Opinion ID: 740411
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Determination of Purpose

Text: 23 The first prong of the Lemon test requires that the challenged statute have a clearly secular purpose. Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 56, 105 S.Ct. 2479, 2489, 86 L.Ed.2d 29 (1985). However, the statute's purpose need not be exclusively secular. Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 681 n. 6, 104 S.Ct. 1355, 1363 n. 6, 79 L.Ed.2d 604 (1984). A statute violates the Establishment Clause if it is entirely motivated by a purpose to advance religion. Jaffree, 472 U.S. at 56, 105 S.Ct. at 2489. See also Church of Scientology v. City of Clearwater, 2 F.3d 1514, 1527 (11th Cir.1993), cert. denied, 513 U.S. 807, 115 S.Ct. 54, 130 L.Ed.2d 13 (1994) ( '[N]o legislative recitation of a supposed secular purpose can blind us' to an enactment's 'pre-eminent purpose.' ) (quoting Stone v. Graham, 449 U.S. 39, 41, 101 S.Ct. 192, 194, 66 L.Ed.2d 199 (1980) (per curiam)). In determining a statute's purpose, the court should inquire into  'whether [the] government's actual purpose is to endorse or disapprove of religion.'  Jaffree, 472 U.S. at 56, 105 S.Ct. at 2489 (quoting Lynch, 465 U.S. at 690, 104 S.Ct. at 1368 (O'Connor, J., concurring)). See also County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 592, 109 S.Ct. 3086, 3100, 106 L.Ed.2d 472 (1989); Edwards v. Aguillard, 482 U.S. 578, 585, 107 S.Ct. 2573, 2578, 96 L.Ed.2d 510 (1987); Jager, 862 F.2d at 829. A court usually should be deferential to the state's articulation of a secular purpose, but the secular purpose must be sincere and not a sham. Edwards, 482 U.S. at 586-87, 107 S.Ct. at 2579. 24 To ascertain a statute's purpose, it is, of course, necessary to examine the language of the statute on its face. Edwards, 482 U.S. at 594, 107 S.Ct. at 2583; Church of Scientology, 2 F.3d at 1527. It is also appropriate to consider the legislative history of the statute and the specific sequence of events leading up to the adoption of the statute. Edwards, 482 U.S. at 594-95, 107 S.Ct. at 2583; Church of Scientology, 2 F.3d at 1527.