Another case raising the issue of so-called conscience exemptions: this week, a group of 12 hospital nurses in New Jersey brought suit against their employer, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), for requiring them to participate in abortions. The plaintiffs allege that the hospital’s actions violate the “Church Amendment,” a federal law which forbids hospitals receiving federal funds, like UMDNJ, from requiring employees to participate in abortions if participation would violate the employees’ “religious beliefs or moral convictions.” The plaintiffs allege that the hospital’s actions violate state law as well. As my friend Rick Garnett at Mirror of Justice notes, this seems to be a pretty blatant violation of law, but, based on a student note I read recently, it’s not all that unusual. The complaint in the case, Danquah v. UMDNJ, is here. — MLM
Gavison on the Law of Return
Ruth E. Gavison (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) has posted The Law of Return at Sixty Years: History, Ideology, Justification. The abstract follows. – JKH
The Law of Return, passed unanimously by the Knesset with much excitement and elation in 1950 on the day commemorating Theodor Herzl, establishes the principle that ‘every Jew is entitled to come to this country as an Oleh’ and lays the foundation for the preference given to Jews in Aliyah and in the acquisition of citizenship in Israel. The law is considered one of the primary expressions of Israel as a Jewish state. In this position paper the author rejects the principal claim of the law’s opponents, that the preference given to Jews in Aliyah to Israel is either unjustified or needs to be limited in time. Read more
God, Trust, and Employment
Here is a story about how the President stated that God is interested in people having jobs, and that Congress ought to stop debating whether to reaffirm the motto, In God We Trust — one which sometimes rankles deeply committed separationists or endorsement-ists in Establishment Clause jurisprudence. It seems the President and his opponents could make common cause: if God really cares about people having jobs, let’s not do anything to upset Him. — MOD