Religion Law Commons^™

Lawrence V. Texas: The Decision And Its Implications For The Future, Martin A. Schwartz

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Government's Role In The "Purification" Of Religious Organizations, Robert L. Toms, Lisa A. Runquist

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Municipal And State Sanctuary Declarations: Innocuous Symbolism Or Improper Dictates?, Jorge L. Carro

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Saving The Deific Decree Exception To The Insanity Defense In Illinois: How A Broad Interpretation Of Religious Command May Cure Establishment Clause Concerns, 46 J. Marshall L. Rev. 561 (2013), Bella Feinstein

UIC Law Review

No abstract provided.

Allocating The Costs Of Parental Free Exercise: Striking A New Balance Between Sincere Religious Belief And A Child's Right To Medical Treatment , Paul A. Monopoli

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Government's Denigration Of Religion: Is God The Victim Of Discrimination In Our Public Schools?, Michael R. O'Neill

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Action And The Supreme Court's Emerging Consensus On The Line Between Establishment And Private Religious Expression, Michael W. Mcconnell

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Substance And Method In The Year 2000, Akhil Reed Amar

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Child Abuse Reporting: Rethinking Child Protection, Susan C. Kim, Lawrence O. Gostin, Thomas B. Cole

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The general public has been bewildered by the magnitude of sex abuse cases and the widespread failure by pillars of the community to notify appropriate authorities. The crime of sexually abusing children is punishable in all jurisdictions and this article examines the duty to report suspected cases by individuals in positions of trust over young people, such as in the church or university sports. The Federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) defines child maltreatment as an act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caregiver that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, …

Referenda And The District Of Columbia's Human Rights Act: Voting On Same-Sex Marriage In The Nation's Capital, Jacob Stewart

Legislation and Policy Brief

Beginning with Massachusetts in 2003, the courts and legislatures of many states have had to decide whether same-sex marriage is or should be a fundamental right under their respective constitutions.  Although only five states and the District of Columbia legally perform same-sex marriages, a few other jurisdictions are in the process of proposing laws moving in that direction.  However, the vast majority of states are holding fast to the traditional heterosexual definition of marriage.  Thirty-eight states have adopted some sort of Defense of Marriage Act, constitutional amendment, or similar measure that defines marriage as the union between one man and …

The Unavoidable Ecclesiastical Collision In Virginia, Isaac A. Mcbeth, Jennifer R. Sykes

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Section 5 7-9(A) of the Code of Virginia is a statute that purports to resolve church property disputes. There is, however, a significant amount of controversy as to whether the statute encroaches on the free exercise rights of hierarchical churches located in Virginia and enmeshes Virginia courts in the ecclesiastical thicket. Given the debate surrounding Section 57-9(A) and the controversial shift of several mainstream denominations in matters of substantive church doctrine, Virginia is a fertile breeding ground for church property disputes. Accordingly, the Commonwealth is in the midst of an ecclesiastical crisis. The impact of the crisis is evidenced by …

The Unavoidable Ecclesiastical Collision In Virginia, Isaac A. Mcbeth, Jennifer R. Sykes

Richmond Public Interest Law Review

Section 5 7-9(A) of the Code of Virginia is a statute that purports to resolve church property disputes. There is, however, a significant amount of controversy as to whether the statute encroaches on the free exercise rights of hierarchical churches located in Virginia and enmeshes Virginia courts in the ecclesiastical thicket. Given the debate surrounding Section 57-9(A) and the controversial shift of several mainstream denominations in matters of substantive church doctrine, Virginia is a fertile breeding ground for church property disputes. Accordingly, the Commonwealth is in the midst of an ecclesiastical crisis. The impact of the crisis is evidenced by …

The Unaviodable Ecclesiastical Collision In Virginia, Isaac A. Mcbeth, Jennifer R. Sykes

Law Student Publications

Section 57-9(A) of the Code of Virginia is a statute that purports to resolve church property disputes. There is, however, a significant amount of controversy as to whether the statute encroaches on the free exercise rights of hierarchical churches located in Virginia and enmeshes Virginia courts in the ecclesiastical thicket. Given the debate surrounding Section 57-9(A) and the controversial shift of several mainstream denominations in matters of substantive church doctrine, Virginia is a fertile breeding ground for church property disputes. Accordingly, the Commonwealth is in the midst of an ecclesiastical crisis. The impact of the crisis is evidenced by the …

Much Ado About Nothing Much: Protestant Episcopal Church In The Diocese Of Virginia V. Truro Church, Henry L. Chambers, Jr.

Law Faculty Publications

Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Virginia u. Truro Church ("Truro") involves a property dispute. The core issue is who owns or controls property held in trust for an Episcopal congregation after a majority of that congregation votes to disaffiliate from the Episcopal Church of the United States of America ("TEC") and affiliate with a different church. Deciding a church property dispute is inherently difficult because courts are generally "not a constitutionally permissible forum" to resolve ecclesiastical issues. Indeed, the desire to avoid such issues can lead courts to decline to decide particular cases. However, faced with the property …

A Complete Property Right Amendment, John H. Ryskamp

ExpressO

The trend of the eminent domain reform and "Kelo plus" initiatives is toward a comprehensive Constitutional property right incorporating the elements of level of review, nature of government action, and extent of compensation. This article contains a draft amendment which reflects these concerns.

Our Sovereign Body: Narrating The Fiction Of Sovereign Immunity In The Supreme Court: Part I-A English Stories, Marc L. Roark

ExpressO

This is part I-A of a Book I am working towards on the narratives and fictions of sovereign immunity. The goal in this part is to look before the American republic and towards the background in which American Sovereignty came to be shaped by -- the feudal notion of the sovereign; the Lockean response, and the Blackstonean doctrine. The first part looks at the legal fictions surrounding the kingship, their sources and their effects. The Second part looks to the specific ways of treating the sovereign in law, namely viewing King as Property owner or patriarch, Trustee, and Constitution.

Our Sovereign Body: Narrating The Fiction Of Sovereign Immunity In The Supreme Court, Marc L. Roark

ExpressO

This is the introduction to a book I am preparing on the Normative and Narrative aspects of the U.S. Sovereign Immunity Doctrine. The introduction sets up the problem of a doctrine that is not exactly coherent with the national narrative.

Thou Shalt Love Thy Neighbor: Rluipa And The Mediation Of Religious Land Use Disputes, Jeffrey H. Goldfien

ExpressO

Religious land use disputes are characterized by high levels of conflict and the potential to seriously undermine social capital in affected communities. Contemporary land use procedures reflect an antiquated heritage and reliance upon adversarial means that are inadequate to successfully resolve these socially complex local conflicts. While there are practical obstacles, mediation holds advantages over these existing procedures in terms of dispute resolution, and has greater potential to preserve and build social capital at the local level. This article examines the theoretical justification for mediation in this context, and argues for moving beyond the status quo.

The Sanctity Of Religious Liberty Of Minority Faiths Under State Constitutions: Three Hypotheses, Gary S. Gildin

University of Maryland Law Journal of Race, Religion, Gender and Class

No abstract provided.

Religious Liberty And The Law, Stephen Wermiel

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

No abstract provided.

Breaking The Bank: Revisiting Central Bank Of Denver After Enron And Sarbanes-Oxley, Celia Taylor

ExpressO

No abstract provided.

Secrecy And Settlements: Is The New Jersey Charitable Immunity Act Justified In Light Of The Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis, Samantha Kluxen Labarbera

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Suburban Sprawl, Jewish Law, And Jewish Values, Michael Lewyn

Scholarly Works

In the second half of the twentieth century, America's cities and suburbs were engulfed by suburban sprawl - the movement of people (especially middle-class families) and jobs from older urban cores to newer, less densely populated, more automobile-dependent communities generally referred to as suburbs. Cities throughout America lost population to their outlying suburbs, and cities that gained population usually did so only because they were able to annex those suburbs. America's suburban revolution has not left Jewish communities unscathed. For example, the city of Newark, New Jersey, contained 58,000 Jews and thirty-four synagogues in the 1940s, but today has only …

Secularism's Laws: State Blaine Amendments And Religious Persecution, Kyle Duncan

ExpressO

The State Blaine Amendments are provisions in thirty-seven state constitutions that restrict persons’ and organizations’ access to public benefits on religious grounds. They arose largely in the mid- to late-1800s in response to bitter strife between an established Protestant majority and a growing Catholic minority that sought equal access to public funding for Catholic schools. After the failure to pass a federal constitutional amendment—the "Blaine Amendment"—that would have sealed off public school funds from "sectarian" institutions, similar provisions proliferated in state constitutions. These "State Blaines" have often been interpreted, under their plain terms, as erecting religion-sensitive barriers to the flow …

The "Blaine" Debate: Must States Fund Religious Schools?, Laura S. Underkuffler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the United States Supreme Court held-by a vote of 5 to 4-that the funding of religious schools with taxpayer money through voucher programs does not violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. Emboldened by this success, voucher proponents now attack state constitutional provisions (often called "Blaine Amendments") that prohibit taxpayer funding of religious schools. These state provisions, which may stand in the way of religious-school voucher programs, are attacked as violative of the federal Constitution, rooted in anti-religious bias, or otherwise illegal or unwise.

It is my view that efforts to force states …

Of Orphans And Vouchers: Nevada's "Little Blaine Amendment" And The Future Of Religious Participation In Public Programs, Jay S. Bybee, David W. Newton

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Religious Land Use Jurisprudence: The Negative Ramifications For Religious Activities In Washington After Open Door Baptist Church V. Clark County, Beth Prieve

Seattle University Law Review

Part II of this Note provides a history of religious land use jurisprudence in Washington. This part addresses growth management laws generally, and where these laws cross paths with constitutional guarantees of the free exercise of religion. Part III focuses on the Washington Supreme Court's Open Door decision, separately addressing both the majority opinion and the dissent. Part IV illustrates how the Washington Supreme Court misapplied Washington's religious freedom test in Open Door and significantly shifted religious land use jurisprudence. Part IV further discusses how this shift may include Washington's adoption of the lower federal standard and elaborates upon the …

How To Apply The Religious Freedom Restoration Act To Federal Law Without Violating The Constitution, Gregory P. Magarian

Michigan Law Review

Learned commentators have called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 ("RFRA" or "the Act") "perhaps the most unconstitutional statute in the history of the nation" and "the most egregious violation of the separation of powers doctrine in American constitutional history." In the 1997 case of City of Boerne v. Flores, the Supreme Court struck down the Act in its applications to state and local governments, declaring that "RFRA contradicts vital principles necessary to maintain separation of powers and the federal balance." The Act's applications to federal law, however, survived Boerne, which means that plaintiffs with religious freedom claims against …

Thou Shall Not Strike: Religion-Based Peremptory Challenges Under The Washington State Constitution, Justin Dolan

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will first define the peremptory challenge and discuss its history and normative values. It will then examine the United States Supreme Court's treatment of the peremptory challenge, focusing on how the peremptory challenge has changed from a litigation device that lawyers could exercise without explanation to one that at times requires an explanation for it to survive constitutional challenge. Next, this Comment will discuss state courts' independent interpretation of fundamental rights, Washington courts' decisions in harmony with this principle, and State v. Gunwall, the guide to independent constitutional interpretation in Washington. This Comment will show that under …

The Constitutional Flaws In The New Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act: Why Rfras Don't Work, 31 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 153 (2000), Mary Jean Dolan

UIC Law Open Access Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.