Law Commons^™

Disaggregating Corpus Christi: The Illiberal Implications Of Hobby Lobby's Right To Free Exercise, Katharine Jackson

Katharine Jackson

This paper first examines and critiques the group rights to religious exercise derived from the three ontologies of the corporation suggested by different legal conceptions of corporate personhood often invoked by Courts. Finding the implicated groups rights inimical to individual religious freedom, the paper then presents an argument as to why a discourse of intra-corporate toleration and voluntariness does a better job at protecting religious liberty.

Corporations And Religious Freedom: Hobby Lobby Stores - A Missed Opportunity To Reconcile A Flawed Law With A Flawed Health Care System, Matthew A. Melone

Matthew A. Melone

On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court held, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., that the requirement imposed on employer group health insurance plans to provide coverage for certain contraceptives unduly burdened the free exercise rights of three closely-held corporations in violation of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ( RFRA ). The contraception mandate was imposed by regulations implementing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, itself a very controversial piece of legislation a part of which was upheld recently by the Court in a perhaps a case more controversial than Hobby Lobby Stores. RFRA was enacted …

Corporate “Soul”: Legal Incorporation Of Catholic Ecclesiastical Property In The United States - A Historical Perspective, Vicenç Feliú

Vicenç Feliú

This work is a revision and update of a study carried out in 1933 by Monsignor Patrick J. Dignan. Dignan’s purpose in his study was to outline the history of how the Roman Catholic Church secured laws for the protection of church property in accordance with the hierarchical nature of the Church. The purpose of the present article is to bring up to date Dignan’s work and complete a survey of the law in its present state. The article analyzes the differences in the law since the original survey to determine if Dignan’s conclusion that the Church should operate to …

A Corporation Has No Soul - The Business Entity Law Response To Challenges To The Contraceptive Mandate Under The Ppaca, Thomas E. Rutledge

Thomas E. Rutledge

The most contentious matter in the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “PPACA”) is not a question of health care, but rather one of the law of business organizations. The dispute has been over the requirement that group health insurance plans provide, on a no-cost sharing basis, coverage for a variety of procedures and prescription medicines involving contraception and what are described as “abortificants.”

The class of suits subject to this discussion were filed by what are not religious organizations but rather for-profit business ventures, asserting that they should be exempt from the requirements of the …

The Naked Private Square, Ronald J. Colombo

Ronald J Colombo

In the latter half of the twentieth century, America witnessed the construction of a “wall of separation” between religion and the public square. What had once been commonplace (such as prayer in public schools, and religious symbols on public property) had suddenly become verboten. This phenomenon is well known and has been well studied.

Less well known (and less well studied) has been the parallel phenomenon of religion’s expulsion from the private square. Employment law, corporate law, and constitutional law have worked to impede the ability of business enterprises to adopt, pursue, and maintain distinctively religious personae. This is undesirable …

Catholic Social Thought And The Reality Of The Corporation, Michael Lp Lower

Michael LP Lower

The debate about whether society, the corporation and any other type of "universal" has a reality outside of the mind is an old one. Catholic Social Thought (CST) sees the corporation as a community of persons. It has an existence (a life and ability to operate) of its own and is oriented to the good of its participants. This view is contrasted with the nexus of contracts approach, Williamson's Transaction Cost Economics approach and some types of stakeholder theory. It is contended that CST's approach is more realistic.

Employee Participation In Corporate Governance: An Ethical Analysis, Michael Lp Lower

Michael LP Lower

This paper outlines why CST has called for employees to be involved in the governance of the firms that they work for and a share in ownership. It points out the economic issues involved as part of its broader ethical analysis. The John Lewis Partnership is pointed to as a good working model. The possible use of ESOPs to bring about desirable changes is considered. The case for mandatory codetermination is outlined.

Christian Anthropology And The Theory Of The Firm, Michael Lp Lower

Michael LP Lower

Catholic social thought (CST), a branch of moral theology, reflects Christian anthropology (an understanding of human nature that draws on Revelation and natural law theory). CST's understanding of what communities (such as the corporation) are for and how they can best achieve their ends are coloured by its anthropological underpinnings. The same, it is argued, is true for economic theories such as the theories of the firm based on Coase. This paper compares Christian anthropology with the implicit anthropology underpinning some of the dominant economic theories of the firm. Differences at this level go a long way to explaining mismatches …

Natural Law And Agency Theory, Michael Lp Lower

Michael LP Lower

Corporate governance scholarship is awash with theories of the firm: these are "stories" or metaphors that try to shed light on the nature and purpose of the firm as an institution and on one or more of the following questions:

(i) how the institution of the firm "evolved" (or its economic or social purpose); (ii) whether "the firm" is a reality or a rhetorical device; and (iii) the relationship between "the firm" and stakeholders, political society and so on.

Theories of the firm are used both to explain and to help develop law and policy. If the theory is misconceived, …