Law Commons^™

Trends In The Supreme Court: Mr. Jefferson’S Crumbling Wall - A Comment On Lynch V. Donnelly, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Islam And Politics, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

We can thus see that Islamic tradition has recognized the venerability of the Shari'a but that the same tradition has historically given the state means to workaround the limits of the Shari'a. How far it should go has always been debated in Islam. The debate and the alternative theories all stem from the fact that the Shari'a never developed a constitutional basis for itself due to its history and the notion of law as simply the refinement of divine command. The competing views of the Shari'a's proper place have jousted with one another for a thousand years. They will continue …

Virginia Tax Laws Affecting Churches, J. Rodney Johnson

Law Faculty Publications

This is the second of two articles dealing with external church law in Virginia. The first article was a restatement of all Virginia laws relating to churches except for the tax laws. The subject of taxes was reserved for special treatment at that time because of the volume of tax-related materials. For the most part these materials consist of the various constitutional and statutory taxation provisions relating to religious charities and the opinions of the Virginia Attorney General interpreting and applying these provisions. Attorney General opinions take on a special importance in this study because there is only a handful …

Religion And A Neutral State: Imperative Or Impossibility?, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

The thesis of this Article is that the myth-of-neutrality argument is partially right and partially wrong. For reasons of religious liberty, the state can and should avoid any involvement with matters of religious worship, and the propagation or inculcation of matters that comprise the very heart of one's belief concerning the nature and destiny of mankind. Conversely, the state cannot retreat from the regulation of certain conduct which is arguably immoral and still claim its neutrality concerning the rightness of the conduct. The very decision by the state to withdraw its regulation, leaving the morality of the conduct up to …

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 …

Religion As A Concept In Constitutional Law, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

Because federal and state constitutions forbid government from infringing upon religious liberty or supporting religion, courts must sometimes decide whether a claim, activity, organization, purpose, or classification is religious. In most cases arising under these religion clauses, the religiousness of an activity or organization will be obvious. However; when the presence of religion is seriously controverted, the threshold question, "defining religion," becomes important. Most courts have prudently eschewed theoretical generalizations in approaching that question. Academic commentators have struggled to startlingly diverse proposals.

This Article suggests that in both free exercise and establishment cases, courts should decide whether something is religious …

State Regulation Of Christian Schools, Neal Devins

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Islamic Law In American Courts, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Nonetheless, the common law judge remains constrained by his own system of adjudication. Not only does he apply the law, he also states it. Yet, he becomes hesitant when he is asked to apply an asserted principle of Islamic law unless he is certain that it truly represents the accepted view and is not some imaginative interpretation. Thus, in interpreting Islamic law, the American judge is more reluctant than a qadi would be in choosing between opposing casuistical arguments in the same kind of case. Ironically, the American judge is also far more restrained in a case involving Islamic law …

Biblical Atonement And Modern Criminal Law, Jerome Hall

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Johannes Teutonicus And Papal Legates, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

The Epitaph Of Johannes Teutonicus, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Fundamentalist Schools And The Law, Neal Devins

Popular Media

No abstract provided.

Virginia Law Affecting Churches - Restated, J. Rodney Johnson

Law Faculty Publications

Twenty-five years ago, the late William T. Muse, then Dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, observed that although there was considerable law in Virginia relating to churches this law was widely scattered throughout the statutes and the cases. To remedy this state of affairs, Dean Muse wrote a concise but complete summary of these laws. In the quarter-century that has elapsed since Dean Muse's article was published, Virginia has adopted a new constitution, many church-related statutes have been enacted and a number of church-related cases have been decided, some of which have refined established principles and others …

Book Review. Legal History And The Law Of Blasphemy, Morris S. Arnold

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Legal Activities Of The Catholic League, Robert A. Destro

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

United States V. Lee, Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

Supreme Court Case Files

No abstract provided.

A Sect Apart: A History Of The Legal Troubles Of The Shakers, Ralph Michael Stein

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

This article explores the Shaker experience in nineteenth century America, particularly their relationship to legislative bodies and courts and analyzes the reasons underlying the persistent, selective, official persecution of this group.

State Regulation Of Social Services Ministries Of Religious Organizations, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

Religiously motivated civil disobedience in the area of social and human services ministries of religious organizations has become increasingly widespread. With growing governmental involvement in the lives of citizens and moves by federal and state agencies to narrowly confine and define religious activities, it comes as no surprise that conflict over the proper role of the state has crept as well into the arena of social and human services conducted from religious motivation. The current litigation and legislation is principally focused on state regulation by certification or licensing requirements that are expanding from health, fire, and safety concerns into the …

Freedom And Equality In The Religion Clauses, John H. Garvey

Scholarly Articles

The Supreme Court has been extremely puzzled about how to treat the distribution of public benefits when the pattern of distribution may cause individuals to alter their preferences in making constitutionally protected choices. When dealing with the freedom to choose an abortion, for example, the Court held that the Hyde Amendment was constitutional because the government did not interfere with freedom when all it did was offer money to make the option it preferred (childbirth) more attractive. In free speech cases, the Court has said that when the government opens up public property or offers financial incentives to speakers it …

Authority Of The Attorney General To Investigate Religious Corporations, Assembly Committee On Judiciary, Senate Committee On Judiciary

California Joint Committees

Hearings of Nov. 17, 1980 and Nov. 25, 1980.

The subject of today's joint hearing of the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees is the authority of the Attorney General to investigate and bring actions against religious corporations. Earlier this year, the Legislature enacted SB 1493 which will become operative on June 1, 1981 and which will narrow the AG's powers in this area. The purpose of this hearing is to determine whether, under the new law, the AG will retain adequate powers relative to religious corporations or if further legislation is needed.

The Entanglement Test Of The Religion Clauses -- A Ten Year Assessment, Kenneth F. Ripple

Journal Articles

During its 1979 Term, the Supreme Court of the United States passed the ten-year mark in its employment of the so-called "excessive entanglement" test of the religion clauses. During the past decade this concept has developed from a simple expression of one of the accepted policy considerations underlying interpretation of the religion clauses to an identifiably separate test in establishment clause analysis. In this latter role, the Court has employed the concept to accomplish two distinct, although analytically related, objectives. First, it has sought to identify those legal and administrative relationships between civil and religious authorities which are likely to …

Tancred's "Summala De Criminibus": A New Text And A Key To The Ordo Iudiciarius, Richard M. Fraher

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Islamic Law: The Impact Of Joseph Schacht, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

It is here where Schacht's service to Islamic law becomes most salutary. He has made it possible for this great legal tradition to free itself from an unthinking bondage to issues relevant to the second Islamic century, and thus open anew the gate to ijtihad. Mujtahids need no longer fear they are revising divine law when they develop the traditional norms of Islamic law beyond the confines imposed by taqlid. The Sunna of Islam remains the way of the Prophet's devout followers, even though it may not be the way of the Messenger himself. In this fashion, respect for the …

Egyptian Land Law: An Evaluation, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In all cases, the country adopting the Western code has attempted to infuse it with traditional values or with tenets of a particular ideology. Frequently, the inevitable dichotomy between the basic concepts of the code and the values which have been infused into it produce legal tensions. This has certainly been the case in Egypt. Traditionally, Egypt has had difficulty accommodating a growing population on a limited amount of arable land. Whether Egypt is able to remedy past maldistribution of arable land will have significant social, economic and political consequences. The success of legal reform in Egypt must be judged …

Religion, Law And Ethics -- A Call For Dialogue, Jerome Hall

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Pro Peccatis Patrum Puniri: A Moral And Legal Problem Of The Inquisition, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Conscientious Objection To Public Education: The Grievance And The Remedies, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

The Christian school movement is the logical outgrowth of the dissatisfaction of some parents, particularly some fundamentalist Baptists, with what they regard as excessive secularism in the public schools. The controversy has already produced some definitive litigation, but much remains unsettled. On the one hand, public authorities contend the public school is truly neutral toward religion. Compulsory attendance laws and other regulations by the state of private education are seen as legitimate measures, pursuant to the police power, to achieve a minimal level of intellectual and civic competence among the young. On the other hand, objecting parents and pastors regard …

Cum Causam Que: A Decretal Of Innocent Iii, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Alanus Anglicus And The Summa "Induent Sancti", Richard M. Fraher

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Pluralism And The Canonists In The Thirteenth Century, Kenneth Pennington

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.