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Selected Works

2019

Constitutional Law

Legal History

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Full-Text Articles in Law

Think You Know A Lot About Our Constitution?, Jesse Rutledge, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Think You Know A Lot About Our Constitution?, Jesse Rutledge, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

You may know that it was signed in Philadelphia in 1787, that the oldest signer was Benjamin Franklin and that it doesn’t include the word “democracy.” William & Mary Law Professor Allison Orr Larsen, an expert in constitutional law, can tell you a lot more about it. With Constitution Day (Sept. 17, 2018) upon us, Professor Larsen talks about the document’s strengths and weaknesses and its major misconceptions. And she discusses what she thinks will have to happen before it is amended again.


Separation Of Church And State: Jefferson, Lincoln, And The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Show It Was Never Intended To Separate Religion From Politics, Samuel W. Calhoun Jan 2019

Separation Of Church And State: Jefferson, Lincoln, And The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Show It Was Never Intended To Separate Religion From Politics, Samuel W. Calhoun

Samuel W. Calhoun

This Essay argues that it’s perfectly fine for religious citizens to openly bring their faith-based values to public policy disputes. Part II demonstrates that the Founders, exemplified by Thomas Jefferson, never intended to separate religion from politics. Part III, focusing upon Abraham Lincoln’s opposition to slavery, shows that religion and politics have been continuously intermixed ever since the Founding. Part IV, emphasizing the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., argues that no other reasons justify barring faith-based arguments from the public square.