Opinion ID: 166484
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to State an Establishment Clause Claim

Text: The traditional standard used for analysis of Establishment Clause claims was developed in Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 612-13 (1971). Under Lemon, “the [given municipal action] must have a secular legislative purpose; second, [the action’s] principal or primary effect must be one that neither - 19 - advances nor inhibits religion; [and,] finally, the [action] must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion.” Id. (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). No consideration of the second or third criterion is necessary if a statute does not have a clearly secular purpose. Wallace v. Jaffree, 472 U.S. 38, 56 (1985). Thus, to succeed, Plaintiffs must allege facts which suggest a violation of any part of the analysis. Bauchman v. W. High Sch., 132 F.3d 542, 552-53 (10th Cir. 1997). Although this analysis has come under vigorous attack by Justices and commentators alike, see id. at 551 (listing cases and articles), “Lemon ‘has not been overruled’ and thus remains the starting point for our Establishment Clause analysis.” Summum, 297 F.3d at 1009 (citation omitted); see also Lamb’s Chapel v. Ctr. Moriches Union Free Sch. Dist., 508 U.S. 384, 395 n.7 (1993) (reiterating that Lemon has not been overruled).
The First Amendment requires that a governmental action be invalidated “if it is entirely motivated by a purpose to advance religion.” Wallace, 472 U.S. at 56. In making this determination, it is appropriate to ask “whether the government’s actual purpose is to endorse or disapprove of religion.” Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668, 690 (1984). “The Court has invalidated legislation or governmental action on the ground that a secular purpose was lacking, but only when it has concluded there was no question that the statute or activity was - 20 - motivated wholly by religious considerations.” Id. at 680. When the government professes a secular purpose for an arguably religious policy, the government’s characterization is entitled to some deference. Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Doe, 530 U.S. 290, 308 (2000). It remains our duty, though, to “‘distinguis[h] a sham secular purpose from a sincere one.’” Id. (quoting Wallace, 472 U.S. at 75 (O’Connor, J., concurring)). However, we are “reluctan[t] to attribute unconstitutional motives to the states, particularly when a plausible secular purpose for the state’s program may be discerned from the face of the statute.” Mueller v. Allen, 463 U.S. 388, 394-95 (1983); see also Bowen v. Kendrick, 487 U.S. 589, 602 (1998) (legitimate secular purpose behind a program created to eliminate or reduce social and economic problems caused by teenage pregnancy and parenthood); Lynch, 465 U.S. at 680-81 (legitimate secular purpose behind the annual display of a nativity scene in place to celebrate the secular aspects of Christmas); McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U.S. 420, 444-45 (1961) (legitimate secular purpose behind Sunday Blue Laws in place to improve public health, morals, and safety). Secular purposes exist for the sale of the easement. First, the City was well compensated, receiving $5 million in exchange for an easement valued at $500,000. Second, the City was able to extricate itself from perceived entanglement with the Church and thereby reduce public outcry by eliminating - 21 - joint ownership of the Plaza. Similarly, the City could reasonably conclude that if it were left with the responsibility of regulating protected expressive activities on the Plaza, this responsibility would likely result in litigation. Utah Gospel Mission, 316 F. Supp. 2d at 1215-16 (reiterating City’s reasons for selling the easement). Finally, in First Unitarian Church, this court specifically stated that “[i]f it wants an easement, the City must permit speech on the easement. Otherwise, it must relinquish the easement so the parcel becomes entirely private.” 308 F.3d at 1132. The City and Church could conclude that by choosing one of the options presented, each could avoid further litigation involving potential constitutional violations. Thus, Defendants have advanced numerous plausible legitimate secular purposes for the sale, which are entitled to some degree of deference. Bauchman, 132 F.3d at 554. Moreover, the fact that some religious purpose may be advanced by the sale does not constitute an establishment of religion given the secular purposes advanced here. In spite of the purported religious purposes behind the transaction, we agree with the district court that there are “obvious and numerous” secular purposes, including resolving the legal dispute over the easement, eliminating the City’s responsibility to regulate activities on the Plaza, enabling the construction of a new community center, and promoting tourism and economic development. Utah Gospel Mission, 316 F. Supp. 2d at 1238. - 22 - Accordingly, the sale of the easement does not violate the purpose prong of the Lemon test.
The second part of the Lemon test asks whether the principal or primary effect of the given governmental action either endorses or inhibits religion. Lemon, 403 U.S. at 612 (citation omitted). “Endorsement” in this context is akin to “promotion.” County of Allegheny v. ACLU, 492 U.S. 573, 593 (1989). Symbolic benefit to religion is enough; it “need not be material and tangible advancement.” Friedman v. Bd. of County Comm’rs of Bernalillo County, 781 F.2d 777, 781 (10th Cir. 1985). Of particular importance within the effect prong is “whether the challenged policy ensures government ‘neutrality towards religion.’” Summum, 297 F.3d at 1010 (quoting Good News Club v. Milford Cent. Sch., 533 U.S. 98, 114 (2001)). In essence, the court “must consider not only whether the government is actually acting neutrally but also whether a reasonable observer, reasonably informed as to the relevant circumstances, would perceive the government to be acting neutrally.” Id.; see also Bd. of Educ. v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687, 696 (1994). Thus, a governmental action is not “unconstitutional simply because it allows churches to advance religion, which is their very purpose. For a law to have forbidden ‘effects’ under Lemon, it must be fair to say that the government itself has - 23 - advanced religion through its own activities and influence.” Corp. of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327, 337 (1987) (emphasis in original). Accordingly, the Court held that an “equal access” policy would not violate the Establishment Clause. See Lemon, 403 U.S. at 612-13; see also Bd. of Educ. v. Allen, 392 U.S. 236 (1968) (upholding expenditure of public money for textbooks supplied to church-sponsored schools); Everson v. Bd. of Educ., 330 U.S. 1 (1947) (upholding expenditure of public funds for transportation of students to church-sponsored schools); Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672 (1971) (upholding federal grants for college buildings to church-sponsored institutions of higher learning); Roemer v. Bd. of Pub. Works, 426 U.S. 736 (1976) (upholding noncategorical grants to church-sponsored colleges and universities). At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Court has found that a governmental subsidy directed at religious institutions and not required by the Free Exercise Clause conveys a message of endorsement. Tex. Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock, 489 U.S. 1 (1989); see also Santa Fe Indep. Sch. Dist., 530 U.S. at 30506 (finding that although the school characterized the prayer program as “hands off,” “the realities of the situation plainly reveal that its policy involves both perceived and actual endorsement of religion”); Foremaster v. City of St. George, 882 F.2d 1485, 1489 (10th Cir. 1989) (holding that an electric subsidy given by - 24 - the City impermissibly advanced the LDS Church). Looked at objectively, the instant case is one of neutrality and equal access, in which the City does nothing to advance religion, but merely enables the LDS Church to advance itself. Although Plaintiffs contend that this is a case of implicit endorsement or promotion of the Church’s message, when viewed objectively as a transfer of property from the government to a private entity, which happens to be a church, the sale of the easement cannot be held to violate the effect prong of Lemon. In essence, because neutrality toward religion by the state is the key, the City must transact indiscriminately with both religious and non-religious buyers.
Lemon’s final prong provides that a challenged governmental action “must not foster ‘an excessive government entanglement with religion.’” Lemon, 403 U.S. at 613 (citation omitted). Total separation between church and state is not possible in an absolute sense. “Fire inspections, building and zoning regulations, and state requirements under compulsory school-attendance laws are examples of necessary and permissible contacts.” Id. at 614. “In order to determine whether the government entanglement with religion is excessive, we must examine the character and purposes of the institutions that are benefited, the nature of the aid that the State provides, and the resulting relationship between the government and - 25 - the religious authority.” Id. at 615. First, while First Unitarian Church held that the easement is a public forum, by no means did we state that the City could never sell the easement. Instead, we stated that because the easement is a public forum, the city must either permit speech on it, or “relinquish the easement so the parcel becomes entirely private.” First Unitarian Church, 308 F.3d at 1132. Second, one of the secular purposes for the transaction is that the City wanted to rid itself of the responsibility of regulating activities on the Plaza and the attendant public outcry. Utah Gospel Mission, 316 F. Supp. 2d at 1215. Thus, this transaction shows an attempt by the City to extricate itself from the task of regulating the Plaza. Therefore, because the Church and City are ending this part of their relationship, there is no excessive entanglement of church and state.