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A King Who Devours His People: Jiang Zemin And The Falun Gong Crackddown: A Bibliography, Michael J. Greenlee Mar 2018

A King Who Devours His People: Jiang Zemin And The Falun Gong Crackddown: A Bibliography, Michael J. Greenlee

Michael Greenlee

In July 1999, the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began an official crackdown against the qigong cultivation group known as Falun Gong. Intended to quickly contain and eliminate what the PRC considers an evil or heretical cult (xiejiao), the suppression has instead created the longest sustained and, since the Tiananmen Square protests of June 1989, most widely known human rights protest conducted in the PRC. The Falun Gong has received worldwide recognition and support while the crackdown continues to provoke harsh criticism against the PRC as new allegations of human rights …


Free Exercise For Whom? -- Could The Religious Liberty Principle That Catholics Established In Perez V. Sharp Also Protect Same-Sex Couples' Right To Marry?, Eric Alan Isaacson May 2015

Free Exercise For Whom? -- Could The Religious Liberty Principle That Catholics Established In Perez V. Sharp Also Protect Same-Sex Couples' Right To Marry?, Eric Alan Isaacson

Eric Alan Isaacson

Recent discussions about the threat that same-sex couples hypothetically pose to the religious freedom of Americans whose religions traditions frown upon same-sex unions have largely overlooked the possibility that same-sex couples might have their own religious-liberty interest in being able to marry. The General Synod of the United Church of Christ brought the issue to the fore with an April 2014 lawsuit challenging North Carolina laws barring same-sex marriages. Authored by a lawyer who represented the California Council of Churches and other religions organizations as amici curiae in recent marriage-equality litigation, this article argues that although marriage is a secular …


God & Man In The Military: Military Commanders And The First Amendment, James J. Woodruff Ii May 2015

God & Man In The Military: Military Commanders And The First Amendment, James J. Woodruff Ii

James J. Woodruff II

In an attempt to provide clarity in the stormy seas presented at the intersection of church and state we have followed a three-step process to resolve religious liberty issues. A military commander may experience bewilderment when confronted with questions such as when is public prayer allowed or when can a religious artwork be displayed on amilitary installation. This article will review the three-step process to utilize in answering most religious-based First Amendment issues that arise during military operations. It will also provide a new manner of thinking regarding the separation of church and state.


Challenges To Religious Liberty In The Twenty-First Century, Gerry Bradley Mar 2015

Challenges To Religious Liberty In The Twenty-First Century, Gerry Bradley

Gerard V. Bradley

Almost everyone today affirms the importance and merit of religious liberty. But religious liberty is being challenged by new questions (for example, use of the niqab or church adoption services for same-sex couples) and new forces (such as globalization and Islamism). Combined, these make the meaning of religious liberty in the twenty-first century uncertain. This collection of essays by ten of the world's leading scholars on religious liberty takes aim at these issues. The book is arranged around five specific challenges to religious liberty today: the state's responsibility to prevent coercion and intimidation of believers by others within the same …


Church-State Relationships In America, Gerry Bradley Mar 2015

Church-State Relationships In America, Gerry Bradley

Gerard V. Bradley

Although the Supreme Court has stated that the framers of the Constitution erected a wall of separation between church and state, history shows that collective political activity in the United States has been and remains an intensely religious enterprise. Despite seemingly clear agreement on the principle of separation, what that principle entails in controversies involving not only the activities and demands of religious groups but the Court itself has proved contentious. Professor Bradley's book is the most comprehensive analysis of the subject attempted to date. It offers a detailed exploration of the historical meaning of the Establishment Clause of the …


Ideology 'All The Way Down'? An Empirical Study Of Establishment Clause Decisions In The Federal Courts, Gregory Sisk, Michael Heise Feb 2015

Ideology 'All The Way Down'? An Empirical Study Of Establishment Clause Decisions In The Federal Courts, Gregory Sisk, Michael Heise

Michael Heise

As part of our ongoing empirical examination of religious liberty decisions in the lower federal courts, we studied Establishment Clause rulings by federal court of appeals and district court judges from 1996 through 2005. The powerful role of political factors in Establishment Clause decisions appears undeniable and substantial, whether celebrated as the proper integration of political and moral reasoning into constitutional judging, shrugged off as mere realism about judges being motivated to promote their political attitudes, or deprecated as a troubling departure from the aspirational ideal of neutral and impartial judging. In the context of Church and State cases in …


Religious Exemptions, Marriage Equality, And The Establishment Of Religion, Nancy J. Knauer Dec 2014

Religious Exemptions, Marriage Equality, And The Establishment Of Religion, Nancy J. Knauer

Nancy J. Knauer

The advent of nationwide marriage equality has sparked a robust debate over the extent of religious liberties and the limits of civil rights protections. As public opinion regarding LGBT individuals and the families they form has evolved, religious beliefs that once served as the basis for law and policy have been increasing marginalized. Various efforts have been made to protect religious objectors who continue to believe that marriage is only between one man and one woman. For example, all of the states that had enacted marriage equality legislation included exceptions for clergy and religious organizations to ensure that they would …


Recent Uk Case Connected With Sexual Orientation “Hate Speech”, Neil J. Foster Jan 2014

Recent Uk Case Connected With Sexual Orientation “Hate Speech”, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

Discusses the decision in R (On the Application Of Core Issues Trust) v Transport for London [2014] EWCA Civ 34 (27 January 2014) dealing with signs on London buses alleged to be "homophobic".


Legal Pressure Points For Christians In 21st Century Australia, Neil J. Foster Jan 2014

Legal Pressure Points For Christians In 21st Century Australia, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

This paper discusses the pressures facing Christians who adhere to Biblical ethical values when those principles clash with current discrimination and vilification laws.


The World’S Youngest Political Prisoner, Richard Klein Nov 2013

The World’S Youngest Political Prisoner, Richard Klein

Richard Daniel Klein

Every participant at an international human rights conference in June 1998 received a small pamphlet published by Tibetan supporters of Tibetan Buddhism's highest-ranking figure, the Dalai Lama. Entitled "The World's Youngest Political Prisoner," the pamphlet makes a plea for support for a young boy, now nine years old, who the Chinese government has allegedly kidnapped and detained. The Dalai Lama, who has been living in exile for forty years, claims the boy is the eleventh reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the second holiest individual in Tibetan Buddhism. This battle over the identification of the reincarnation of a holy man is …


The Primacy Of Political Actors In Accommodation Of Religion, William K. Kelley Nov 2013

The Primacy Of Political Actors In Accommodation Of Religion, William K. Kelley

William K. Kelley

This article focuses on the relationship between freedom of religion and the norm against non-establishment of religion in the context of government efforts to accommodate religious practices. It analyzes First Amendment doctrine in this area, and concludes that the Supreme Court has consistently been generous in permitting accommodations of religion when they are the product of judicial decisions; in other words, at least until recently the Court has been open to mandatory accommodations so long as they are ordered by judges. By contrast, the Court has long been suspicious of - and far from generous in permitting - accommodations as …


Are Same-Sex Marriages Really A Threat To Religious Liberty?, Eric Alan Isaacson Apr 2012

Are Same-Sex Marriages Really A Threat To Religious Liberty?, Eric Alan Isaacson

Eric Alan Isaacson

Some have contended that same-sex couples' marriages pose a grave danger to the religious liberty of social conservatives whose faith traditions do not bless same-sex unions. Those who oppose recognizing same-sex couples' right to marry have even contended that their clergy and churches might be subject to hate-crime prosecutions and loss of tax-exempt status if same-sex couples may lawfully marriage. This article seeks to answer those objections, pointing out that many limitations on religious marriages -- such as Roman Catholic doctrine barring remarriage by those who are civilly divorced -- parallel religious rules similarly limiting or withholding recognition from same-sex …


Freedom Of Religion In Practice: Exemptions Under Antidiscrimination Laws On The Basis Of Religion., Neil J. Foster Jul 2011

Freedom Of Religion In Practice: Exemptions Under Antidiscrimination Laws On The Basis Of Religion., Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

Recognition of “human rights” often involves the need to balance one set of rights against another. While anti‐discrimination laws generally are designed to outlaw decision‐making on irrelevant grounds, recognition of “freedom of religion” (a clear human right acknowledged in the international covenants on the area) requires acknowledging that decision‐making in many areas on religious grounds is not irrelevant, and hence requires careful crafting of appropriate exemptions to otherwise blanket prohibitions against discrimination. But in many ways there has been a subtle shift in recent decades away from a fully‐orbed recognition of human rights, towards an absolutist prohibition of discrimination alone. …


Denominations And Denominators: Applying Lucas V South Carolina Coastal Council To Resolve Rluipa "Substantial Burden On Religious Land Use" Cases, Elliott Joh Jan 2008

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 …