Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
North Carolina County Commission Resolution Opposes Court's Marriage Equality Ruling
Monday, November 09, 2015
Recent Articles of Interest
- Lotem Perry-Hazan, Curricular Choices of Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Communities: Translating International Human Rights Law to Education Policy, (Oxford Review of Education, Forthcoming).
- Mark Strasser, The Protection of Conscience: On ACA, RFRA and Free Exercise Guarantees, (82 Tennessee Law Review 345-404 (2015)).
- Jill I. Goldenziel, The Curse of the Nation-State: Refugees, Migration, and Security in International Law, (Arizona State Law Journal, 2016).
- Harry G. Hutchison, Religious Liberty for Employers as Corporations, Natural Persons or Mythical Beings? A Reply to Gans, (Penn State Law Review, Vol. 120, 2015, Forthcoming).
- Barry Sullivan, Access to Information: Citizenship, Representative Democracy, and Catholic Social Thought, (From Democracy, Culture, Catholicism: Voices from Four Continents (Fordham University Press 2015)).
- Khaled A. Beydoun, Between Indigence, Islamophobia, and Erasure: Poor and Muslim in 'War on Terror' America, (104 California Law Review ___ (2016 Forthcoming)).
- Richard J. Ross, Binding in Conscience: Early Modern English Protestants and Spanish Thomists on Law and the Fate of the Soul, (Law and History Review 33(4) (November 2015): 803-37).
- Partners for Law in Development, Piecing Together Perspectives on Witch Hunting: A Review of Literature, (2013).
- Ian Murray, The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission: Reform or Un-Reform?, (2014) 17 Charity Law and Practice Review 151
- Carlos A. Ball, Bigotry and Same-Sex Marriage, (University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review, Vol. 84, No. 3, 2016).
- Laurence H. Tribe, Equal Dignity: Speaking its Name, (Harvard Law Review Forum, Vol. 129, pp. 16-32, 2015).
- Nan D. Hunter, Interpreting Liberty and Equality Through the Lens of Marriage, (6 Cal. L. Rev. Circuit 107 (2015)).
- Cynthia Godsoe, Perfect Plaintiffs, Yale Law Journal Forum, Vol. 125, No. 136, 2015.
- Carl H. Esbeck, A Post-Obergefell America: Is a Season of Legal and Civic Strife Inevitable?, (University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2015-24).
- Michael J. T. McMillen, The Arcapita Group Bankruptcy: A Restructuring Case Study, (Global Trends in Islamic Commercial Law: International Shari'ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance and Thomson Reuters Report, 2015).
- Yusuf Roque Santos Morales, A Community Development Framework Based on the Maqasid Shariah and the Millenium Development Goals, (June 4, 2015).
- John D. Haskell & Jessica Fish, Law As Eschatology, 53 Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 185-209 (2014).
- John O. Hayward, The Free Exercise Clause: Fealty to God or Caesar?, 53 Journal of Catholic Legal Studies 211-252 (2014).
Monday, December 13, 2010
Recent Articles of Interest
- Omar Salah, Structuring Sukuk Al-Ijarah in the Netherlands, (TISCO Working Paper Series on Banking, Finance, and Services 08/2010, Nov. 26, 2010).
- Stephen Copp, A Theology of Incorporation with Limited Liability, (October 20, 2010).
- Christian J. De Ocejo, War Against God: How Iran Violates Islamic Law and What Human Rights Organizations Should Do About It, (December 3, 2010).
- Hassan Ahmad, Investigating Secondary Source Usage by Hanafi Jurists to Enhance Contemporary Relations in Muslim Minority Societies, (April 12, 2010).
- Pamela S. Karlan, Marriage, Method, and the Supreme Court, (Supreme Court Review, Forthcoming).
- Todd E. Pettys, Sodom's Shadow: The Uncertain Line Between Public and Private Morality, (Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 61, p. 1161, 2010).
- Jeremy Waldron, Secularism and the Limits of Community, (December 9, 2010).
- Todd E. Pettys, Letter from Iowa: Same-Sex Marriage and the Ouster of Three Justices, (Kansas Law Review, Forthcoming).
- Paul E. McGreal, The Making of the Supreme Court's Free Exercise Clause Jurisprudence: Lessons from the Blackmun and Powell Papers in Bowen v. Roy, 34 Southern Illinois University Law Journal 469-532 (2010).
- Religious Legal Theory: The State of the Field. Articles by Robert K. Vischer, Mark L. Movsesian, John F. Coverdale, Michael V. Hernandez, Samuel J. Levine, Amelia J. Uelmen and David S. Caudill. 40 Seton Hall Law Review 845-990 (2010).
Monday, June 30, 2014
Recent Articles of Interest
- Zvi H. Triger, Golda Meir's Reluctant Feminism: The Pre-State Years, (Israel Studies, 19.3 (Fall 2014), Forthcoming).
- Frederick Mark Gedicks & Andrew Koppelman, Invisible Women: Why an Exemption for Hobby Lobby Would Violate the Establishment Clause, (67 Vanderbilt Law Review En Banc 51 (2014)).
- Raphael Cohen-Almagor, Reconciling Liberalism and Judaism? Human Rights in Israel, (in Jo Carby-Hall (ed.), Essays on Human Rights: A Celebration of the Life of Dr Janusz Kochanowski (Warsaw: Jus et Lex Foundation, 2014), pp. 136-163).
- Robin Fretwell Wilson, Marriage of Necessity: Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty Protections, (Illinois Program in Law, Behavior and Social Science Paper No. LBSS14-35 (June 2014)).
- David Pimentel & Brian Anderson, Judicial Independence In Postconflict Iraq: Establishing the Rule of Law In an Islamic Constitutional Democracy, 46 George Washington International Law Review 29-54 (2013).
- Sadiq Reza, Due Process In Islamic Criminal Law, 46 George Washington International Law Review 1-27 (2013).
Friday, October 15, 2021
Supreme Court Denies Cert. In Case Alleging Religious Belief Discrimination
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied review in Pasadena Republican Club v. Western Justice Center, (Docket No. 20-1773, certiorari denied 10/12/2021). (Order List). In the case, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a suit claiming viewpoint discrimination and religious belief discrimination by the Western Justice Center (WJC) that was leasing the historic Maxwell House from the city of Pasedena. WJC refused to rent space to the Republican Club for a speech by the president of the National Organization for Marriage because NOM's position on same-sex marriage, gay adoption, and transgender rights are antithetical to the values of WJC. The 9th Circuit (full text of opinion) held that WJC was not a state actor for purposes of the Republican Club’s constitutional claims, and that the the government did not become vicariously liable for the discretionary decisions of its lessee. (See prior related posting.) Pasedena Now reports on the Court's action.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Controversial Pastor Hangs Obama In Effigy To Protest Marriage and Abortion Stances
The effigy is suspended from a makeshift gallows with a noose of yellow rope, has a doll in its right hand and a rainbow-colored gay pride flag in its left.
In a telephone interview with The Huffington Post, Jones said the flag was meant to call attention to Obama's stance on same-sex marriage and that the baby doll is there because the president is "favorable toward abortion."...
There is also an Uncle Sam dummy standing at the base of the gallows outside the DWOC. Jones told HuffPost that the Obama effigy had originally been positioned to be hanging Uncle Sam when the display went up two weeks ago, but that the church changed the display on Wednesday.
The words “Obama is Killing America” are printed on a trailer nearby.The U.S. Secret Service is investigating the situation. [Thanks to Joseph K. Grieboski for the lead.]
Monday, April 27, 2009
Recent Articles and Books of Interest
- Seth Barrett Tillman, Blushing Our Way Past Historical Fact And Fiction: A Response to Professor Geoffrey R. Stone's Melville B. Nimmer Memorial Lecture and Essay, (Jan. 27, 2009).
- Paolo G. Carozza & Daniel Philpott, The Catholic Church, Human Rights and Democracy: Convergence and Conflict with the Modern State, (in The Cross, the Crescent and the Ballot Box: Catholic and Islamic Dialogue on the Rule of Law and International Democracy Promotion, Peter Schraeder, ed., Forthcoming; Notre Dame Legal Studies Paper No. 09-15).
- Cynthia Koploy, Free Exorcise Clause? Whether Exorcism Can Survive America's "New Neutrality", (Northwestern University Law Review, Forthcoming).
- Kenneth W. Starr, Our Libertarian Court: Bong Hits and the Enduring Hamiltonian-Jeffersonian Colloquy, (Lewis & Clark Law Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2008).
- Linda C. McClain, Red Versus Blue (and Purple) States and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate: From Values Polarization to Common Ground?, (University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review, Vol. 77, p. 416, 2008).
- Melissa E. Murray, Marriage Rights and Parental Rights: Parents, the State, and Proposition 8, (Stanford Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Forthcoming).
- Cosmin Dariescu & Nadia Cerasela Dariescu, Rabbinical Chancery in Romania - An Alternative to the State Organized Courts in Solving Family Litigations?, (International Society of Family Law: Regional Conference in Israel, June 7-9, 2009).
- Ann Laquer Estin, Unofficial Family Law, (February 1, 2009).
From Bepress:
- Abeer Ghazi Jarrar, Combating a Religious Radical Ideology v. Suppressing Islamic Opposition: Jordan’s Approach to Counterterrorism, (Cornell Law School Graduate Student Papers Series, April 14, 2009).
- Sigit Ardianto, From Secularism into Modified Pluralism: Comprehensive Application of John Rawls’s Justice as Fairness Theory in Defining State and Religion Relationship, (Cornell Law School Graduate Student Papers Series, April 14, 2009).
From SmartCILP:
- Geoffrey C. Hazard, Not the City of God: The Multiplicity of Wrongs and Rules, 42 Akron Law Review 1-11 (2009).
Recent Books:
- Jon A. Shields, The Democratic Virtues of the Christian Right, (Princeton University Press, 2009), reviewed by the New York Times.
- ABA Section of State and Local Government Law, RLUIPA Reader: Religious Land Uses, Zoning and the Courts, (Michael S. Giaimo & Lora A. Lucero, eds.) (April 2009).
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Romney's Presidential Bid and His Mormon Religion
The article begins with an account of Romney’s dead-pan humor speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Palm Beach, Florida:
"You may have heard that I’m Mormon," Mr. Romney told the crowd, adding that it’s "very difficult being Mormon" in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legalized. "You see for us, marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman and a woman and a woman."In meetings with Christian conservatives, Romney is able to say, "I personally believe that Jesus Christ is my savior." He contends that voters will choose “individuals who are people of faith”, but he does not think that the "brand of faith" should matter.
Romney’s consultants do not believe that his religious affiliation will be as important to voters as political insiders are suggesting. Strategists believe, however, that Romney will eventually have to confront the religious issue directly.
Friday, December 05, 2008
Times Ad Condemns Violence Against LDS Church For Its Prop 8 Support
In a press release on the ad, Interfaith Alliance President C. Welton Gaddy said: "I am pleased to see the newfound commitment of some of my friends on the right to fight against anti-religious bigotry and violence against houses of worship.... [However] I do wonder if the signers will be willing to spend tens-of-thousands of dollars along with their prestige the next time a primarily gay congregation’s legitimacy is called in to question, or a mosque is targeted for harassment." Towleroad blog has additional background on the ad.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Shooter At Family Research Council Was Supporter of LGBT Rights
Monday, January 16, 2017
Prosperity Gospel Pastor, Bishop Eddie Long, Dies
Long was a national figure and one of the most innovative and polarizing pastors in the contemporary church. He was also a paradox.
He was a preacher who led an infamous march against same-sex marriage and denounced homosexuality, but he also settled a lawsuit by four young men who said he pressured them into sexual relationships....
He was a man who gave away cars and paid the college tuition of needy people, but he also was investigated by Congress after a charity he created had provided him with a million-dollar home and a Bentley luxury car.
"When he spoke, black people all over the country listened to him," said Shayne Lee, a sociologist who studies the black Pentecostal church. "He was part of the repackaging of Christianity for post-civil rights African-Americans."
Monday, December 17, 2012
Recent Articles of Interest
- Mark D. Rosen, The Educational Autonomy of Perfectionist Religious Groups in a Liberal State, (1 Journal of Law, Religion & State 16, 2012).
- Thomas G. Field, Crimes Involving Intangible Property, (December 11, 2012).
- Andrew M. Koppelman, The Story of Welsh v. United States: Elliott Welsh's Two Religious Tests, (Richard Garnett and Andrew Koppelman, eds., First Amendment Stories, Foundation Press, 2011).
- Andrew M. Koppelman, Defending American Religious Neutrality, (Richard Garnett and Andrew Koppelman, eds., First Amendment Stories, Foundation Press, October 2011).
- Chuck Henson, Title VII Works – That's Why We Don't Like It, (2 University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review 41, 2012).
- Peter Nicolas and Mike Strong, The Geography of Love: Same-Sex Marriage & Relationship Recognition in America (The Story in Maps) Third Edition, (December 12, 2012).
- Susannah William Pollvogt, Forgetting Romer, (Stanford Law Review Online, 2012).
- Andrew Kim, 'Standing' in the Way of Equality? The Myth of Proponent Standing and the Jurisdictional Error in Perry v. Brown, (American University Law Review, Vol. 61, No. 6, 2012).
- Elizabeth Sepper, Taking Conscience Seriously, 98 Virginia Law Review 1501-1575 (2012).
- Jacob Turner, Towards A Synthesis Between Islamic and Western Jus in Bello, 21 Journal of Transnational Law & Policy 165-206 (2011-2012).
- Church & State: Blurring the Lines, Wisconsin Lawyer, Dec. 2012.
- Steven H. Sholk, A Guide To Election Year Activities of Section 501(c)(3) Organizations (2012 edition), PLI Course Handbook, Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions, Dispositions, Spin-Offs, Joint Ventures, Financings, Reorganizations & Restructurings, Nov. 2012.
Wednesday, December 07, 2016
Wedding Videographers Sue To Refuse Same-Sex Couples
The First Amendment prevents the government from compelling people to create, express, support, or promote a message not of their own choosing or to speak when they would rather remain silent.KSTP-TV News reports on the lawsuit.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Obama Campaign Hires Religious Outreach Director
Friday, November 18, 2011
California High Court Tells 9th Circuit: Initiative Proponents Have Standing
when the public officials who ordinarily defend a challenged state law or appeal a judgment invalidating the law decline to do so, under article II, section 8 of the California Constitution and the relevant provisions of the Elections Code, the official proponents of a voter-approved initiative measure are authorized to assert the state‘s interest in the initiative‘s validity, enabling the proponents to defend the constitutionality of the initiative and to appeal a judgment invalidating the initiative.Justice Kennard also filed a concurring opinion. The court's decision came in response to a question certified to the California Supreme Court by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality under the U.S. Constitution of Proposition 8. The federal district court held that Proposition 8 violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution. State officials refused to defend the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and official proponents of Proposition 8 sought to intervene to defend the measure. (See prior posting). AP reports on yesterday's opinion.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Watchdog Group Asks IRS To Investigate Funding of Texas Restoration Project
Friday, November 19, 2010
9th Circuit Will Permit Live C-SPAN Broadcast of Arguments In Prop 8 Appeal
Monday, October 22, 2012
Recent Articles of Interest
- Jerg Gutmann, Causes of Corruption in Religious Organizations, (October 19, 2012).
- Caroline Mala Corbin, The Contraception Mandate, (Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy, Vol. 106, Forthcoming).
- Charlton C. Copeland, Creation Stories: Stanley Hauerwas, Same-Sex Marriage, and Narrative in Law and Theology, (Law and Contemporary Problems, Vol. 75, No. 4, 2012).
- Frederick Mark Gedicks, With Religious Liberty for All: A Defense of the Affordable Care Act's Contraception Coverage Mandate, (American Constitution Society for Law and Policy Issue Brief, Oct. 18, 2012).
- Menachem Mautner, Religion in Politics: Rawls and Habermas on Deliberation and Justification, (Hanoch Dagan, Yedidia Z. Stern and Shachar Lifshitz eds., The Israel Democracy Institute, 2013).
- Wassim Rajhi, Islamic Finance, Distress and Restructuring: Lessons from Asian Financial Crises, (October 17, 2012).
- Roberta Rosenthal Kwall, Is the Jewish Tradition Intellectual Property?, (4 WIPO Journal, Forthcoming).
- Rex Ahdar, Regulating Religious Coercion, [Abstract], 8 Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties 215-243 (2012).
- Yaseen Eldik and Monica C. Bell, The Establishment Clause and Public Education in an Islamophobic Era, [Abstract], 8 Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Civil Liberties 245-258 (2012).
- Mary Ann Glendon, Harold J. Berman Lecture. Religious Freedom--A Second-Class Right?, 61 Emory Law Journal 971-990 (2012).
- Myriam Hunter-Henin, Why the French Don't Like the Burqa: Laicite, National Identity and Religious Freedom, [Abstract], 61 International & Comparative Law Quarterly 613-639 (2012).
- John Witte, Jr. and Don S. Browning, Christianity's Mixed Contributions to Children's Rights: Traditional Teachings, Modern Doubts, 61 Emory Law Journal 991-1014 (2012).
Thursday, March 03, 2022
3rd Circuit: Foster Parents Have Religious Discrimination Claim For License Suspension Over Their Anti-LGBT Views
In Lasche v. State of New Jersey, (3rd Cir, March 1, 2022), the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a district court's dismissal of a suit by former foster parents who alleged that their free exercise rights were infringed when their foster care license was suspended because of their religious opposition to same-sex marriage and their religious belief that homosexual conduct is sinful. The court remanded for further proceedings plaintiffs' claims under 42 USC §1983 and §1985(3). It also remanded for further proceedings their claim that defendants' action violated New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination, finding that the state's Division of Child Protection and Permanency is a "place of public accommodation" under that law.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Recent Articles of Interest
- Abhyuday Bhotika, Status and Role of a Karta – A Critical Study, (October 6, 2011).
- Daniel Kroslak, The Cultural Defense in Germany, (October 9, 2011).
- Abdulla Galadari, Inner Meanings of Islamic Finance: Understanding the Theory Behind All Theories, (5th IIUM International Accounting Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 12-13, 2011).
- Anne Twomey, Changing the Rules of Succession to the Throne, (Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 11/71, Oct 12, 2011).
- Linda Ross Meyer, Book Review: Apology and Sympathy: On the Importance of ‘Training in Moral Discomfort’, (April 9, 2011).
- Christopher C. Lund, The New Victims of the Old Anti-Catholicism, (Connecticut Law Review, 2012).
- Rachel Goldberg and Brian Blancke, God In the Process: Is There a Place for Religion in Conflict Resolution?, [Abstract], 28 Conflict Resolution Quarterly 377-398 (2011).
- Nathan J. McGrath, Reed v. UAW: An Adverse Ruling on Adverse Action, 23 Regent University Law Review 391-402 (2010-2011).
- David Skeel, Making Sense of the New Financial Deal, 5 Liberty University Law Review 181-199 (2011).
- Juan Marco Vaggione, Sexual Rights and religion: Same-sex Marriage and Lawmakers' Catholic Identity in Argentina, [Abstract], 65 University of Miami Law Review 935-954 (2011).
- Rev. Carlton W Veazey and Marjorie Brahms Signer, Religious Perspectives on the Abortion Decision: The Sacredness of Women's Lives, Morality and Values, and Social Justice, 35 N.Y.U. Review of Law and Social Change 281-302 (2011).
- Symposium: Critical Perspectives on the Criminalization of Islamic Philanthropy in the War on Terror. Articles by Jonathan Benthall, Nina J. Crimm, Sally Howell, Erica Caple James, Ramzi Kassem and Khalid Mustafa Medani. 10 UCLA Journal of Islamic & Near Eastern Law 1-137 (2010-2011).