Law Commons^™

Religious Freedom Legislation In The 2013 Virginia General Assembly, Ellis M. West

Political Science Faculty Publications

If there is any Virginia law that deserves to be called "iconic," it is Section 16 of the Virginia Bill of Rights, which combines the religious freedom provision in Virginia's first Declaration of Rights (1776) with portions of Thomas Jefferson's Statute for Religious Liberty (1785). These two documents also inspired the religion clauses of the First amendment and are world famous.

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This article consists of the following sections: Section one presents the content of the proposed amendment and explains the ways in which it is unclear, redundant, and otherwise poorly written. Section two addresses the issue of whether the …

Nonprofit Organizations, For-Profit Corporations, And The Hhs Mandate: Why The Mandate Does Not Satisfy Rfra's Requirements, Jonathan T. Tan

Law Student Publications

In 2012, the federal government spawned an enormously divisive issue when it promulgated a regulation that requires certain employers to provide contraception coverage to their employees without cost-sharing. The mandate's supporters see it as an important step in expanding access to vital healthcare for women, whereas its detractors see it as an attempt by the government to force them into violating their deeply held religious beliefs. In a clash between values, the mandate favors access to contraception over the concerns of religious groups....Section II provides background information on the mandate and the convoluted process by which the Departments of Health …

The Right To Enforce: Why Rluipa's Land Use Provisions Is A Constitutional Federal Enforcement Power, Qasim Rashid

Law Student Publications

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (“RLUIPA”) superseded the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (“RFRA”), which the Supreme Court held unconstitutional in its application to states in 1997. A two-pronged law, RLUIPA protects prisoners from unjust impositions to their freedom of worship and also ensures religious institutions may use their property for legitimate worship purposes without burdensome zoning law restrictions. This paper focuses specifically on the latter prong and analyzes RLUIPA in light of the growing Islamophobia in America during the previous twenty-four months. For example, the United States Department of Justice reports “of the eighteen RLUIPA matters involving …