1. The Establishment Clause is part of the First Amendment that basically means the government can’t create or support a religion. I understand it as keeping a fair balance, so the government doesn’t favor one religion over another, or religion over no religion at all. It’s often described as a “separation of church and state.” The Lemon Test was created by the Supreme Court to check if a law breaks this rule. It has three simple questions:

• Does the law have a non-religious (secular) purpose?
• Does it avoid helping or hurting religion?
• Does it avoid too much involvement between government and religion?

If a law fails any of these, it’s probably unconstitutional. The Establishment Clause sets the rule, and the Lemon Test is like a checklist courts use to see if that rule is being followed.

2. This was decided in the Supreme Court case Texas v. Johnson. In that case, a man burned the flag as a political protest, and the Court ruled that this counts as “symbolic speech.” Even though many people find it offensive, the Court said the government can’t ban expression just because people don’t like it. The First Amendment protects not just words, but also actions that express ideas, even controversial ones.

3. When someone says “I’m taking the Fifth,” they’re using their rights under the Fifth Amendment. It means they are choosing not to answer a question because it might get them in trouble or be used against them in court. It’s a way of saying, “I’m not answering because I don’t want to accidentally incriminate myself.”