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2003

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Religion

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Law

Religious Values, Legal Ethics, And Poverty Law: A Response To Thomas Shaffer, Stephen Wizner Jan 2003

Religious Values, Legal Ethics, And Poverty Law: A Response To Thomas Shaffer, Stephen Wizner

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Stephen Wizner provides a response to Thomas Shaffer's article on his pursuit of social justice through using religious figures as role models. Wizner argues that Shaffer is clearly right in asserting that there is much in the prophetic literature, and, indeed, in the entire Hebrew Bible and the New Testament, that could serve as a moral impetus for social justice lawyering. One can find considerable support for Shaffer's religious thesis in the texts that he cites, and in the words of the prophets he looks to as role models. Nevertheless, Wizner presents a skeptical response to Professor Shaffer's thoughtful essay. …


"Forgive Me Victim For I Have Sinned": Why Repentance And The Criminal Justice System Do Not Mix - A Lesson From Jewish Law, Cheryl G. Bader Jan 2003

"Forgive Me Victim For I Have Sinned": Why Repentance And The Criminal Justice System Do Not Mix - A Lesson From Jewish Law, Cheryl G. Bader

Fordham Urban Law Journal

This essay will critique the Georgia Justice Project's encouragement of confessions in the context of the secular American justice system via comparison with the treatment of confessions under ancient Jewish law. Specifically, this essay posits that the absolute prohibition on the use of confessions in a legal system firmly rooted in religious values recognizes the danger inherent in combining the act of speaking of one's sins for religious penance with the use of such confessions in the criminal adjudication process. The Jewish legal system avoids these inherent dangers by completely devaluing the accused's confession. The GJP, in contrast, merges the …


The Biblical Prophets As Lawyers For The Poor, Thomas L. Shaffer Jan 2003

The Biblical Prophets As Lawyers For The Poor, Thomas L. Shaffer

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Lawyers practicing poverty law often lack mentors and role models. This author discusses how biblical figures, who served poor people, could be mentors and role models for lawyers practicing poverty law. Prophets, and particularly prophets-as-lawyers, redefine power relationships. Shaffer discusses his personal journey through out his career in using religious guidance to help him better understand his career. He also discuss his teachings to his law students of the value of learning from prophets in their legal careers.