What Was an "Establishment of Religion" at the Founding?
From FedSoc Forums by The Federalist Society
May 28, 2026 · 52 min
About this episode
Experts discuss the historical meaning of the Establishment Clause and its implications for contemporary legal debates.
In this Federalist Society America250 series, experts analyze modern legal and policy debates through the lens of the Founding generation. The Founders gave us the tools to answer many contemporary questions; join us as we explore those answers.In 2022, the Supreme Court overruled the "Lemon Test" for interpreting the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, holding that the Clause must instead be interpreted by reference to "historical practices and understandings." To do this, the Court suggested it would look to certain historical "hallmarks of religious establishments the framers sought to prohibit when they adopted the First Amendment." This has kicked off a vigorous debate, in both caselaw and scholarship, about what constituted "an establishment of religion" at the time of the Founding, and how that history should inform interpretation of the Establishment Clause today. Join a gathering of the foremost scholars and litigators of the Establishment Clause to discuss the Clause's historical meaning both as a matter of originalist theory and in its application to current church-state controversies, such as displays of the Ten Commandments in public schools.Featuring: Joe…
People in this episode
Guests: Joe Davis, Douglas Laycock, Michael McConnell
Topics covered
- Establishment Clause
- First Amendment
- historical practices
- church-state controversies
- originalist theory
- Supreme Court decisions
Keywords
- Establishment of Religion
- Lemon Test
- Supreme Court
- First Amendment
- Ten Commandments
- church-state
- originalism
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, University of Virginia, University of Texas, Stanford
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