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Full-Text Articles in Law
Eclecticism, Nelson Tebbe
Eclecticism, Nelson Tebbe
Nelson Tebbe
This short piece comments on Kent Greenawalt's new book, Religion and the Constitution: Establishment and Fairness. It argues that although Greenawalt's eclectic approach carries certain obvious costs, his theory cannot be evaluated without comparing its advantages and disadvantages to those of its competitors. It concludes by giving some sense of what that comparative calculus might look like.
Nonbelievers, Nelson Tebbe
Nonbelievers, Nelson Tebbe
Nelson Tebbe
How should courts handle nonbelievers who bring religious freedom claims? Although this question is easy to grasp, it presents a genuine puzzle because the religion clauses of the Constitution, along with many contemporary statutes, protect only religion by their terms. From time to time, judges and lawyers have therefore struggled with the place of nonbelievers in the American scheme of religious freedom. Today, this problem is gaining prominence because of nonbelievers’ rising visibility. New lines of social conflict are forming around them, generating disputes that have already gone legal. In this Article, I argue that no wholesale response will do. …
Government Nonendorsement, Nelson Tebbe
Government Nonendorsement, Nelson Tebbe
Nelson Tebbe
What are the constitutional limits on government endorsement? Judges and scholars typically assume that when the government speaks on its own account, it faces few restrictions. In fact, they often say that the only real restriction on government speech is the Establishment Clause. On this view, officials cannot endorse, say, Christianity, but otherwise they enjoy wide latitude to promote democracy or denigrate smoking. Two doctrines and their accompanying literatures have fed this impression. First, the Court’s recent free speech cases have suggested that government speech is virtually unfettered. Second, experts on religious freedom have long assumed that there is no …
First Amendment Decisions From The October 2006 Term, Erwin Chemerinsky, Marci A. Hamilton
First Amendment Decisions From The October 2006 Term, Erwin Chemerinsky, Marci A. Hamilton
Erwin Chemerinsky
No abstract provided.
An Overview Of The October 2006 Supreme Court Term, Erwin Chemerinsky
An Overview Of The October 2006 Supreme Court Term, Erwin Chemerinsky
Erwin Chemerinsky
No abstract provided.
Is It Unconstitutional To Prohibit Faith-Based Schools From Becoming Charter Schools?, Stephen D. Sugarman
Is It Unconstitutional To Prohibit Faith-Based Schools From Becoming Charter Schools?, Stephen D. Sugarman
Stephen D Sugarman
This article argues that it is unconstitutional for state charter school programs to preclude faith-based schools from obtaining charters. First, the “school choice” movement of the past 50 years is described, situating charter schools in that movement. The current state of play of school choice is documented and the roles of charter schools, private schools (primarily faith-based schools), and public school choice options are elaborated. In this setting I argue a) based on the current state of the law it would not be unconstitutional (under the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause) for states to elect to make faith-based schools eligible for …
The First Amendment And The Socialization Of Children: Compulsory Public Education And Vouchers, Steven H. Shiffrin
The First Amendment And The Socialization Of Children: Compulsory Public Education And Vouchers, Steven H. Shiffrin
Steven H. Shiffrin
Criticism of American public schools has been a cottage industry since the Nineteenth Century. In recent years the criticism has gone to the roots. Critics charge that to leave children imprisoned in the public school monopoly is to risk the standardization of our children; it is to socialize them in the preferred views of the State. They argue that it would be better to adopt a system of vouchers or private scholarships to support a multiplicity of private schools. A multiplicity of such schools, it is said, would enhance parental choice, would foster competition, and would promote a diversity of …
The Pluralistic Foundations Of The Religion Clauses, Steven Shiffrin
The Pluralistic Foundations Of The Religion Clauses, Steven Shiffrin
Steven H. Shiffrin
Contemporary Supreme Court interpretations suggest that the religion clauses are primarily rooted in the value of equality. The United States Supreme Court has argued that in the absence of discrimination against religion (or the presence of other constitutional values), there is no violation of the Free Exercise Clause when a statute inadvertently burdens religion. Similarly, equality values have played a strong role in the Court's Establishment Clause jurisprudence. Many distinguished commentators have pointed to the equality focus and have argued that it gives insufficient attention to the value of religious liberty. Professor Shiffrin argues that these commentators are right in …
A Fourth Amendment Framework For The Fee Exercise Clause, Adam Lamparello
A Fourth Amendment Framework For The Fee Exercise Clause, Adam Lamparello
Adam Lamparello
This article proposes a paradigm for resolving disputes under the free exercise clause that is analogous to the framework used by the court under the fourth amendment when balancing privacy rights against investigatory powers of law enforcement. In its Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, the Court provides varying degrees of protection to privacy – and imposes different evidentiary requirements on law enforcement – depending on the context in which privacy is affected, the intrusiveness of a particular search, and the asserted governmental interests. For example, privacy receives the strongest protections in areas such as the home, thus requiring law enforcement to have …
Same-Sex Marriage, Second-Class Citizenship, And Law's Social Meanings, Michael C. Dorf
Same-Sex Marriage, Second-Class Citizenship, And Law's Social Meanings, Michael C. Dorf
Michael C. Dorf
Government acts, statements, and symbols that carry the social meaning of second-class citizenship may, as a consequence of that fact, violate the Establishment Clause or the constitutional requirement of equal protection. Yet social meaning is often contested. Do laws permitting same-sex couples to form civil unions but not to enter into marriage convey the social meaning that gays and lesbians are second-class citizens? Do official displays of the Confederate battle flag unconstitutionally convey support for slavery and white supremacy? When public schools teach evolution but not creationism, do they show disrespect for creationists? Different audiences reach different conclusions about the …
The Concept Of Religion, Eduardo M. Peñalver
The Concept Of Religion, Eduardo M. Peñalver
Eduardo M. Peñalver
No abstract provided.
Here’S Some Malarkey: Judges Are Umpires, Alan E. Garfield
Here’S Some Malarkey: Judges Are Umpires, Alan E. Garfield
Alan E Garfield
No abstract provided.
Religion And Group Rights: Are Churches (Just) Like The Boy Scouts?, Richard W. Garnett
Religion And Group Rights: Are Churches (Just) Like The Boy Scouts?, Richard W. Garnett
Richard W Garnett
What role do religious communities, groups, and associations play - and, what role should they play - in our thinking and conversations about religious freedom and church-state relations? These and related questions - that is, questions about the rights and responsibilities of religious institutions - are timely, difficult, and important. And yet, they are often neglected.
It is not new to observe that American judicial decisions and public conversations about religious freedom tend to focus on matters of individuals' rights, beliefs, consciences, and practices. The special place, role, and freedoms of groups, associations, and institutions are often overlooked. However, if …
Imagining The Past And Remembering The Future: The Supreme Court's History Of The Establishment Clause, Gerard V. Bradley
Imagining The Past And Remembering The Future: The Supreme Court's History Of The Establishment Clause, Gerard V. Bradley
Gerard V. Bradley
No abstract provided.
Irreparability Resurrected?: Does A Recalibrated Irreparable Injury Rule Threaten The Warren Court's Establishment Clause Legacy?, Doug Rendleman
Irreparability Resurrected?: Does A Recalibrated Irreparable Injury Rule Threaten The Warren Court's Establishment Clause Legacy?, Doug Rendleman
Doug Rendleman
No abstract provided.
A Look At The Establishment Clause Through The Prism Of Religious Perspectives: Religious Majorities, Religious Minorities, And Nonbelievers, Samuel J. Levine
A Look At The Establishment Clause Through The Prism Of Religious Perspectives: Religious Majorities, Religious Minorities, And Nonbelievers, Samuel J. Levine
Samuel J. Levine
This article traces the Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence through several decades, examining a number of landmark cases through the prism of religious minority perspectives. In so doing, the Article aims to demonstrate the significance of religious perspectives in the development of both the doctrine and rhetoric of the Establishment Clause. The Article then turns to the current state of the Establishment Clause, expanding upon these themes through a close look at the 2004 and 2005 cases Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Van Orden v. Perry, and McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. The article concludes …
Lee V. Weisman And The Establishment Clause: Are Invocations And Benedictions At Public School Graduations Constitutionally Unspeakable?, Thomas A. Schweitzer
Lee V. Weisman And The Establishment Clause: Are Invocations And Benedictions At Public School Graduations Constitutionally Unspeakable?, Thomas A. Schweitzer
Thomas A. Schweitzer
No abstract provided.
The Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Religious Club’S Right To Meet On Public School Premises: Is This “Good News” For First Amendment Rights?, Thomas A. Schweitzer
The Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Religious Club’S Right To Meet On Public School Premises: Is This “Good News” For First Amendment Rights?, Thomas A. Schweitzer
Thomas A. Schweitzer
No abstract provided.
The Progeny Of Lee V. Weisman: Can Student-Invited Prayer At Public School Graduation Still Be Constitutional?, Thomas A. Schweitzer
The Progeny Of Lee V. Weisman: Can Student-Invited Prayer At Public School Graduation Still Be Constitutional?, Thomas A. Schweitzer
Thomas A. Schweitzer
No abstract provided.
Empathy And Pragmatism In The Choice Of Constitutional Norms For Religious Land Use Disputes, Elizabeth Reilly
Empathy And Pragmatism In The Choice Of Constitutional Norms For Religious Land Use Disputes, Elizabeth Reilly
Elizabeth Reilly
From the perspective of both religious entities and local governments, religious land use requests are best resolved quickly, locally and cooperatively. The traditional framework for addressing religious land use disputes, which the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA)1 adopted, is ill-suited to those goals. Legally, disputes have long been framed as denials of the free exercise of religion – the broadest of all claims and the one requiring the most intrusive and subjective determinations about a particular religious group and its proposed use (what religion is, what a particular sect requires and how religion qua religion is affected …
Denominations And Denominators: Applying Lucas V South Carolina Coastal Council To Resolve Rluipa "Substantial Burden On Religious Land Use" Cases, Elliott Joh
Elliott Joh
The free exercise of religion is a well-protected aspect of American life. Freedom of speech is sometimes curtailed during wartime, and the exclusionary rule prompts hostility when used in conjunction with the Fourth Amendment, but it is rare to hear anyone argue that the freedom of worship should be so abrogated. Discrimination on the basis of religion, however, is not so uncommon, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (“RLUIPA”) was enacted to combat such discrimination by municipalities and local zoning authorities. Congress’s hope in enacting this legislation was that churches, mosques, and synagogues have a …