Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Law

Smith In Theory And Practice, Nelson Tebbe Sep 2017

Smith In Theory And Practice, Nelson Tebbe

Nelson Tebbe

Employment Division v. Smith controversially held that general laws that were neutral toward religion would no longer be presumptively invalid, regardless of how much they incidentally burdened religious practices. That decision sparked a debate that continues today, twenty years later. This symposium Essay explores the argument that subsequent courts have in fact been less constrained by the principal rule of Smith than advocates on both sides of the controversy usually assume. Lower courts administering real world disputes often find they have all the room they need to grant relief from general laws, given exceptions written into the decision itself and …


Nonbelievers, Nelson Tebbe Sep 2017

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. …


Burwell V. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.: Creating Power For Corporations At The Cost Of Changing Women’S Lives, Tara Zabehi May 2017

Burwell V. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.: Creating Power For Corporations At The Cost Of Changing Women’S Lives, Tara Zabehi

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.


Potential Consequences Of Trump’S “Religious Freedom” Executive Order, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project May 2017

Potential Consequences Of Trump’S “Religious Freedom” Executive Order, Public Rights/Private Conscience Project

Center for Gender & Sexuality Law

President Trump is set to sign a far-reaching and constitutionally problematic executive order today. Although a draft of the final order has not yet been released, it will likely mirror, at least in part, a similar draft that was leaked earlier this year.


Review Essay: Charity For The Autonomous Self, Carl H. Esbeck Mar 2017

Review Essay: Charity For The Autonomous Self, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

Review essay for "Charity Law and the Liberal State", by Matthew Harding and "Religion, Charity and Human Rights", by Kerry O'Halloran.


Religious Freedom As A Technology Of Modern Secular Governance, Peter G. Danchin Jan 2017

Religious Freedom As A Technology Of Modern Secular Governance, Peter G. Danchin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.


The Free Exercise Of Religious Identity, Lauren Sudeall Jan 2017

The Free Exercise Of Religious Identity, Lauren Sudeall

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

In recent years, a particular strain of argument has arisen in response to decisions by courts or the government to extend certain rights to others. Grounded in religious freedom, these arguments suggest that individuals have a right to operate businesses or conduct their professional roles in a manner that conforms to their religious identity. For example, as courts and legislatures have extended the right to marry to same-sex couples, court clerks have refused to issue marriage certificates to such couples, claiming that to do so would violate their religious beliefs. Similarly, corporations have refused, for reasons grounded in religious identity, …