Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Law
Apparent Consistency Of Religion Clause Doctrine, The The Rehnquist Court And The First Amendment, Abner S. Greene
Apparent Consistency Of Religion Clause Doctrine, The The Rehnquist Court And The First Amendment, Abner S. Greene
Faculty Scholarship
A hallmark of religion clause scholarship is the complaint that the doctrine is a hopeless muddle. However, the Rehnquist Court brought a considerable amount of consistency-well, apparent consistency- to the doctrine. I say "apparent consistency" because, just as a paradox is only a seeming contradiction, so was the Rehnquist Court's religion clause jurisprudence only seemingly consistent. The doctrine focuses on whether the government singles out religion for special benefit (generally problematic under the Establishment Clause) or for special burden (generally problematic under the Free Exercise Clause). If, on the other hand, the government benefits religion as part of a more …
Common Sense About Original And Subsequent Understanding Of The Religion Clauses, Kent Greenawalt
Common Sense About Original And Subsequent Understanding Of The Religion Clauses, Kent Greenawalt
Faculty Scholarship
This Essay is mainly about the Establishment Clause, but it covers analogous questions about free exercise as well. I try to untangle the threads of various controversies, concentrating primarily on what seems fairly resolvable on examination, while also noting uncertainties that do not yield to easy analysis. I ask how constitutional language should have been and should be interpreted, adopting a strategy that gives weight to ordinary meaning and to the general sense of why that language was adopted. I do not eschew reference to legislative history; however for our purposes in this Essay, legislative history turns out to be …
Cutter And The Preferred Position Of The Free Exercise Clause, Steven Goldberg
Cutter And The Preferred Position Of The Free Exercise Clause, Steven Goldberg
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Cutter v. Wilkinson (2005) allowed Congress to give religious exercise a status superior to that given to free speech. In upholding RLUIPA, a statute protecting inmate religious freedom, the Court explicitly held that statutes can allow prisoners to “assemble for worship, but not for political rallies.” Religion, which lost in Smith (1990) the traditional “preferred position” courts have accorded First Amendment rights, can now regain that position through legislation notwithstanding the Establishment Clause. Indeed, religion has not just regained parity with free speech, it now receives greater protection in the prison setting. This striking …