[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you for your reply!

Actually, motive is rather central. If the First Amendment were only about free speech, then the ID folks would have a free hand in government schools -- and so would everything else. But there is also the establishment clause. Free speech doesn't allow government agents to violate the establishment clause. That's why it's a necessary condition of state action that it must have a secular purpose.

And that is the problem with the Lemon test - and the reason the Supreme Court already doesn't like Lemon and will no doubt move to repair the mess it has created once Alito is on the court.

[PatrickHenry]

And that is the problem with the Lemon test - and the reason the Supreme Court already doesn't like Lemon and will no doubt move to repair the mess it has created once Alito is on the court.

The judge in the Dover case (Kitzmiller et al. v Dover Area School District et al.) applied the Lemon test because both sides agreed to it However, the judge said:

After a searching review of Supreme Court and Third Circuit Court of Appeals precedent, it is apparent to this Court that both the endorsement test and the Lemon test should be employed in this case to analyze the constitutionality of the ID Policy under the Establishment Clause, for the reasons that follow.

So your problems with the Dover decision go way beyond Lemon.