Law Commons^™

The Rise Of Public School Prayer With The Demise Of Lemon V. Kurtzman, Samantha Thompson Lipp

Mercer Law Review

The Supreme Court of the United States has officially overturned Lemon v. Kurtzman. The controversial and heavily criticized Lemon opinion sets forth the primary test courts used for over fifty years in analyzing claims under the Establishment Clause. The official overruling of Lemon signals the Supreme Court’s embrace of a more accommodating approach toward religion in the public sphere. This Comment predicts how, in Lemon’s absence, the Supreme Court will likely reassess precedent in the context of public school prayer and become more accommodating of religion.

In Part II, this Comment addresses the three approaches to interpreting the …

Religious Arguments By Citizens To Influence Public Policy: The Lessons Of The Establishment Clause, Gary J. Simson

Mercer Law Review

I am delighted to be a part of this richly deserved celebration of Jack Sammons's scholarship. As a scholar, Jack is truly in a class of his own. He offers a rare combination of qualities. For now, I will mention three of the qualities that together make him so special, but they by no means exhaust the list.

First of all, over a career as a legal scholar going back to his appointment to the Mercer law faculty in the late 1970s and continuing unabated today more than a year into his retirement from teaching, Jack has been wonderfully productive. …

The Democratic Aspect Of The Establishment Clause: A Refutation Of The Argument That The Clause Serves To Protect Religious Or Nonreligious Minorities, Patrick M. Garry

Mercer Law Review

A survey of Establishment Clause doctrines and commentary reveals that the Clause is often interpreted as a minority rights provision, protecting religious and nonreligious minorities from being exposed in certain ways to society's dominant religions. This Article argues against such an interpretation. It portrays the Establishment Clause as a structural provision of the Constitution, concerned with democratic processes and limited government, much like the doctrines of federalism and separation of powers. This Article also asserts that democratic values and concern for majority rule constitute core values of the Establishment Clause. Whereas the Free Exercise Clause protects minority rights, the Establishment …

The Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act Of 2000 And Its Effect On Eleventh Circuit Law, Christina Harrison Schnizler

Mercer Law Review

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 ("RLUIPA") was enacted by Congress in response to the Supreme Court overruling the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ("RFRA") and as an extension of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act. RLUIPA is intended "to protect religious liberty" and prohibits discrimination based on religion in two areas: land use regulations and religious rights for institutionalized persons. Generally, the religious land use provisions prevent state and local governments from creating improper zoning restrictions that unduly prohibit religious organizations from holding meetings, locating in a specific area, or expanding their current …

Chandler V. James: Welcoming Student Prayer Back In The Schoolhouse Gate, Sarah Beth Mabery

Mercer Law Review

In Chandler v. James, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the district court's order permanently enjoining enforcement of an Alabama statute that permitted student-initiated religious speech in public schools. The court of appeals concluded that permitting student initiated religious speech did not violate the Establishment Clause and such speech is protected by the Free Exercise and Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment.

Conscientious Objection In An All-Volunteer Military: An Impermissible Accommodation Of Religious Freedom?, Mary P. Sullivan

Mercer Law Review

The War and National Defense Selective Service Act and its accompanying regulations are the focus of a renewed debate concerning the validity of allowing active-duty service personnel to separate from the services on the grounds of conscientious objection to war. In the past, constitutional analysis of conscientious objection challenges focused on the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. The underlying premise of this analysis was that the government lacked authority to compel a citizen to -act against his conscience by compelling military service. Central to the "analysis was the ability of the government to compel a citizen to "provide …

Free Exercise: A "Hollow Promise" For The Native American In Employment Division, Department Of Human Resources Of Oregon V. Smith, Debra Ann Mermann

Mercer Law Review

In Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon v. Smith, the United States Supreme Court held that a state criminal prohibition of the use of peyote by bona fide members of the Native American Church and a subsequent denial of unemployment benefits upon their discharge for such use does not violate the free exercise clause of the first amendment of the United States Constitution. The Court determined that Oregon's prohibition of the sacramental use of peyote was a "generally applicable criminal law" and ruled that the "compelling interest" test which ordinarily applies when a state imposes a substantial …