In the case of Stone et al. v. Graham, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky in 1980, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a Kentucky statute requiring the posting of a copy of the Ten Commandments on classroom walls in public schools violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. The court held that while teaching about religion or using religious texts for educational purposes was permissible under certain circumstances, this particular law had no secular legislative purpose and thus constituted an unconstitutional endorsement and promotion of religion by government authorities. The decision emphasized that any law respecting an establishment of religion is forbidden by Constitution even if its observance is voluntary and it does not favor one religion over another.

In the dissenting opinion for Stone v. Graham, Justice Rehnquist argued that the majority's decision to strike down a Kentucky statute requiring public schools to display copies of the Ten Commandments was based on an overly broad interpretation of the Establishment Clause. He contended that there was no evidence suggesting that displaying these religious texts had any coercive effect on students or constituted government endorsement of religion. Instead, he viewed it as a permissible acknowledgment of our nation's religious heritage and culture. Furthermore, he criticized the majority for failing to consider historical context in their analysis and suggested they were imposing modern secularism onto past events and traditions. In his view, this approach threatened many longstanding practices such as legislative prayer or references to God in national symbols which have been widely accepted despite having some religious significance.