The Lemon Test, established in the Supreme Court case Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), is a three-pronged test used to determine whether a government action violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The three prongs are:
- The government action must have a secular legislative purpose.
- The primary effect of the action must neither advance nor inhibit religion.
- The action must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion.
Now let's analyze each option in light of the Lemon Test:
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Taxpayer money goes to a private religious school in order to furnish Bibles to all students.
- This likely fails the Lemon Test, as the primary purpose of furnishing Bibles is to promote a religious text, which would not satisfy the secular purpose requirement.
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Taxpayer money goes to a private religious school in order to pay the salary of a school bus driver.
- This could meet the Lemon Test if the bus driver is providing transportation services that would be provided regardless of the religious affiliation of the school, as it has a secular purpose and does not advance or inhibit religion directly.
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Taxpayer money goes to a public school in order to pay the salary of a youth minister.
- This likely fails the Lemon Test because it directly involves funding a religious figure within a public school context, which would be seen as advancing religion.
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Taxpayer money goes to a public school in order to pay for facilities used for religious meetings during instructional time.
- This would almost certainly fail the Lemon Test, as it involves using public funds for facilities that host religious meetings, showing a clear advancing of religion.
Based on this analysis, the second option is the one that may meet the Lemon Test and be considered legal under the First Amendment, provided that the bus driver's duties are purely secular and do not involve any religious promotion.