Lund v. Rowan County’s Empirical Analysis

Citation profile

4 federal appellate ·

Most-quoted passages

The sentences later courts lift from this opinion, ranked by how many decisions quote each — the parts of the opinion doing the work. These counts are smaller than the citation total above because most of the 7 citing decisions cite the case generally; a passage count includes only decisions quoting that exact language verbatim.

1. “the Board’s legislative prayer practice leads to prayers adhering to the faiths of five elected Commissioners. The Board maintains exclusive and complete control over the content of the prayers, and only the Commissioners deliver the prayers. In turn, the Commissioners ask everyone — including the audience — to stand and join in what almost always is a Christian prayer. On the whole, these details and context establish that [the Board’s] prayer practice is an unconstitutionally coercive practice in violation of the Establishment Clause.”

   2 later decisions quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Lund v. Rowan County · Hudson v. Pittsylvania County

2. “Defendant argues that in approving of the Nebraska legislature's appointment of a paid chaplain position, the Supreme Court in Marsh approved of government officials providing prayers, which would extend to the Commissioners as government officials. Defendant's argument misconstrues Marsh and misconceives the role of a legislator. To say that Marsh' held that any person drawing a paycheck from the government is eligible to deliver a legislative prayer ignores the specific history of legislative prayer. It also ignores that legislators, unlike an appointed or volunteer chaplain, are elected ■ decisionmakers who deliberate within the legislative body to whom the prayers are allegedly directed. An appointed chaplain possesses no such legislative, policy-making power.”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. Hudson v. Pittsylvania County

3. “The analysis would be different if town board members directed the public to participate in the prayers, singled out dissidents for opprobrium, or indicated that their decisions might be influenced by a person’s acquiescence in the prayer opportunity____ Although board members themselves stood, bowed their heads, or made the sign of the cross during the prayer, they at no point solicited similar gestures by the public. Respondents point to several occasions where audience members were asked to rise for the prayer. These requests, however, came not from town leaders but from the guest ministers____”

   1 later decision quote this exact passage · from the concurrence
   e.g. 116 F. Supp. 3d 850 - Bormuth v. County of Jackson