Religion Law Commons^™

The Myth Of Religious Freedom: The Implications Of The State Controlling Religious Expression In The Name Of Public Order, David N. Wagner

David N. Wagner

The state prevents certain religious expression in the name of public order. This article explores the state's role in providing an environment for persons to realize the fullness of their humanity as creatures made in the image and likeness of God.

Education As A Counterterrorism Tool And The Curious Case Of The Texas School Book Resolution, Diane Webber

Diane Webber

As a case study, this paper reviews a resolution passed by the Texas State Board of Education on September 24, 2010. The resolution rejects certain Social Studies texts that contain what the Board determined were pro-Islamic/anti-Christian distortions…The resolution is itself doing what it complains about – it is showing “chronic partiality to one of the world’s great religions and animus against another.”…At a time when “reciprocal negative perceptions between the Western and Muslim worlds continue to escalate”, it is essential to acknowledge the important role of education to promote tolerance… The knowledge gained from religious tolerance education can then be …

Section 5 Of The Voting Rights Act And Its Place In Post-Racial America, Enbar Toledano

Enbar Toledano

The Fifteenth Amendment purported to withdraw race and color from the calculus of suffrage. Instead, it gave rise to an era of creative exclusion in which Southern states erected one barrier after another and Congress floundered in its attempts to secure the black vote it had promised. After ninety-five years, progress at last seemed possible with the introduction of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), an echo of the Fifteenth Amendment fitted with shiny, new teeth. Section 5 of the VRA reversed the inertia of discrimination by requiring states with a demonstrated history of employing disfranchising voting practices to …

Constrained By Statute: Why We Have Statutes Of Limitations, Braden W. Johnson

Braden W Johnson

The recent, high profile cases of sexual abuse in collegiate athletics have uncovered many alleged evildoers. Some of them, like Syracuse University Assistant Coach Bernie Fine, have escaped prosecution based on statutes of limitations. This article explains more about such statutes.

The Hatch Act And The Political Process, Braden W. Johnson

Braden W Johnson

Jon Greiner, the Chief of the Ogden Police, has been indicted for violating the Hatch Act of 1939. This article provides some insight into the way that this law affects the political process.

Mandatory Minimum Sentences In Utah: Does The Punishment Fit The Crime?, Braden W. Johnson

Braden W Johnson

An analysis concerning the effect that Congress' Comprehensive Crime Control Act had on state imposed mandatory minimum sentences, and considering the pros and cons with shifting this judicial responsibility onto the legislature.

The Fox News Effect: Does Polarized News-Media Fill Traditional News Roles?, Braden W. Johnson, Professor Richard Davis

Braden W Johnson

In this study, I use qualitative and quantitative methods to gauge the effect that consumption of highly polarized news-media (i.e. Glen Beck, Chris Matthews, etc.) has on its consumers. Using PEW survey data, I compare those who frequently consume such media against those who do not, and I find that consumers of polarized media are more likely to score highly on a current events test, and are more likely to be registered to vote, with 95% confidence.

Religion And The Alien Tort Statute, Chad G. Marzen

Chad G. Marzen

The paper generally discusses the relationship between religion and the Alien Tort Statute.

The Wrap Up Of Wrap-Ups? Owner Controlled Insurance Programs And The Exclusive Remedy Defense, Chad G. Marzen

Chad G. Marzen

Large scale, complex commercial construction projects today often utilize Owner-Controlled Insurance Programs (OCIPS, also referred to as “Wrap-Up” programs), which streamline various insurance coverages into a single consolidated program (the OCIP), where the owner, through the OCIP, establishes and administers insurance coverage for the general contractor and all the subcontractors on the project.

OCIPs have been lauded for several reasons – efficient claims management, efficient coordination of the program, and potentially significant cost savings for the owner. Although the benefits of OCIPs have been cited in court decisions throughout the country, at least two courts have held that an owner, …

Predators And Propensity: The Proper Approach For Determining The Admissibility Of Prior Bad Acts Evidence In Child Sexual Abuse Prosecutions, Basyle Tchividjian

Basyle Tchividjian

The admissibility of prior bad act evidence in child sexual abuse prosecutions oftentimes makes the difference between a guilty and not guilty verdict. Recently, jurisdictions have growingly embraced the admission of such evidence for the purpose of establishing the defendant’s propensity to sexually victimize children. Due to the potentially high prejudicial effect of admitting propensity evidence, it is more critical than ever that courts carefully apply the decisive evidentiary gatekeeper, the probative value balancing test of Federal Rule of Evidence 403 and its state equivalents. Over the years, courts and legislators have attempted to develop analytical frameworks to be used …

When The Child Abuser Has A Bible: Investigating Child Maltreatment Sanctioned Or Condoned By A Religious Leader, Basyle Tchividjian

Basyle Tchividjian

In many cases of child sexual and physical abuse, perpetrators use religious or spiritual themes to justify their abuse of a child. Although no known religion in modern culture suggests that sexual abuse is condoned or taught as part of its tenets, some church leaders engage in conduct suggesting the child is equally, if not more to blame than the perpetrator, while also urging immediate reconciliation between the perpetrator and victim. In more than one case, pastors have asked children to confess their own “sins” in being sexually abused and have even required children to “confess” in front of an …

The Church Abuse Scandal: Were Crimes Against Humanity Committed?, Dermot Groome

Journal Articles

Increasingly shocking revelations about sexual abuse by members of Catholic religious congregations and diocesan priests have recently raised the question of whether such widespread abuses constitute crimes against humanity. This paper considers that question in the context of a report issued by the Ryan Commission, an independent quasi-judicial commission that spent 10 years conducting detailed investigations into childcare institutions operated by Catholic religious congregations in Ireland. The Ryan Commission’s findings with respect to both widespread physical and sexual abuse provide a factual basis upon which to consider whether crimes against humanity were in fact committed. Contrasting the intentionality of behind …

Back On The Books: The Illinois Silent Reflection And Student Prayer Act, Brendan Brassil

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

The Cross National Memorial: At The Intersection Of Speech And Religion, 61 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 1171 (2011), Mary Jean Dolan

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Unavoidable Ecclesiastical Collision In Virginia, Isaac A. Mcbeth, Jennifer R. Sykes

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Section 5 7-9(A) of the Code of Virginia is a statute that purports to resolve church property disputes. There is, however, a significant amount of controversy as to whether the statute encroaches on the free exercise rights of hierarchical churches located in Virginia and enmeshes Virginia courts in the ecclesiastical thicket. Given the debate surrounding Section 57-9(A) and the controversial shift of several mainstream denominations in matters of substantive church doctrine, Virginia is a fertile breeding ground for church property disputes. Accordingly, the Commonwealth is in the midst of an ecclesiastical crisis. The impact of the crisis is evidenced by …

Reviewing Holy Writ: Interpretation In Law And Religion, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

Holy Writ: Interpretation in Law and Religion is precisely what its title suggests. The book consists of “assembled essays on interpretation in the field of law and religion” written by Justice Antonin Scalia and professors of law and philosophy from the University of Leiden and the University of Utrecht. The genesis of the book was “a conference in the honour of Justice Antonin Scalia, who visited the Leiden law department to celebrate the opening of the new faculty building.” (Preface, ix) The structure of the book makes it particularly enjoyable. The collection is aptly likened to a chain novel in …

Liability Insurance Coverage For Clergy Sexual Abuse Claims, Peter N. Swisher

Law Faculty Publications

This article addresses issues that arise when a policyholder under a standard general liability insurance policy, not containing an express sexual abuse coverage endorsement (or an express sexual abuse exclusion), seeks insurance coverage for sexual abuse claims. Such cases continue to increase in frequency as the legacy of sexual abuse and molestation generates an unrelenting deluge of insurance coverage claims.

The purpose of this article is to explore and analyze the case law and various legal theories supporting and rejecting liability insurance coverage claims involving institutional sexual abuse allegations. This article concludes by recommending a better-reasoned objective concurrent causation legal …

State Power, Religion, And Women's Rights: A Comparative Analysis Of Family Law, Mala Htun, S. Laurel Weldon

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Examining cross-national variation in family law, we find that many countries have reformed to promote sex equality. Yet a significant group retains older laws that discriminate against women. These variations reflect the diverse institutional legacies of these societies, conforming closely-but not entirely-to inherited legal traditions: civil law, common law, and postsocialist countries are the most egalitarian, while countries applying religious law are the least. Yet change is possible, even in unlikely contexts. Political conjunctures that disarm religious, nationalist, and fundamentalist opponents can open windows of opportunity for liberalizing reform.

Human Rights and Legal Systems Across the Global South, Symposium, Indiana …

Religion And The Purification Of Reason: Why The Liberal State Requires More Than Simple Tolerance., John M. Breen

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Are Christians Fit To Be Parents And Guardians—The Case Of Johns V. Derby City Council, Robert J. Araujo S.J.

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.