Law Commons^™

Congress And The Supreme Court's Conflict Over Antidiscrimination Law, David B. Oppenheimer

David B Oppenheimer

In 1968, in the days following King's assassination, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act, prohibiting most housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin. [...] later that same year, the Supreme Court found that the long-dormant 1866 and 1867 Civil Rights Acts, prohibiting private racial discrimination, which had been ignored since the end of Reconstruction, remained valid. Since 1968, Congress has passed several laws intended to broaden federal civil rights, either to include more groups or, with increasing frequency, simply to reverse Supreme Court decisions.\n (California's statute applies to employers of five or more employees and prohibits harassment …

Rectifying The Tilt: Equality Lessons From Religion, Disability, Sexual Orientation, And Transgender, Chai R. Feldblum

Maine Law Review

The joy and the challenge of being located in an academic setting is that I am also able to engage in forays (albeit intermittent forays) into scholarly analysis. Delivering this lecture, and publishing this piece, provides an excellent opportunity for me to engage in such a foray. This piece, then, is a scholarly reflection on my advocacy experiences. My goal is to use my experiences in advocacy as fertile soil from which to create, I hope, a lovely flower of theory and conceptual thought. Before setting out on this endeavor, however, I would like to offer two postulates. There are …

The Legacy Of British Rule On Lgbt Rights In Jamaica And The Cayman Islands, Zachary Stewart

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between British colonial influence and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights in the Caribbean. Comparing the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, and Jamaica, an independent former colony of the United Kingdom, the situation for LGBT people is evaluated. While Jamaica has serious abuses and a concerning situation for the human rights of LGBT people, the Cayman Islands’ LGBT community’s position is far less concerning. Owing to its continued connection to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Cayman Islands’ LGBT rights situation is much less dire. Through British influence via …

Legal Punishment As Civil Ritual: Making Cultural Sense Of Harsh Punishment, Professor Spearit

The Bridge: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Legal & Social Policy

This article is an excerpt American Prisons: A Critical Primer on Culture and Conversion to Islam. The central aim of this chapter is to examine the post-civil rights push toward harsh punishment through the cultural lens of ritual. The United States is one of the most punitive countries on the planet--the country is the world leader in imprisonment and is one of the top five that executes capital defendants. However, determining the catalysts of this turn to harsh punishment has proved vexing. Scholars have adequately explained how the end of the welfare state, followed by a proliferation of drug laws, …

Sexual Orientation, Equal Treatment And The Right To Manifest Religion: Lee V Mcarthur, Mel Cousins

Mel Cousins

A Mission Of Divine Calling: A Chosen Nation's Crusade Against Evil, Ashley Harrington

The Eastern Illinois University Political Science Review

For decades, political scientists have and continue to theorize about influences on presidential decision-making and policy implementation. Faith and religious analysis however, remain relatively new to the study of presidential politics. This particular research examines two Republican presidents, both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, that had vastly different ideas about how to combat nations whose policies limited freedom and liberty.

Fighting The New Wars Of Religion: The Need For A Tolerant First Amendment, Leslie C. Griffin

Maine Law Review

Religious wars have broken out around the country about the legality of gay marriage, the consequences of gay ordination for property ownership, the funding of faith-based organizations and the placement of crosses and Ten Commandments (but not Seven Aphorisms) on public land. To resolve such impassioned disputes, Americans traditionally look to the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment, which state "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Unfortunately, the Court's modern decisions interpreting those clauses have shed more heat than light on the discussion and have provoked ongoing controversy instead of …

Newsroom: Is Wall Between Church And State Crumbling? 10-10-2017, Diana Hassel

Life of the Law School (1993- )

No abstract provided.

Rwu First Amendment Blog: Diana Hassel's Blog: Is The Wall Between Church And State Crumbling? 10-07-2017, Diana Hassel

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

A Critique Of Pope Francis’S Laudato Si’, Nicholas Capaldi

Seattle University Law Review

This is a critique of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato si’. The author summarizes and examines Pope Francis’s description of the problem, analysis of the roots of the problem, and proposed solution of the problem within the context of the Roman Catholic tradition. The author concludes that the encyclical abandons rigorous argument, as it lists complaints without offering substantive alternatives.

Social Justice And Capitalism: An Assessment Of The Teachings Of Pope Francis From A Law And Macroeconomics Perspective, Steven A. Ramirez

Seattle University Law Review

The first part of this Article will synthesize the key teachings of Pope Francis from his most important statements on economic structures and social justice and situate these teachings within contemporary economic realities and traditional social justice teachings. Part II of this Article will demonstrate that the Pope’s teachings on social justice fundamentally reflect the best learning from economists on how to sustain economic growth. Part III of this Article will show that nations that undertake policies to pursue the fundamental tenets of the Pope’s teachings (such as minimizing childhood poverty) also perform the best in achieving high human development …

A Cosmopolitan Church Confronts Right-Wing Populism, Vincent Rougeau

Seattle University Law Review

Are all human beings of equal moral worth? If so, does this proposition generate moral obligations to others that transcend national and cultural boundaries? Cosmopolitans would answer yes to each of these questions, as would Pope Francis and Catholic Social Teaching (CST). Given our interconnected economic system, a global perspective on justice is not only pragmatic but also morally essential. In recent years, however, what had been an emerging consensus centered on a cosmopolitan view of the reciprocal responsibilities of nations has been stifled by a rising tide of nationalism and right-wing populism. As a right-wing populist leader of a …

Social Justice And The American Law School Today: Since We Are Made For Love, Michael Kaufman

Seattle University Law Review

This Article is intended to facilitate that new dialogue by finding a series of profound provocations in the Pope’s teachings. First, the Pope provokes us to consider whether our existing education and economic systems are based on an incomplete understanding of human nature.5 The first section contends that the understanding that human beings are by nature competitive and consumptive wealth maximizers is not only contrary to the Pope’s teachings but also contrary to the latest research in the fields of neuroscience, neuro-psychology, cognitive psychology, educational psychology, economics, and behavioral economics. Second, the Pope provokes us to consider whether our existing …

Mercy Versus Fear, Or Where The Law On Migration Stands, Gilbert Paul Carrasco, Iryna Zaverukha

Seattle University Law Review

The theme of this Article contrasts the perspective of Papa Francisco on the subject of migration, juxtaposing his blueprint of mercy as the point of departure, with the oppositional resistance, which is based on various dimensions of fear. This perspective will be contextualized within the framework of both American immigration law and within the parameters of international human rights and transnational migration. Part I of this Article will consider the paradigm of mercy and fear in light of the various provisions of federal American immigration law in their historical context. It will recount many of the restrictive and nativist episodes …

Laudato Si’: Engaging Islamic Tradition And Implications For Legal Thought, Russell Powell

Seattle University Law Review

This Essay considers the 2015 papal encyclical Laudato si’s engagement with Islamic religious and legal traditions in order to identify shared ethical and jurisprudential commitments and their broader implications for law. By 2025, Muslims will constitute 30% of the population of the world, while Catholics will likely be between 15% and 20%. The history of interreligious conflict is long and enduring. In many cases, legal structures related to security and immigration have exacerbated these tensions, prompting uncertainty and instability.5 Laudato si’ is a strategic document, intended to address climate change, increasing economic inequity, and interreligious conflict by opening a space …

Where Morality And The Law Coincide: How Legal Obligations Of Bystanders May Be Informed By The Social Teachings Of Pope Francis, Amelia J. Uelmen

Seattle University Law Review

Since the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Francis has offered to the world powerful signs of how we should aspire to treat each other as human beings, as brothers and sisters in the one human family. He has communicated his message and his teachings in myriad ways: through symbolic gestures; his presence and words at gatherings in our world’s most troubled places; brief messages, homilies and meditations; and official documents that continue the application of the principles of Catholic social teaching to contemporary social questions. What might these prophetic signs and statements mean for the dialogue between Catholic social thought …

The Teachings Of Pope Francis Symposium: Toward A Common Good For Our Common Home, Steven W. Bender

Seattle University Law Review

Prompted by the teachings of Pope Francis conveyed through such writings as the Evangelii gaudium and Laudato si’, the symposium—titled The Teachings of Pope Francis: Towards a Vision of Social Justice and Sustainable Capitalism?—brought an impressive and diverse array of interdisciplinary scholars to Seattle University School of Law in February 2017. Speakers included economists, law professors, and theologians with a wide array of expertise on daunting policy issues facing the Global South and North. Fittingly, a Jesuit law school with a diverse faculty hosted the symposium centering, critiquing, and expanding the teachings of the first Jesuit Pope. Many of our …

Katja, Ketevahi 'Katje', Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ketevahi “Katja” is from Georgia. She’s in her late 40’s. She grew up on a farm in the country and became the financial support for her family after her mother died and her father became “emaciated.” When Putin came to power, diplomatic ties deteriorated between Georgia and Russia, which eventually led to war. She fled her country using forged documents and first worked in Turkey but has now lived in Naples for nine years and regularly sends money home to her brother, who cares for their father.

Katja expresses her feelings about war, government, liberty, and what it means to …

Felix, Tsos, Felix

TSOS Interview Gallery

Felix is originally from Nigeria and has now been inItaly under a year. He came from a family with a polygamous father who “married” multiple wives illegally. After returning home from a service mission for his church, which his father supported, Felix began to study engineering. At some point conflict arose within the family that causedFelix to have to flee.He was smuggled through Niger to Libya, losing several friends along the way.There he was held for ransom, before taking a treacherous voyage across the sea in an overfilled boat, where he witnessed several drown. Now he lives in a camp …

Religious Arbitration And Its Struggles With American Law & Judicial Review, Sukhsimranjit Singh

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Exorcising The Clergy Privilege, Christine P. Bartholomew

Journal Articles

This Article debunks the empirical assumption behind the clergy privilege, the evidentiary rule shielding confidential communications with clergy. For over a century, scholars and the judiciary have assumed generous protection is essential to foster and encourage spiritual relationships. Accepting this premise, all fifty states and the District of Columbia have adopted virtually absolute privilege statutes. To test this assumption, this Article distills data from over 700 decisions — making it the first scholarship to analyze state clergy privilege jurisprudence exhaustively. This review finds a privilege in decline: courts have lost faith in the privilege. More surprisingly, though, so have clergy. …

Master File, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. V. Colo. Civil Rights Comm., __ U.S. __ (2017): Legislative History Of Sb08-200, Matt Simonsen

Research Data

This Master File of the legislative history of a 2008 amendment to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA) was researched and compiled by Matt Simonsen, J.D. Candidate 2019, University of Colorado Law School, and submitted to law professors Craig Konnoth and Melissa Hart. The SB08-200 Master File is cited in Brief of Amici Curiae Colorado Organizations and Individuals in Support of Respondents, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, __U.S.__ (2018) (No. 16-111).

449 p.

Paliotta V. State Dep’T Of Corrections, 133 Nev. Adv. Op. 58 (Sept. 14, 2017), Anna Sichting

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court determined it must consider the sincere religious beliefs of the individual when evaluating claims under the Free Exercise Clause and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA). It is improper to evaluate those claims under the centrality test, which attempts to determine if the individual’s beliefs are central to a tenant of the religion in question. Once the sincere belief is shown, the courts must then fully examine the remaining considerations under the Free Exercise Clause and the RLUIPA.

Liberal Translations: Secular Concepts, Law, And Religion In Colonial Egypt, Jeffrey Culang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a conceptual history of Egypt’s national formation between the 1880s and the 1930s. This period involved the convergence of nationalism, colonial rule, missionary activity, and new modes of governance at the national and international levels. Drawing on state and missionary archival material, periodicals, legal compendia, laws, and parliamentary transcripts, and adapting methods developed by Reinhart Koselleck, I trace shifts within Egypt’s socio-political lexicon through processes of translation and demonstrate their effects upon social experience and political aspiration. I focus on a set of liberal-secular concepts critical to national politics—religious freedom, public interest, nationality, and the minority—as they …

Rwu First Amendment Blog: Jared A. Goldstein's Blog: Ri's Conversion Therapy Ban Protects Lgbtq Youth And It's Constitutional 08-09-2017, Jared A. Goldstein

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

Revisiting Erisa’S Church Plan Exemption After Advocate Health Care Network V. Stapleton, Emily Morrison

Northwestern University Law Review

For much of the last forty years, ERISA’s church plan exemption has existed quietly without much fanfare. But increased litigation over the last five years has dragged the exemption into the spotlight. The litigation focuses on religiously affiliated hospital systems and whether their pension plans have been correctly classified as church plans exempt from ERISA.

This Note examines the history behind the church plan exemption, including statutory modifications made in 1980 and the IRS’s longstanding interpretation of these changes, which precipitated the dispute at issue in the current wave of litigation. While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Advocate …

Religion And Gay Rights Need Not Be At Loggerheads, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

‘Trinity’ Case Marks Death Of Originalism, Bruce Ledewitz

Ledewitz Papers

Published scholarship collected from academic journals, law reviews, newspaper publications & online periodicals

On Health, Law, And Religion, Stacey A. Tovino

Washington and Lee Law Review

The Supreme Court recently decided a number of cases involving health, law, and religion, including Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, Zubik v. Burwell, and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. These cases were important for understanding constitutional undue burden limitations and the boundaries of religious exercise during the Obama Administration. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s recent opinions addressing health, law, and religion have little value for many health law professors and most practicing health care attorneys. These individuals, tasked with teaching and applying the thousands of federal and state statutes, regulations, and government guidance documents that address a …

Burwell V. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.: Creating Power For Corporations At The Cost Of Changing Women’S Lives, Tara Zabehi

The Journal of Business, Entrepreneurship & the Law

No abstract provided.