Law Commons^™

Salazar V. Buono: Sacred Symbolism And The Secular State, Ian C. Bartrum

Ian C Bartrum

This short piece discusses some doctrinal and theoretical implications of the Court's recent decision.

Foreword: Our Paradoxical Religion Clauses, Mark A. Graber

Mark Graber

No abstract provided.

When The Exception Becomes The Rule: Marsh And Sectarian Legislative Prayer Post-Summum, Scott W. Gaylord

Scott W. Gaylord

Across the country, federal, state, and local legislative bodies begin their meetings with prayer. Yet, as recent challenges to sectarian legislative prayer demonstrate, legislative prayer rests uneasily at the intersection of the Free Speech and Establishment Clauses. While the government has the right to speak for itself, many contend that it is precluded from engaging in paradigmatic religious activity, such as sectarian prayer. As a result, although legislative prayer has been part of the “fabric of our society” since at least the First Continental Congress, sectarian prayer teeters on the brink of unconstitutionality.

Despite the pervasiveness of legislative prayer and …

Abraham Baldwin And The Establishment Clause, Mark Chadsey

Mark J. Chadsey

Until recently, both courts and scholars have focused their discussion about the Founding Fathers’ role in the drafting and interpretation of the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause almost exclusively on James Madison and Thomas Jefferson. This discussion has all but ignored others that played important roles in the drafting of this crucial provision governing church-state relations. If we are to properly understand the original meaning of the Establishment Clause, our study must include a review of a wider array of those people who participated in its creation. This paper examines the views of Abraham Baldwin who was one of the key …

Exposing The Underground Establishment Clause In The Supreme Court’S Abortion Cases, Justin S. Murray

Justin S Murray

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that women have a right to abortion under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reasoned toward this conclusion by importing concepts and concerns that are ordinarily associated with the Establishment Clause. This Article is the first attempt to systematically describe, and critically evaluate, the Court’s use of Establishment-Clause ideas in Roe and later abortion cases.

Some brief background is essential in order to see how the Court wove Establishment-Clause themes into the structure of its Due-Process analysis. The Due Process Clause allows the government to restrict fundamental constitutional …

Exposing The Underground Establishment Clause In The Supreme Court’S Abortion Cases, Justin S. Murray

Justin S Murray

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that women have a right to abortion under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court reasoned toward this conclusion by importing concepts and concerns that are ordinarily associated with the Establishment Clause. This Article is the first attempt to systematically describe, and critically evaluate, the Court’s use of Establishment-Clause ideas in Roe and later abortion cases.

Some brief background is essential in order to see how the Court wove Establishment-Clause themes into the structure of its Due-Process analysis. The Due Process Clause allows the government to restrict fundamental constitutional …

No Bueno, Buono: An Essay On Salazar V. Buono And Establishment Clause Remedies, David B. Owens

David B. Owens

Atop Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert sat a Latin Cross. The only problem, for some, was that this land happened to be owned by the federal government. After contentious litigation, the cross was deemed a violation of the Establishment Clause, and the district court issued an injunction forbidding the cross to remain. That judgment became final and unreviewable, but the district court’s subsequent remedial action—declaring invalid Congress’ attempt to sell only a small “donut” of land around the cross—was not. Congress’ interesting end-around spawned further litigation and an order by the district court modifying the injunction despite the fact …

No Bueno, Buono: An Essay On Salazar V. Buono And Establishment Clause Remedies, David B. Owens

David B. Owens

Atop Sunrise Rock in the Mojave Desert sat a Latin Cross. The only problem, for some, was that this land happened to be owned by the federal government. After contentious litigation, the cross was deemed a violation of the Establishment Clause, and the district court issued an injunction forbidding the cross to remain. That judgment became final and unreviewable, but the district court’s subsequent remedial action—declaring invalid Congress’ attempt to sell only a small “donut” of land around the cross—was not. Congress’ interesting end-around spawned further litigation and an order by the district court modifying the injunction despite the fact …