It is impossible to build sound constitutional doctrine upon a mistaken understanding of Constitutional history... The establishment clause has been expressly freighted with Jefferson's misleading metaphor for nearly forty years... There is simply no historical foundation for the proposition that the framers intended to build a wall of separation... The recent court decisions are in no way based on either the language or intent of the framers.
William RehnquistThe "wall of separation between church and State" is a metaphor based on bad history.
William RehnquistIf you could say of any one individual that the court as an institution is the length and shadow of that individual, surely it would be John Marshall.
William Rehnquist