advancing effect is tolerable?  What 
does “excessive entanglement” even mean, and what (if an-
ything) does it add to the analysis?  Putting it all together, 
too, what is a court to do when Lemon’s three inquiries point 
in conflicting directions?  More than 50 years later, the an-
swers to all these questions remain unknown.

The only sure thing Lemon yielded was new business for 
lawyers  and  judges.  Before  Lemon,  this  Court  had  never 
held a flag or other similar public display to constitute an
unconstitutional “establishment” of religion. See Congres-
sional Research Service, C. Brougher, Public Display of the 
Ten  Commandments  and  Other  Religious  Symbols  1–2
(2011)  (Brougher);  M.  McConnell,  No  More  (Old)  Symbol