---
title: "Significant Supreme Court Rulings"
description: "Stone v. Graham (1980) The court ruled that a Kentucky statute requiring public schools to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom was unconstitutional. Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) The court ruled that a Pawtucket, R.I., Christmas display, which included a crèche as well as more secular symbols of Christmas, such as a […]"
date: "2007-06-27"
authors:
  - name: "Benjamin Wormald"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2007/06/27/religious-displays-and-the-courts6/"
---

# Significant Supreme Court Rulings

***[Stone v. Graham](http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1980/1980_80_321) (1980)*** The court ruled that a Kentucky statute requiring public schools to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom was unconstitutional.

***[Lynch v. Donnelly](http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1983/1983_82_1256) (1984)*** The court ruled that a Pawtucket, R.I., Christmas display, which included a crèche as well as more secular symbols of Christmas, such as a Santa Claus and reindeer, was permissible.

***[County of Allegheny v. ACLU ](http://www.oyez.org/cases/1980-1989/1988/1988_87_2050)(1989)*** The court struck down a Christmas crèche displayed alone inside a courthouse in Pittsburgh, Pa., but upheld the same city’s broader holiday display that included a Christmas tree and menorah.

***[Capitol Square Review Board v. Pinette](http://www.oyez.org/cases/1990-1999/1994/1994_94_780) (1995)*** The court ruled that Ohio officials were wrong to deny the Ku Klux Klan the right to place a large cross on a public plaza where displays by private citizens were permitted.

***[McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky](http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2004/2004_03_1693) (2005)*** The court ruled that the placement of framed copies of the Ten Commandments in courthouses in two Kentucky counties was unconstitutional.

***[Van Orden v. Perry](http://www.oyez.org/cases/2000-2009/2004/2004_03_1500) (2005)*** The court ruled that a monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments on the Texas state Capitol grounds was permissible.

Photo credit: Corbis