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The Political (And Other) Safeguards Of Religious Freedom, Richard W. Garnett Nov 2013

The Political (And Other) Safeguards Of Religious Freedom, Richard W. Garnett

Richard W Garnett

This essay is a contribution to a symposium marking the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s still-controversial decision in Employment Division v. Smith. That decision, it is suggested, should not be read as reflecting or requiring hostility or indifference towards claims for legislatively enacted accommodations of religion. Smith is not an endorsement of religion-blind neutrality in constitutional law; instead, it assigns to politically accountable actors the difficult, but crucially important, task of accommodating those whose religious exercise would otherwise be burdened by generally applicable laws. The essay goes on to suggest several things that must be true of our law …


Assimilation, Toleration, And The State's Interest In The Development Of Religious Doctrine, Richard Garnett Nov 2013

Assimilation, Toleration, And The State's Interest In The Development Of Religious Doctrine, Richard Garnett

Richard W Garnett

Thirty-five years ago, in the context of a church-property dispute, Justice William Brennan observed that government interpretation of religious doctrine and judicial intervention in religious disputes are undesirable, because when civil courts undertake to resolve [doctrinal] controversies..., the hazards are ever present of inhibiting the free development of religious doctrine and of implicating secular interests in matters of purely ecclesiastical concern. This statement, at first, seems wise and fittingly cautious, even unremarkable and obvious. On examination, though, it turns out to be intriguing, elusive, and misleading. Indeed, Justice Brennan's warning presents hazards of its own, and its premises - if …


The Mighty Work Of Making Nations Happy: A Response To James Davison Hunter, Patrick Brennan Oct 2013

The Mighty Work Of Making Nations Happy: A Response To James Davison Hunter, Patrick Brennan

Patrick McKinley Brennan

This article is an invited response to James Davison Hunter’s much-discussed book To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford University Press, 2010). Hunter, a sociologist at UVA and a believing Protestant, claims that law’s capacity to contribute to social change is “mostly illusory” and that Christians, therefore, should practice “faithful presence” in the public square rather than seek to influence law directly. My response is that it is, in fact, law’s stunning ability to alter and limit available choices that makes it an object of deservedly fierce contest. The wild …


Navigating The Space Between Dueling Sovereigns, Miriam Galston Oct 2013

Navigating The Space Between Dueling Sovereigns, Miriam Galston

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.


The First Amendment: Religious Freedom For All, Including Muslims, Asma Uddin Sep 2013

The First Amendment: Religious Freedom For All, Including Muslims, Asma Uddin

Washington and Lee Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice

No abstract provided.


Led Blindly: One Circuit's Struggle To Faithfully Apply The U.S. Supreme Court's Religious Symbols Constitutional Analysis, William M. Janssen Sep 2013

Led Blindly: One Circuit's Struggle To Faithfully Apply The U.S. Supreme Court's Religious Symbols Constitutional Analysis, William M. Janssen

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.


Municipal And State Sanctuary Declarations: Innocuous Symbolism Or Improper Dictates?, Jorge L. Carro Jan 2013

Municipal And State Sanctuary Declarations: Innocuous Symbolism Or Improper Dictates?, Jorge L. Carro

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Avoiding Religious Apartheid: Affording Equal Treatment For Student-Initiated Religious Expression In Public Schools , John W. Whitehead Jan 2013

Avoiding Religious Apartheid: Affording Equal Treatment For Student-Initiated Religious Expression In Public Schools , John W. Whitehead

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Blame It On Catholic Bishop: The Question Of Nlrb Jurisdiction Over Religious Colleges And Universities, Susan J. Stabile Jan 2013

Blame It On Catholic Bishop: The Question Of Nlrb Jurisdiction Over Religious Colleges And Universities, Susan J. Stabile

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


Seeking An Islamic Reflective Equilibrium: A Response To Abdullahi A. An-Na'im’S Complementary, Not Competing, Claims Of Law And Religion: An Islamic Perspective, Mohammad H. Fadel Jan 2013

Seeking An Islamic Reflective Equilibrium: A Response To Abdullahi A. An-Na'im’S Complementary, Not Competing, Claims Of Law And Religion: An Islamic Perspective, Mohammad H. Fadel

Pepperdine Law Review

Professor 'Abdallahi Na'im argues that there can be no conflict between religion and the state because religion and politics are part of different normative orders, and thus it is not conceivable that a conflict can arise between them. I argue that Na'im's solution to the problematic relationship of religion to state shares the same conceptual terrain as separationism in American constitutional law, a position which has grown increasingly untenable as a result of the increasing religious pluralism in the United States and the expansion of the government into areas of life in a manner that would have been inconceivable even …


The Priority Of Law: A Response To Michael Stokes Paulsen, Eugene Volokh Jan 2013

The Priority Of Law: A Response To Michael Stokes Paulsen, Eugene Volokh

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.


The Priority Of God: A Theory Of Religious Liberty, Michael Stokes Paulsen Jan 2013

The Priority Of God: A Theory Of Religious Liberty, Michael Stokes Paulsen

Pepperdine Law Review

Professor Paulsen argues that religious freedom only makes entire sense as a constitutional arrangement on the premise that God exists, that God makes actual demands on human loyalty and conduct, and that those demands precede and are superior in obligation to those of the State. Religious freedom exists to protect the exercise of plausibly true understandings of God's actual commands, as against state power, and to disable state power to proscribe -- or prescribe -- religious exercise. The article explores four possible stances of society toward religious freedom, depending on whether society and state embrace the idea of religious truth …


The Mighty Work Of Making Nations Happy: A Response To James Davison Hunter, Patrick Mckinley Brennan Jan 2013

The Mighty Work Of Making Nations Happy: A Response To James Davison Hunter, Patrick Mckinley Brennan

Pepperdine Law Review

This article is an invited response to James Davison Hunter’s much-discussed book To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World (Oxford University Press, 2010). Hunter, a sociologist at UVA and a believing Protestant, claims that law’s capacity to contribute to social change is “mostly illusory” and that Christians, therefore, should practice “faithful presence” in the public square rather than seek to influence law directly. My response is that it is, in fact, law’s stunning ability to alter and limit available choices that makes it an object of deservedly fierce contest. The wild …


Beyond Interpretation: The "Cultural Approach" To Understanding Extra-Formal Change In Religious And Constitutional Law (Invited Symposium Contribution), Mark Rosen Dec 2012

Beyond Interpretation: The "Cultural Approach" To Understanding Extra-Formal Change In Religious And Constitutional Law (Invited Symposium Contribution), Mark Rosen

Mark D. Rosen

No abstract provided.