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Religion, Government, And Law In The Contemporary United States, Daniel O. Conkle
Religion, Government, And Law In The Contemporary United States, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
In this Essay, I discuss the relationship between religion and government in the contemporary United States, addressing the period from the 1940s to the present. In so doing, I explore questions of religious liberty, including the protection of religious “free exercise” as well as the constitutional prohibition on the establishment of religion, a prohibition that sometimes - but not always - has been construed to require a “wall of separation” between church and state. I focus especially on the Supreme Court’s evolving interpretations of the First Amendment during this period, which, I suggest, were influenced by broader religious, cultural, and …
Religious Truth, Pluralism, And Secularization: The Shaking Foundations Of American Religious Liberty, Daniel O. Conkle
Religious Truth, Pluralism, And Secularization: The Shaking Foundations Of American Religious Liberty, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
In this Essay, I recount John Locke’s 1689 Letter Concerning Toleration and explain how religious liberty continues to rest on Lockean and related justifications. These various justifications depend in part on religious-moral reasoning (both Christian and non-Christian) and in part on political-pragmatic considerations. I then discuss recent and ongoing developments in the American religious landscape, including a radical increase in religious diversity, the modernization of traditional faiths, the individualization or "spiritualization" of religion, and the increasing secularization of individual belief structures. I suggest that these developments, over time, may seriously threaten the underlying religious-moral and political-pragmatic foundations of religious liberty …
Religion, Science And The Secular State: Creationism In American Public Schools, Gene Shreve
Religion, Science And The Secular State: Creationism In American Public Schools, Gene Shreve
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This Article examines the current debate whether creationism may be taught in American schools given the constraints of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The author considers some of the social and political consequences of the U.S. Supreme Court's leading cases. The article concludes by questioning whether the Supreme Court has succeeded in justifying its restrictive decisions in this controversial area.
Book Review. Religious Liberty In America: The First Amendment In Historical And Contemporary Perspective, Daniel O. Conkle
Book Review. Religious Liberty In America: The First Amendment In Historical And Contemporary Perspective, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
The Establishment Clause And Religious Expression In Governmental Settings: Four Variables In Search Of A Standard, Daniel O. Conkle
The Establishment Clause And Religious Expression In Governmental Settings: Four Variables In Search Of A Standard, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
In his controversial but controlling opinion in Van Orden v. Perry, Justice Breyer rejected an Establishment Clause challenge to a Ten Commandments monument on the grounds of the Texas State Capital. Breyer argued that existing Establishment Clause formulations, including the Lemon and endorsement tests, were inadequate to resolve the case, so he relied instead on legal judgment, an approach informed by doctrinal and policy considerations but not controlled by any formal test. In this Essay, I suggest that Justice Breyer may have been right in Van Orden-if not in his result, then at least in approaching the question as he …
Book Review. The Supreme Court And Religion In American Life, Daniel O. Conkle
Book Review. The Supreme Court And Religion In American Life, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
O Say, Can You See: Free Expression By The Light Of Fiery Crosses, Jeannine Bell
O Say, Can You See: Free Expression By The Light Of Fiery Crosses, Jeannine Bell
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This Article presents a comprehensive, context-based theory which both places cross burning in its proper doctrinal framework and recognizes the history of cross burning as one of Ku Klux Klan-inspired terrorism directed at African Americans. The author prefaces critical commentary on the Supreme Court's decision in Virginia v. Black with analysis of the full landscape of cross burning cases including another issue to which others have paid little attention - the ways in which state courts have negotiated First Amendment challenges to cross burning statutes. Thoroughly examining cross burning from each of these perspectives, the Article argues that cross burning …
Deciding When Hate Is A Crime: The First Amendment, Police Detectives, And The Identification Of Hate Crime, Jeannine Bell
Deciding When Hate Is A Crime: The First Amendment, Police Detectives, And The Identification Of Hate Crime, Jeannine Bell
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This Article adds to the debate a story of how hate crime law is enforced, based on the experiences of the police detectives who are required to enforce hate crime law. Part I of this Article provides a brief description of hate crime laws and argues that the police play an important role in the determination of how hate crime law is enforced and ultimately, whether defendants’ First Amendment rights will be respected. Part II describes critics’ concerns about defendants’ First Amendment rights and the narrow constitutional line that enforcers of hate crime law must walk between enforcing hate crime …
Constitutional Issues In Information Privacy, Fred H. Cate, Robert E. Litan
Constitutional Issues In Information Privacy, Fred H. Cate, Robert E. Litan
Articles by Maurer Faculty
The U.S. Constitution has been largely ignored in the recent flurry of privacy laws and regulations designed to protect personal information from incursion by the private sector, despite the fact that many of these enactments and efforts to enforce them significantly implicate the First Amendment. Questions about the role of the Constitution have assumed new importance in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Efforts to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators and to protect against future terrorist attacks, while threatening to weaken constitutional protections against government intrusions into personal …
The Free Exercise Clause: How Redundant, And Why?, Daniel O. Conkle
The Free Exercise Clause: How Redundant, And Why?, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
This article responds to Professor Mark Tushnet's article, "The Redundant Free Exercise Clause?" Although its analysis and specific conclusions are distinctive, the article reaches a general conclusion similar to Tushnet's - namely, that the contemporary Free Exercise Clause is largely redundant, in that it provides little protection that is not afforded independently by other First Amendment doctrines. The article first contends that the core principle of the contemporary Free Exercise Clause, the nondiscrimination requirement of Employment Division v. Smith, might be subsumed, perhaps entirely, within the free speech principle that disfavors content discrimination. To that extent, the Free Exercise Clause …
Are We Buyers Or Hosts? A Memetic Approach To The First Amendment, Jeffrey E. Stake
Are We Buyers Or Hosts? A Memetic Approach To The First Amendment, Jeffrey E. Stake
Articles by Maurer Faculty
The First Amendment is often analyzed using the metaphor of the marketplace of ideas. Making use of memetic analysis, this article suggests that ideas should not be treated as inert products that we choose but as living things that sometimes exert some influence over their environment. Some of the ideas are more adept at surviving than others, and the ones that survive will not necessarily be good for humans. To account for the ability of some memes to replicate dangerously, the First Amendment should be read to allow governments to punish a speaker who advocates or threatens physical injury (other …
Untying The State Action Knot, Craig M. Bradley
Untying The State Action Knot, Craig M. Bradley
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
A Law Antecedent And Paramount, Fred H. Cate
A Law Antecedent And Paramount, Fred H. Cate
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
The New First Amendment And Its Impact On The Second, Daniel O. Conkle
The New First Amendment And Its Impact On The Second, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
Content Discrimination And The First Amendment, Susan H. Williams
Content Discrimination And The First Amendment, Susan H. Williams
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
Toward A General Theory Of The Establishment Clause, Daniel O. Conkle
Toward A General Theory Of The Establishment Clause, Daniel O. Conkle
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.
Reinterpreting The Religion Clauses: Constitutional Construction And Conceptions Of The Self, Susan H. Williams
Reinterpreting The Religion Clauses: Constitutional Construction And Conceptions Of The Self, Susan H. Williams
Articles by Maurer Faculty
The first amendment guarantees freedom from "law[s] respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The apparent tension between the two clauses of this provision has generated judicial confusion and scholarly disagreement. The perceived conflict between the religion clauses is the product of a particular understanding of what is most fundamental about human identity and the human situation - an understanding that derives from classical liberal political theory and that assumes a sharp division between the individual and his community. This Note proposes an alternative to the liberal conception of human identity, one that encompasses both the …
Book Review. Free Speech And Its Relation To Self-Government By Alexander Meiklejohn, John P. Frank
Book Review. Free Speech And Its Relation To Self-Government By Alexander Meiklejohn, John P. Frank
Articles by Maurer Faculty
No abstract provided.