Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

October 4: Hosanna-Tabor Discussion at St. John’s

On October 4 (next Tuesday), CLR and the Catholic Law Student Society at St. John’s University School of Law will co-host an event devoted to Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC.  The Supreme Court hears oral argument in this case on October 5, so it could not be more timely.  I will be talking about the case — one of the most important religious liberty cases to come before the Court in at least two decades — and the doctrine of the ministerial exemption generally.  There will then be a period of questions, discussants to include my colleagues David Gregory and Mark Movsesian as well as Mr. Peter J. Johnson, Jr., president of Leahy & Johnson, P.C.  I hope to record my thoughts about the discussion here.

The event will occur in the 4th floor Atrium at 5:30 pm.  All are welcome.  If you are in the area, please stop by to say hello.  — MOD

UPDATE: Just after I posted this, I noticed this article about the case.  Likely there will be many similar pieces in the coming days.  In my view, this article is misleadingly titled.  The case is not about religious institutions’ power to “declare” that their employees are exempt from “federal protections.”  It is about whether and in which circumstances (if ever) the Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court, limits the reach of anti-discrimination law.  It may or it may not; but in either case, little turns on anybody’s individual declarations (though conceivably if an institution explicitly waived its rights, that might be relevant).

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit (Oct. 12, 2011)

Professor Nina Crimm will discuss her book, Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts (Oxford 2011) (with Laurence Winer), at a conference at the University of Kentucky Law School on October 12. For  information, please click here.

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Liveblogging the Religion and Bankruptcy Conference, Part III

This afternoon, I have the pleasure of introducing the conference keynote speaker, Geoffrey Miller of NYU.  Geoff’s talk, “Law and Economics versus Economic Analysis of Law,” distinguishes the former discipline from the latter, using Robert Aumann’s famous economic analysis of Talmudic law as an example.  Geoff argues that the economic analysis of law offers elegance, but that law and economics offers a rich understanding of complex real-world institutions like courts and legal systems.   Taken together, the two disciplines offer “complementary means for obtaining information about the social world.” — MLM

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Liveblogging the Religion and Bankruptcy Conference, Part II

Here for the second panel, which kicks off with Professor Haider Hamoudi’s discussion of why bankruptcy law has been relatively irrelevant to Islamic law, that is, Sharia law.  Hamoudi says: Read more

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Liveblogging the Religion and Bankruptcy Conference, Part I

I am at the St. John’s Religion and Bankruptcy Conference this morning, and I thought to report on some of the papers and discussion going on right now.

The first presentation was by Professor Theresa Radwan of Stetson University School of Law, dealing with the use of tithing to establish the non-dischargeability of debt following the Religious Liberties and Charitable Protection Act and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.  

The issue is whether post-petition tithing can operate to shield the debtor from creditors.  RFRA reinstituted the substantial burden/compelling state interest of Sherbert v. Verner, and the panelists are now talking about whether that test means that the state is appropriately reluctant to judge whether and how the “undue hardship” standard in the discharge of student loan debts interacts with the substantial burden component of RFRA.

Read more

Posted on by L&R Forum

Live from “Religion and Bankruptcy: Perspectives Thereon and Treatment Therein” Symposium at St. John’s School of Law

Theresa J. Pulley Radwan (Stetson University College of Law) presents her paper “Sword or Shield: Use of Tithing to Establish Nondischargeability of Debt Following Enactment of the Religious Liberties and Charitable Donation Protection Act,” at the Symposium hosted by the ABI Law Review, Center for Bankruptcy Studies and CLR.
Also presenting, Thomas L. Shriner Jr. (Foley & Lardner LLP).
Moderating, G. Ray Warner (St. John’s School of Law)

20110916-104253.jpg

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Symposium: God, Freedom, and Public Life (October 6)

The Lumen Christi Institute and the Committee on Social Thought will host a symposium, “God, Freedom, and Public Life,” at the University of Chicago on Thursday, October 6.  The symposium will discuss Francis Cardinal George’s new book, God in Action: How Faith in God can Address the Challenges of the World, and will feature contributions from Amitai Etzioni (George Washington University), Hans Joas (University of Chicago), Martin Marty (University of Chicago), and Francis Cardinal George, OMI (Archbishop of Chicago).  A description is here.  — MLM

Posted on by Mark Movsesian

Conference: Religion and Bankruptcy

The American Bankruptcy Institute Law Review, Center for Bankruptcy Studies and Center for Law and Religion at St. John’s School of Law are hosting a conference, “Religion and Bankruptcy,” at the Law School’s  Queens campus on Friday, September 16. The conference keynote will be given by Geoffrey Miller (NYU). A description follows; the full schedule is here. — MLM

From the time of its creation and throughout its evolution, bankruptcy law has affected and been affected by religion. Important aspects of current bankruptcy law, such as the discharge of debt and the exemption of personal property, originated in religious traditions before making their way into secular law. At the same time, religious individuals and institutions are themselves often parties in bankruptcy cases, and a number of Bankruptcy Code provisions specifically address religious matters. This symposium will bring together leading bankruptcy experts and thinkers who will examine both sides of this relationship.

Posted on by Marc O. DeGirolami

Lecture: Rakove on Free Exercise at Boston College

Those who are in the Boston/Chestnut Hill area on September 15 may want to check out this lecture (open to the public) by world famous constitutional historian Jack Rakove, “Beyond Belief: The Radical Significance of the Free Exercise of Religion,” at Boston College’s Clough Center for the Study of Constitutional Democracy (headed up by Ken Kersch, whose own writing on the history of 20th century legal conservatism is superb).  — MOD

Posted on by

Law, State and Religion: An Inter-Disciplinary Conference in Honour of Shirin Ebadi

From September 16–17, University College Dublin School of Law will host Law, State and Religion: An Inter-Disciplinary Conference in Honour of Shirin Ebadi.

Dr. Ebadi, the first woman to achieve Chief Justice status in Iran, lost her post in the Tehran City Court after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.  The revolutionaries’ interpretation of Islam forbade women from holding such prominent public positions; thus, they demoted her from judge to an administrative position.  Since then, among her many accomplishments—winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, publishing innumerable books and articles, promoting international human rights, and advocating an interpretation of Islam that treats women as equals (“Whenever women protest and ask for their rights, they are silenced with the argument that the laws are justified under Islam.  It is an unfounded argument.  It is not Islam at fault, but rather the patriarchal culture that uses its own interpretations to justify whatever it wants.”)—she has been a practicing lawyer (a hard-won accomplishment for a woman in present-day Iran), taking on controversial defenses that have, at times, so aggravated Iranian authorities as to land her in prison.

The Nobel Foundation’s awarding institutions selected Dr. Ebadi for the Peace Prize because of her efforts to safeguard Iranian women, refugees, and children.  She was the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to receive the Award.

The Conference will feature Dr. Ebadi as keynote speaker.  Symposia include the intersection between rights, religion, and the law; human rights, religion, and the state; Islam and gender; and civil society, religion, and the Irish state.  Registration is available from €40–€75, for anyone lucky enough to be in Dublin in two weeks.  This CLR fellow looks forward to the scholarship and dialogue this Conference will certainly produce.

—DRS, CLR Fellow