This section contains three (3) Appellate Court cases illustrative of applying the "Establishment Clause" to specific fact patterns.

1. San Diego, CA Mt. Solidad Cross Case (Case took 27 years to fully resolve; 1989 - 2016)
2. Santa Monica, CA Nativity Scene (Creche) Case, 2015
3. Indiana Nativity Scene Case, 2021

When reading and analyzing court case decisions, the most important things to understand are the specific case facts and how the case facts align with the law (including legal precedent.) However, cases with very similar fact patterns can have different rulings based on how justices compare the case facts to the law. Justices are human beings who have been raised in different types of communities (i.e. religious views, conservative vs. liberal), education, and clerk-ships. The same or similar case facts can be decided differently in the more liberal 9th Circuit and the more conservative 7th circuit. For the 3 above listed cases, California is in the 9th circuit while Indiana is in the 7th circuit.