Law Commons^™

December 29, 2008: Hegel On Hallowed Secularism, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Hegel on Hallowed Secularism“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 26, 2008: Chanukah—The Victory Of The Taliban, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Chanukah—the Victory of the Taliban“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

December 2, 2008: How Thankful Was Your Thanksgiving?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “How Thankful Was Your Thanksgiving?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 29, 2008: The Grace Of Religious Believers, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Grace of Religious Believers“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 25, 2008: The Habit Of Hope, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Habit of Hope“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The St. Thomas Effect: Law School Mission And The Formation Of Professional Identity, Jennifer Wright

Jennifer Wright

The legal profession has long been criticized for declining standards of professionalism. Recent studies have pointed to the crucial role of legal education in forming the professional identity of lawyers. Law schools must take seriously their duty to intentionally and thoughtfully shape their students’ sense of what it means to be a lawyer and of how their professional identities will align and coexist with their other personal and ethical commitments. In this article, I examine a case study of one law school, the University of St. Thomas School of Law, whose self-proclaimed raison d’etre is to produce a “different kind …

November 17, 2008: The Mormon Church And Proposition 8, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Mormon church and Proposition 8“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 13, 2008: The Fight Over Christmas, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “The Fight Over Christmas“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 11, 2008: From The Conclusion Of For The Establishment Of Religion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “From the Conclusion of For the Establishment of Religion“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

November 2, 2008: Religion And The 2008 Campaign, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Religion and the 2008 Campaign“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Hanging In A Balance: Freedom Of Expression And Religion, Puja Kapai, Anne Sy Cheung

Puja Kapai

When the liberty to freely express oneself is at odds with another’s right to freedom of religion, we are confronted with the classic dilemma of choosing between two equally fundamental, constitutionally and internationally protected rights. The contours of the said two rights however, are far from clear. Whilst freedom of expression is not an absolute right, its limits are controversial. Equally, while it is undisputed that freedom of religion is an internationally protected human right enshrined in various international instruments, there is no comprehensive international treaty which addresses as its subject the content and extent of the right of freedom …

Between Rogues And Liberals: Towards Value Pluralism As A Theory Of Freedom Of Religion In International Law, Peter G. Danchin

Peter G. Danchin

No abstract provided.

Constitution By Compromise, Howard Schweber, Amnon Cavari

Howard Schweber

The question of empowering the court and the limits of constitutional protection are at the heart of the debate over constitutional design in Israel. Lacking a comprehensive written constitution, Israel nonetheless has a set of basic laws which encompass many of the functions of a constitutional text making it a near-complete constitution. Nonetheless, there continues to be considerable support for the idea of a single, formally adopted constitutional text. Recently, several proposals have been brought to the forefront of political discussions through the actions of various interest groups outside the government, and energized and committed efforts by government officials and …

October 9, 2008: Secularists Need Yom Kippur, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Secularists Need Yom Kippur“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

October 2, 2008: Religulous--Are People Killing Each Other Over Religon?, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Religulous--Are People Killing Each Other Over Religon?“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Continuing Threshold Test For Free Exercise Claims, Andy G. Olree

Andy G Olree

When a claimant challenges some governmental law or action under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, courts have long required the claimant to make out a prima facie case that the government has burdened the exercise of the claimant’s sincerely held religious beliefs. This requirement has been referred to as the threshold test for free exercise claims, since claimants must make this showing as a threshold matter before courts will proceed to evaluate the burden and the governmental interest at stake under some standard of scrutiny. This Article argues that, while the U.S. Supreme Court has recently adopted …

September 23, 2008: Excerpt From For The Establishment Of Religion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Excerpt from For the Establishment of Religion“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 17, 2008: Pulpit Freedom Sunday, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Pulpit Freedom Sunday“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

September 15, 2008: Secular Hostility To Religion, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Secular Hostility to Religion“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

Clitoridectomy And The Economics Of Islamic Marriage & Divorce Law, Ryan M. Riegg

Ryan M. Riegg

Suicide, Law And Morality, Edward Rubin

Edward Rubin

Dear Editors,

The enclosed article argues that blanket prohibitions against assisted suicide are unconstitutional. This position has been advanced by a number of commentators, who have generally based their argument on the so-called right to die. From a constitutional perspective, however, this right can only be grounded on either substantive due process or the right of privacy, that is, the penumbra of the first eight amendments. While the argument isn’t necessarily wrong, it suffers from its reliance on aggressive and controversial interpretations of the constitutional text.

The position this article advances is that prohibitions against assisted suicide violate the First …

When Churches Divide: On Neutrality, Deference, And Unpredictability, Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

Predictions that the Anglican Communion would be torn asunder have proven false, at least for now. Nonetheless, continuing disagreements about whether Bishop Gene Robinson should be a bishop and about whether same-sex unions should be recognized provide an ever-present reason for a possible break within that Communion. Were there such a break, there might well be numerous suits regarding the ownership of various properties.

Historically, churches have split off from their denominational affiliations for a whole host of reasons including disagreements over property ownership, church leadership, or member equality. When such divisions take place, the ownership of particular buildings or …

The Political Origins Of Secular Public Education: The New York City School Controversy, 1840-1842, Ian C. Bartrum

Ian C Bartrum

THE ORIGINS OF SECULAR PUBLIC EDUCATION: THE NEW YORK SCHOOL CONTROVERSY, 1840-1842 As the title suggests, this article explores the historical origins of secular public education, with a particular focus on the controversy surrounding the Catholic petitions for school funding in nineteenth-century New York City. The article first examines the development of Protestant nonsectarian common schools in the northeast, then turns to the New York controversy in detail, and finally explores that controversy’s legacy in state constitutions and the Supreme Court. It is particularly concerned with two ideas generated in New York: (1) Bishop John Hughes’ objection to nonsectarianism as …

August 21, 2008: Thinkers In The New Secularism: Susan Neiman, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “Thinkers in the New Secularism: Susan Neiman“ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Kosovo Crisis: A Dostoievskian Dialogue On International Law, Statecraft, And Soulcraft, Robert J. Delahunty

Robert J. Delahunty

No abstract provided.

The Coercion Test: On Prayer, Offense, And Doctrinal Inculcation, Mark Strasser

Mark Strasser

Several different tests have been proposed to determine whether a state practice violates the Establishment Clause, including the Lemon test, the Endorsement test, and the Coercion test. While no test yet commands the consistent support of members of the Court, it is clear that several members of the Court favor some version of the Coercion test. Interpretation and evaluation of that test are rather difficult, however, because Court members differ greatly both about what kind of coercion triggers the relevant protections and about what the test is designed to prevent. The great disparity in views both about the reach and …

August 16, 2008: We Don't Want Justice, Bruce Ledewitz

Hallowed Secularism

Blog post, “We Don't Want Justice “ discusses politics, theology and the law in relation to religion and public life in the democratic United States of America.

The Congressional Chaplaincies, Christopher C. Lund

Christopher C Lund

Twenty five years ago, in Marsh v. Chambers, the Supreme Court considered the congressional chaplaincies, and concluded that they were not “an ‘establishment’ of religion or a step toward establishment,” but instead were “simply a tolerable acknowledgment of beliefs widely held among the people of this country.” That latter phrase has been repeated hundreds of times in cases and law review articles; it suggests that the chaplaincies are uninteresting and uncontroversial and that they have been so throughout our history.

The Court in Marsh looked only briefly at the history of the chaplaincies. But a deeper look at that history …

Bloodstains On A "Code Of Honor", Kenneth Lasson

Kenneth Lasson

Abstract In the real world of the Twenty-first Century, deep biases against women are prevalent in much of Muslim society. Although there is no explicit approval of honor killing in Islamic law (Sharia), its culture remains fundamentally patriarchal. As unfathomable as it is to Western minds, “honor killing” is a facet of traditional patriarchy, and its condonation can be traced largely to ancient tribal practices. Justifications for it can be found in the codes of Hammurabi and in the family law of the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, honor killings in the Twenty-first Century are not isolated incidents, nor can they be …

"The Servant Of Two Masters": The Influence Of Church/State Paradigms On The Rise And Fall Of Clergy Disqualification Clauses In The United Kingdom And United States, Hunter M. Abell

Hunter M Abell

The role of clergy in American politics grows more hotly debated with each passing election cycle. This submission examines the competing loyalties a politically active member of the clergy experiences as he or she attempts to simultaneously serve their faith and the body politic. In doing so, it reviews the practice of clergy disqualification which prohibited clergy from serving in a representative body. It examines the rich and intriguing history the practice enjoyed in both the United States and United Kingdom and offers the theory that the use of clergy disqualification in both countries arose out of each country’s unique, …