Law Commons^™

Neutral Principles, Jesse R. Merriam

Jesse R Merriam

No abstract provided.

Locke V. Davey, Jesse R. Merriam

Jesse R Merriam

No abstract provided.

Virginia State Board Of Pharmacy V. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, Jesse R. Merriam

Jesse R Merriam

No abstract provided.

Why Don’T More Public Schools Teach Sex Education?: A Constitutional Explanation And Critique, Jesse R. Merriam

Jesse R Merriam

This article questions why so many public schools do not teach any form of sex education. The answer proposed in this article is that the U.S. Constitution is a part of the problem. This claim is based on the following two premises: (1) the U.S. Constitution almost certainly does not require public schools to teach sex education; and (2) the U.S. Constitution arguably requires public schools that teach sex education to exempt those students whose religious beliefs are substantially burdened by sex education.

To illustrate how these two premises might weigh in a school district’s decision not to teach sex …

Finding A Ceiling In A Circular Room: Locke V. Davey, Religious Neutrality, And Federalism, Jesse R. Merriam

Jesse R Merriam

The text of the U.S. Constitution clearly distinguishes religion from non-religion by providing that while Congress may pass laws concerning many subjects and prohibiting many things, it may not make laws respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting religious exercise. As the distinctiveness of religion is clear from the text, the Court has had no problem concluding that religion, as a subject matter, and religious believers, as a class of persons, are constitutionally distinct. Though not apparent from the text, it is equally clear, and equally settled, that the Religion Clauses tug the government in opposite directions. Noting this tension, …