Law Commons^™

The Need For A Law Of Church And Market, Nathan B. Oman

Nathan B. Oman

This Essay uses Helfand and Richman’s fine article to raise the question of the law of church and market. In Part I, I argue that the question of religion’s proper relationship to the market is more than simply another aspect of the church-state debates. Rather, it is a topic deserving explicit reflection in its own right. In Part II, I argue that Helfand and Richman demonstrate the danger of creating the law of church and market by accident. Courts and legislators do this when they resolve questions religious commerce poses by applying legal theories developed without any thought for the …

Law, Religious Change, And Samesex Marriage Posted On, Nathan B. Oman

Nathan B. Oman

No abstract provided.

Religious Freedom And Workers’ Compensation - Big Sky Colony V Montana Department Of Labor And Industry, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

Social security and health care litigation has played a prominent role in the development of the jurisprudence concerning the religious clauses of the US Constitution. At the time of writing further litigation in this area is ongoing with initial rulings having been handed down in relation to challenges concerning the compatibility of the PPACA’s contraceptive mandate with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA). This note considers an interesting recent decision of the Montana supreme court which considered the constitutionality of an extension of coverage under the Montana workers’ compensation code to colonies of the Hutterite (or Hutterian or Hutterische) Brethren …

Recent Uk Case Connected With Sexual Orientation “Hate Speech”, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

Discusses the decision in R (On the Application Of Core Issues Trust) v Transport for London [2014] EWCA Civ 34 (27 January 2014) dealing with signs on London buses alleged to be "homophobic".

Legal Pressure Points For Christians In 21st Century Australia, Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

This paper discusses the pressures facing Christians who adhere to Biblical ethical values when those principles clash with current discrimination and vilification laws.

Freedom Of Religion In Practice: Exemptions Under Antidiscrimination Laws On The Basis Of Religion., Neil J. Foster

Neil J Foster

Recognition of “human rights” often involves the need to balance one set of rights against another. While anti‐discrimination laws generally are designed to outlaw decision‐making on irrelevant grounds, recognition of “freedom of religion” (a clear human right acknowledged in the international covenants on the area) requires acknowledging that decision‐making in many areas on religious grounds is not irrelevant, and hence requires careful crafting of appropriate exemptions to otherwise blanket prohibitions against discrimination. But in many ways there has been a subtle shift in recent decades away from a fully‐orbed recognition of human rights, towards an absolutist prohibition of discrimination alone. …

Secretary Of State For Work And Pensions V. Sister Is, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

This case before the Upper Tribunal concerned the rules of the state pension credit (SPC) which, in effect, provide that ‘members of religious orders’ who are ‘fully maintained by their order’ have no entitlement to a state pension credit. As the Three-Judge Panel pointed out this is the rule ‘regardless of the actual amount of their income or their other circumstances’. The case concerned both the interpretation of these two phrases and – assuming the Panel found that they applied to the claimants – the compatibility of such an approach with the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention issue).

Revisiting Gay Rights Coalition Of Georgetown Law Center V. Georgetown University A Decade Later: Free Exercise Challenges And The Nondiscrimination Laws Protecting Homosexuals, Matthew J. Parlow

Matthew Parlow