Law Commons^™

Dobbs Is Not A Religion Case, Bruce Ledewitz

Law Faculty Publications

I was unhappy, but not surprised, to see Canopy Forum including Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case that overruled Roe v. Wade, in a call for submissions under the rubric, “Law and Religion in Pressing Supreme Court Cases.” I was not surprised because, for years, many critics have labeled pro-life opposition to Roe a purely religious viewpoint. But there is nothing inherently religious about qualms concerning abortion, nor is there anything specifically religious in the Dobbs majority opinion.

Telescoping And Collectivizing Religious Free Exercise Rights, Henry L. Chambers Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

If courts are willing to expand religious liberty so that people may be allowed to choose-on the basis of their own religious beliefs-whether certain laws will apply to non-religious entities they create, those courts should take that step very carefully. This Paper explores the issue and pro- ceeds as follows. Part I discusses three recent Supreme Court cases that il- luminate the telescoping and the collectivization of free exercise rights. Part II considers problems that accompany telescoping and collectivizing free exercise rights. Part III suggests how courts should critically evaluate the telescoping and collectivizing of free exercise rights. This Paper …

Excluding Religion Excludes More Than Religion, Richard Stith

Law Faculty Publications

This Article contends that excluding apparently religious perspectives from public debate may inadvertently exclude non-religious perspectives as well, consequently impoverishing public discussion. This contention is demonstrated through an examination of the current debate over embryonic stem cell research, in which the pro-life position is often declared unacceptably religious. The truth is that those who envision the unborn as under construction in the womb do not find a human being present when gestation has just begun, while those who understand the unborn to be developing see an identity of being from conception. But neither view is based on religion. To disqualify …

Power And The Subject Of Religion, Kurt T. Lash

Law Faculty Publications

Under the First Amendment, "Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Nevertheless, congressional actors have on occasion enacted laws that expressly make religion the subject of legislation. Many scholars justify these laws on the grounds that Congress at the time of the Founding had an implied power to legislate on religion if necessary and proper to an enumerated end.

Professor Lash argues that the "implied power" theory cannot withstand historical scrutiny. Whatever "implied power" arguments may have emanated from the original Constitution, those arguments were foreclosed by the adoption of the …

Images, Spirituality, And Law, Richard Stith

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Why The Taint To Religion?: The Interplay Of Chance And Reason, Richard Stith

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Religious Free Speech Rights Of Students In Public Schools: The Educator's Dilemma, Rosalie Levinson

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Living Without Rights-- In Manners, Religion, And Law, Richard Stith

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Virginia Tax Laws Affecting Churches, J. Rodney Johnson

Law Faculty Publications

This is the second of two articles dealing with external church law in Virginia. The first article was a restatement of all Virginia laws relating to churches except for the tax laws. The subject of taxes was reserved for special treatment at that time because of the volume of tax-related materials. For the most part these materials consist of the various constitutional and statutory taxation provisions relating to religious charities and the opinions of the Virginia Attorney General interpreting and applying these provisions. Attorney General opinions take on a special importance in this study because there is only a handful …

Civil Liberties: Adherence To Established Principles, Ivan E. Bodensteiner, Rosalie Levinson

Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.