Law Commons^™

Corporations, Taxes, And Religion: The Hobby Lobby And Conestoga Contraceptive Cases, Steven Willis

Steven J. Willis

Beginning in 2013, the federal government mandated that general business corporations include contraceptive and early abortion coverage in large employee health plans. Internal Revenue Code Section 4980D imposes a substantial excise tax on health plans violating the mandate. Indeed, for one company – Hobby Lobby – the expected annual tax is nearly one-half billion dollars. Dozens of “for profit” businesses have challenged the mandate on free exercise grounds, asserting claims under the First Amendment as well as under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. So far, courts have been reluctant to hold corporations have religious rights of their own; as a …

The Fair Housing Act And Religious Freedom, 11 Tex. J. C.L. & C.R. 1 (2005), Michael P. Seng

Michael P. Seng

No abstract provided.

The Overlooked Costs Of Religious Deference, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Robin Fretwell Wilson

Citing the Qur'an, a German divorce court judge this year denied a fast track divorce to a Muslim woman who had been the victim of domestic violence and death threats from her husband. The judge rejected her application because the husband's exercise of his "right to castigate does not fulfill the hardship criteria" for an expedited divorce. The decision, which sparked a firestorm of controversy, comes at an important time in the movement to embrace pluralistic understandings of family relationships. Scholars and policymakers around the world are advancing various schemes for sharing state control over domestic disputes with religious groups-ranging …

The Overlooked Costs Of Religious Deference, Robin Fretwell Wilson

Robin Fretwell Wilson

Citing the Qur'an, a German divorce court judge this year denied a fast track divorce to a Muslim woman who had been the victim of domestic violence and death threats from her husband. The judge rejected her application because the husband's exercise of his "right to castigate does not fulfill the hardship criteria" for an expedited divorce. The decision, which sparked a firestorm of controversy, comes at an important time in the movement to embrace pluralistic understandings of family relationships. Scholars and policymakers around the world are advancing various schemes for sharing state control over domestic disputes with religious groups-ranging …

Religious Accommodations And – And Among – Civil Rights: Separation, Toleration, And Accommodation, Richard W. Garnett

Richard W Garnett

This paper expands on a presentation at a recent conference, held at Harvard Law School, on the topic of “Religious Accommodations in the Age of Civil Rights.” In it, I emphasize that the right to religious freedom is a basic civil right, the increased appreciation of which is said to characterize our “age.” Accordingly, I push back against scholars’ and commentators’ increasing tendency to regard and present religious accommodations and exemptions as obstacles to the civil-rights enterprise and ask instead if our religious-accommodation practices are all that they should be. Are accommodations and exemptions being extended prudently but generously, in …

The Exorcism Motif In The Philosophy Of Sovereign Citizen Movements, John Ehrett

John Ehrett

I aim to deconstruct a key part of the sovereign citizen movement’s perspective on legitimate authority. I argue that the core underpinnings of sovereign citizen mentality (as applied) operate according to an anthropological framework similar to that used in an exorcism: namely, the ceremonial divestiture from an oppressive authority into whose service one has been subtly pressed.

Islamic Legal Theory And The Legitimacy Of Secular Positive Law: Is Modern Religious Liberty Sufficient For The Islamic Legal Maqsad ('Ultimate Objective') Of Hifz Al-Din ('Preserving Religion')?, Andrew March, Mohamad Al-Hakim, Michael Giudice, François Tanguay-Renaud

François Tanguay-Renaud

Andrew F. March, Associate Professor of Political Science, Yale University, examines some treatments of the meaning and extension of the Islamic legal purpose (maqad) of protecting religion (hifz al-din), with an eye towards Islamic legal theorists’ explicit or implicit encounter with modern liberal and secularist understandings of what it means to “protect religion.”

Respondent: Mohamad Al-Hakim, York University, Philosophy.

From Saumur To Sl: The Past And Future Of Religious Freedom, Faisal Bhabha

Faisal Bhabha

No abstract provided.

"Simply A Constitutional Legal Question?": Law, Religion And The Modern State, Benjamin L. Berger

Benjamin L. Berger

Benjamin L. Berger, Associate Professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, on key questions about law, religion, and social change.

How Should Religious Marriage Celebrants Respond If Same Sex Marriage Is Introduced In Australia?, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

This paper discusses some of the implications for religious freedom, and the consequences for churches and other religious bodies, should same sex marriage be introduced into Australia.

A Statute Is Worth A Thousand Words: Same Sex Marriage And Rfra, Daniel Korda

Daniel Korda

This article explores the effectiveness of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act as a defense for individuals with religious objections towards servicing same sex marriages. Specifically, this article (a) evaluates if the Federal Government has a compelling interest to promote equal accommodations for same sex marriages and (b) considers if "private" individuals suing private parties for refusing to service their marriage are in fact "public" plaintiffs, as the enforcement of laws banning marital discrimination have traditionally been enforced by the State.

Faith Doesn't Justify Discrimination Against Women, Eric Segall

Eric J. Segall

No abstract provided.

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 …

Looking For Bedrock: Accounting For Human Rights In Classical Liberalism, Modern Secularism, And The Christian Tradition, C. Scott Pryor

C. Scott Pryor

Part I of this Article looks to the history of foundations of human rights from late pre-modern times to the late-eighteenth century Founding era in America. The focus of the discussion of this era will be on two dominant strands of rights talk in America, Protestant Christian and Enlightenment. From two views operating side-by-side in the last decades of the eighteenth century, Part II will examine the contemporary ambivalence of many Christians, particularly those identified as Evangelicals, about the contemporary human rights movement. Part III addresses a specifically Christian foundation for human rights that can dispel some of the concerns …

The Necessity Of Economics: The Preferential Option For The Poor, Markets, And Environmental Law, Andrew P. Morriss

Andrew P. Morriss

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Religion And Balancing Clauses In Discrimination Legislation, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

This paper considers how discrimination laws interact with religious freedom through balancing clauses.

Liberalism And Religion

Steven H. Shiffrin

No abstract provided.

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 …

God Bless The Child?: The Use Of Religion As A Factor In Child Custody And Adoption Proceedings, 58 Fordham L. Rev. 383 (1989), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

The Conservative As Liberal: The Religion Clauses, Liberal Neutrality, And The Approach Of Justice O'Connor, 62 Notre Dame L. Rev. 151 (1987), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

Does A Broad Free Exercise Right Require A Narrow Definition Of Religion, 39 Hastings Const. L.Q. 357 (2012), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

In the 1990 case of Employment Division v. Smith, a sharply divided Supreme Court abandoned the routine application of strict scrutiny when considering Free Exercise Clause claims seeking exemption from generally applicable legal duties or prohibitions. The Court returned to an older view of the Free Exercise Clause as protecting believers only from government acts that were aimed specifically at beliefs, and that grew out of hostility to the religion rather than a desire to further legitimate secular goals. Reaction to Smith was largely negative, and legislative and state court responses followed, seeking to restore strict scrutiny as the appropriate …

Paradigms Lost: The Second Circuit Faces The New Era Of Religion Clause Jurisprudence, 57 Brook. L. Rev. 547 (1991), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

Does The Establishment Clause Matter? Non-Establishment Principles In The United States And Canada, 4 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 451 (2002), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

Catechism Or Imagination: Is Justice Scalia's Judicial Style Typically Catholic?, 37 Vill. L. Rev. 1329 (1992), Donald L. Beschle

Donald L. Beschle

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Speech, Press And Assembly, And Freedom Of Religion Under The Illinois Constitution, 21 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 91 (1989), Michael P. Seng

Michael P. Seng

No abstract provided.

Moral Memorandua From John Yoder: Conversations On Law, Ethics, And The Church Between A Mennonite Theologian And A Hoosier Lawyer, Thomas Shaffer

Thomas L. Shaffer

No abstract provided.

Catholicism, Liberalism And Communitarianism: The Catholic Intellectual Tradition And The Moral Foundations Of Democracy, Gerry Bradley, Kenneth Grasso, Robert Hunt

Gerard V. Bradley

No abstract provided.

Religious Freedom In Australia, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

Christian Realism And Immigration Reform, Victor C. Romero

Victor C. Romero

No abstract provided.

A Meditation On Moncrieffe: On Marijuana, Misdemeanants, And Migration, Victor C. Romero

Victor C. Romero

This essay is a brief meditation on the immigration schizophrenia in our law and legal culture through the lens of the Supreme Court’s latest statement on immigration and crime, Moncrieffe v. Holder. While hailed as a “common sense” decision, Moncrieffe is a rather narrow ruling that does little to change the law regarding aggravated felonies or the ways in which class and citizenship play into the enforcement of minor drug crimes and their deportation consequences. Despite broad agreement on the Court, the Moncrieffe opinion still leaves the discretion to deport minor state drug offenders in the hands of the federal …