Marsh v. Chambers

463 U.S. 783 (1983)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

The Nebraska Legislature begins each of its sessions with a prayer offered by a chaplain who is chosen biennially by the Executive Board of the Legislative Council and paid out of public funds. P is a member of the Nebraska Legislature and a taxpayer of Nebraska. P brought this action under 42 U. S. C. § 1983, seeking to enjoin enforcement of the practice as violative of the Establishment Clause. The District Court held that the Establishment Clause was not breached by the prayers, but was violated by paying the chaplain from public funds. The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit rejected arguments that the case should be dismissed on Tenth Amendment, legislative immunity, standing, or federalism grounds. The court refused to treat P's challenges as separable issues as the District Court had done. It assessed the practice as a whole and applying the three-part test of Lemon v. Kurtzman it held that the chaplaincy practice violated all three elements of the test: the purpose and primary effect of selecting the same minister for years and publishing his prayers was to promote a particular religious expression; use of state money for compensation and publication led to entanglement. the Court of Appeals modified the District Court's injunction and prohibited the State from engaging in any aspect of its established chaplaincy practice. D appealed.