For those who are interested, here’s a writeup of this month’s panel discussion on SCOTUS’s recent school-prayer case, Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, with panelists Stephanie Barclay (Notre Dame), Marc DiGirolami (CUA), and Mattone Center Director Mark Movsesian. Among the topics discussed: the end of the endorsement test, the meaning of the Court’s new history-and-tradition test, and the lingering problem of coercion. A video of the panel is below. Listen in!
Fed Soc Panel on 303 Creative
Thanks to the Federalist Society for inviting me to participate on a panel yesterday at the annual faculty conference, underway in Washington. I joined Amy Sepinwall (Wharton) and Dale Carpenter (Southern Methodist) for a discussion of 303 Creative, the wedding vendor case. Among the issues we addressed were the application of strict scrutiny to speech compulsions; the distinction between speech and conduct; and discriminating based on message vs. discrimination based on status. The video is linked below:
Webinar: Understanding the Karabakh Crisis
Yesterday, I participated in an online panel organized by the St. John’s CRS Global Campus Committee, “Understanding the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict & Humanitarian Crisis.” The other participants were Artyom Tonoyan (Hamline) and Anna Hess Sargsyan (Austrian Center for Peace). Among the topics we discussed: the failure of international law in stopping the ethnic cleansing of Armenians and the complex role of religion in the conflict. I’d like to thank the organizers and my co-panelists for a very helpful, if somewhat depressing, discussion. You can view the webinar below.
Video of Last Week’s Panel at Cardozo
The Floersheimer Center at Cardozo Law School has posted a video (below) of last week’s panel discussion on “The Supreme Court and New Frontiers in Religious Liberty,” in which I was honored to participate, along with Nelson Tebbe (Cornell), Elizabeth Reiner Platt (Columbia Law), and Giselle Klapper (Sikh Coalition) . Thanks again to Michael Pollak, Hui Yang, and the Floersheimer team for having me–and for hosting a cordial and productive exchange of disparate views in the best tradition of the legal academy.
The New Thoreaus: A Video of My Talk at UT Law
I had a wonderful time yesterday at the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center at the University of Texas Law School, where I spoke about my draft paper on the New Thoreaus. I enjoyed meeting some students before my talk, and the talk itself. Excellent questions and a lot of fun. My thanks again to Steve Collis and the folks at UT for having me. A video of the talk is available below:
Movsesian on Religious Exemptions
For those who are interested, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU has posted a video of my presentation at the 2022 Religious Freedom Annual Review on the Smith case and the future of religious exemptions. I argue that the Court’s decision last term in Fulton greatly limits Smith and that claimants should have an easier time winning religious exemptions as a result. Thanks again to the kind folks at BYU Law for hosting me!
Video of Webinar on Cultural Heritage in Law & Diplomacy
Last month, the Center co-sponsored a webinar on cultural heritage in law and diplomacy, along with the Fletcher Initiative at Tufts and the Armenian Studies Program at California State University-Fresno. Among other things, the participants discussed the capacity of international law to offer protection for minority cultural property during armed conflicts, including the current conflict in Nagorno Karabakh. A video of the webinar is now available at the link below. Posts from the participants were made available earlier on this site. Thanks again to our colleagues at Tufts and Cal-State and all the participants!
The Center’s 10th Anniversary Video
Mark and I hope you enjoy this new video, which we put together for the Center’s 10th anniversary (plus one!). It describes the people, activities, projects, and opportunities that make the Center what it is. Here’s to another 10 (plus more)!
Video of Webinar on Religious Exemptions
The SNF Agora Institute at The Johns Hopkins University has posted a video of the webinar I participated in this week, on religious freedom in the US. The panel was moderated by The Atlantic’s Rachel Donadio; other participants included K. Healon Gaston (Harvard), Daniel Mach (ACLU) and Asma Uddin (Independent). I greatly enjoyed the panel and am grateful to the organizers for inviting me. Video below:
Moscow State University Roundtable
I was delighted to speak at a roundtable on law and religion at Lomonosov Moscow State University this morning, along with faculty colleagues from Russia, Greece, Canada, Italy and Israel. Comparative studies add so much to the understanding of church-state issues, and it is always striking how the same issues come up in so many cultures–though not the same answers. The questions from other scholars and the student participants were great. Thanks for Prof. Gayane Davidyan at Lomonosov for inviting me!
UPDATE: For anyone interested, Lomonosov has now posted the YouTube Video of the event: