Law Commons^™

The Legal Origins Of Catholic Conscientious Objection, Jeremy Kessler

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Article traces the origins of Catholic conscientious objection as a theory and practice of American constitutionalism. It argues that Catholic conscientious objection emerged during the 1960s from a confluence of left-wing and right-wing Catholic efforts to participate in American democratic culture more fully. The refusal of the American government to allow legitimate Catholic conscientious objection to the Vietnam War became a cause célèbre for clerical and lay leaders and provided a blueprint for Catholic legal critiques of other forms of federal regulation in the late 1960s and early 1970s—most especially regulations concerning the provision of contraception and abortion.

Over …

George R. R. Martin's Faith Militant In Modern America: The Establishment Clause And A State's Ability To Delegate Policing Powers To Private Police Forces Operated By Religious Institutions, Andrew Gardner

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Since the very founding of the United States, the complex relationship between government and religion has troubled and concerned lawmakers. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution was one of the first attempts to help define and restrain the government's role in that nexus. Thomas Jefferson, in a letter praising the Establishment Clause, famously wrote that the clause "buil[t] a wall of separation between Church [and] State." However, the extent of the protections that the Establishment Clause was intended to provide is unclear, and judges as well as legal scholars have struggled with interpreting the …

Secondary Meaning And Religion: An Analysis Of Religious Symbols In The Courts, Eric D. Yordy, Elizabeth Brown

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In the Supreme Court’s most recent freedom of religion case, Justice Alito and Justice Ginsburg disagreed about the actual and potential meaning of the Latin cross, a traditional symbol of Christianity in which the upright leg of the cross is longer than the horizontal arms of the cross. Justice Alito stated that the Latin cross, while not losing its religious meaning, has acquired what might be called a “secondary meaning” as a symbol of World War I. He couched his analysis in language suggesting that a religious symbol’s meaning may depend on its circumstances. While he also denied that he …

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act At 25: A Quantitative Analysis Of The Interpretive Case Law, Lucien J. Dhooge

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Church And Magna Carta, R. H. Helmholz

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Clause, State Action, And Town Of Greece, Nathan S. Chapman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The Establishment Clause forbids the government from engaging in the same religious exercise that the law protects when performed by a private party. Thus, an establishment case often turns on whether religious activity is “state action.” Too often, however, courts ignore the state action analysis or merge it with the substantive Establishment Clause analysis. This muddles both doctrines and threatens individual religious liberty.

This Article argues that the state action doctrine should account for the government’s distribution of private rights. Accordingly, the Constitution applies to the government’s distribution of rights, but not to a private party’s use of those rights. …

(Same) Sex, Lies, And Democracy: Tradition, Religion, And Substantive Due Process (With An Emphasis On Obergefell V. Hodges), Stephen M. Feldman

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Substantive due process issues implicitly concern voice. Whose voice will be heard? Although such issues often remain submerged, the Justices occasionally translate them into disputes over democratic participation and power. The Supreme Court’s most important substantive due process decision in years, Obergefell v. Hodges, entailed such a battle over democracy. The multiple dissenting opinions insisted that the decision demeaned the opponents of same-sex marriage, many of whom were inspired by traditional values and religious convictions. The majority explicitly disagreed, reasoning that the case resolved the rights of same-sex couples to marry and did not diminish the opponents’ voices. The dissenters …

The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself: Islamophobia And The Recently Proposed Unconstitutional And Unnecessary Anti-Religion Laws, Lee Tankle

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Rationalizing Religious Exemptions: A Legislative Process Theory Of Statutory Exemptions For Religion, Zoe Robinson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

This Article proposes a new theory of religious liberty in the United States: it hypothesizes that a person’s religious freedom is dependent on their political power. Following the Supreme Court’s 1990 decision of Employment Division v. Smith, the legislature has sole control over the enactment of accommodations and exemptions from laws of general application for religious adherents. This Article argues that post-Smith accounts of religious liberty and pluralism fail to systematically analyze the relationship between religious liberty and legislative exemptions. To this end, the Article proposes a unique public choice model that hypothesizes that legislative accommodations and exemptions may result …

The Congressional Chaplaincies, Christopher C. Lund

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Roughly twenty-five years ago, in Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court considered the congressional chaplaincies, and concluded that they were not "an 'establishment' of religion or a step toward establishment," but instead were "simply a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country."' That latter phrase has been repeated hundreds of times in cases and law review articles; it suggests that the chaplaincies are uninteresting and uncontroversial and that they have been so throughout our history. The Court in Marsh looked only briefly at the history of the chaplaincies.2 A deeper look at that history reveals …

Why Justice Breyer Was Wrong In Van Orden V. Perry, Erwin Chemerinsky

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

"Religion-Neutral" Jurisprudence: An Examination Of Its Meaning And End, L. Scott Smith

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Transcript Of Speech On American Atheists' Position On Religion In The Public Schools, Ellen Johnson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

Religious discussion in American public schools is one of the more controversial issues in modern education. Ellen Johnson not only explains the American Atheists 'position on the issue, but also presents observations from the often-ignored Atheist perspective. Johnson's remarks serve to remind us that there are other views on the subject besides the popular opinions concerning accommodation and access to school facilities.

Who Speaks For The State?: Religious Speakers On Government Platforms And The Role Of Disclaiming Endorsement, Steven H. Aden

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

The recent Supreme Court decision in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe prohibits prayer at school-sponsored events. In this Article the author analyzes the development of Supreme Court jurisprudence in the area of religion in public schools. Noting the tension between the Establishment and Free Speech Clauses, the author proposes the use of disclaimers to allow student expression at school events to avoid violating the Establishment Clause.

Religion In The Public Schools After Santa Fe Independent School District V. Doe: Time For A New Strategy, Steven W. Fitschen

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

In this Essay, Steven Fitschen, President of the National Legal Foundation, argues against the Supreme Court's ruling in Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, and calls for a new strategy in litigating similar cases. Fitschen proposes a "thirty-year plan" because he believes that the current Court composition, which he sees as driven by personal predilections rather than by precedent, was partly responsible for the outcome of Santa Fe. Fitschen argues that the current Court has largely ignored Establishment Clause precedent, and that any new, effective strategy will be slowly implemented The thirty-year plan calls for less perfunctory reliance on …

Squeezing Religion Out Of The Public Square- The Supreme Court, Lemon, And The Myth Of The Secular Society, M. G. "Pat" Robertson

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Public Education And The Public Good, Robert S. Alley

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Religious Freedom And The First Self-Evident Truth: Equality As A Guiding Principle In Interpreting The Religion Clauses, Jay Alan Sekulow, James Matthew Henderson, Kevin E. Broyles

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.