Lynch v. Donnelly

465 U.S. 668 · Decided March 5, 1984 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Lynch v. Donnelly was decided on March 5, 1984 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Establishment of religion” in the First Amendment area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Lynch, Mayor of Pawtucket, et al. v. Donnelly et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1983-048, docket 1983-048-01.

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Other cases on “Establishment of religion”

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Cases on the same legal provision: First Amendment (establishment of religion)

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  463 U.S. 388Decided June 29, 19835–4William H. Rehnquist
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  472 U.S. 38Decided June 4, 19856–3John Paul Stevens
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  474 U.S. 481Decided January 27, 19869–0Thurgood Marshall
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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court of California
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  465 U.S. 271Decided February 21, 19846–3Sandra Day O'Connor
• Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc.
  466 U.S. 485Decided April 30, 19846–3John Paul Stevens
• Members of the City Council of the City of Los Angeles v. Taxpayers for Vincent
  466 U.S. 789Decided May 15, 19846–3John Paul Stevens
• Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart
  467 U.S. 20Decided May 21, 19849–0Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Secretary of State of Maryland v. Joseph H. Munson Co., Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  467 U.S. 947Decided June 26, 19845–4Harry A. Blackmun

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error