“What Theological Roots of Reasonable Doubt Might Teach Us” Peter Wosnik Unlike some esoteric legal terms, the term “reasonable doubt” is familiar to most Americans. Anyone who has sat in jury service in a criminal trial or watched a legal drama has likely encountered the phrase. What many are unaware of is that modern scholarship…
“Harold J. Berman on the Revitalization of Criminal Law and Religion” Peter Wosnik The age we live in can be defined in part by its skepticism: skepticism of our national history, of our traditions, of our institutions. Commentators from various ideological persuasions have bemoaned the collapse of important American institutions. According to Gallup polling, major…
“What has Christianity to do with Criminal Law?” Peter Wosnik Released in 2020 by Routledge Press, Christianity and Criminal Law provides a veritable trove of insights into this important area of study. Not only does the work show the historical influence of Christianity on the development of modern criminal law itself, it also demonstrates the…
“Ramirez v. Collier: Will the Supreme Court Expand the Right to the Presence of a Spiritual Advisor for Prisoners During Execution?” Peter Wosnik In September 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a rare, eleventh-hour stay in an execution case for prisoner John Ramirez. Ramirez was convicted of stabbing a man to death during a robbery…
“The End of Conviction and Possible Beginnings for Criminal Law and Religion” Matthew P. Cavedon Conviction began just about a year ago and is now coming to an end. The premise for this series was that the intersection of criminal law and religion is an interesting, crowded place. Historically, religion had, and continues to have,…
“The Right to Shun: Ghent’s Misguided Jehovah’s Witness Decision“ Matthew P. Cavedon In March, the criminal court of Ghent, Belgium fined the congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW) for “inciting discrimination and hatred or violence against former members.” The case centered on the JW practice of “disfellowshipping.” While the court’s sensitivity to the individual impact of…
“France’s New Marriage Laws Could Trigger Islamophobic Abuses“ Matthew P. Cavedon France is enacting sweeping legislation targeting Islamist extremism. Its new “separatism law” aims to ensure that Muslims integrate into the secular community. A number of its provisions, including restrictions on publishing information about public employees and limits on homeschooling, have raised the ire of…
“Denmark’s Provincial Bias against Foreign Religious Languages“ Matthew P. Cavedon Denmark has proposed a new law regulating religion. Under it, all sermons and homilies must be translated into Danish. This is being billed as a national security measure. It is also being attacked as a burden on small religious communities, an affront to linguistic minorities…
“‘A Noble Alchemy’: Benefit of Clergy and the Early History of Leniency” Matthew P. Cavedon Criminal justice reform efforts have recently focused on the consequences of having a record. There is a growing sense that society needs to show mercy to those who pay the consequences for doing wrong and amend their lives, rather than…
“Perfectionist Prophecy, Imperfect World” Matthew P. Cavedon I recently wrote about Patrick O’Neill, a Catholic activist convicted of vandalizing a nuclear submarine base. The number of connections I have to his case is so high that this article could almost just be my list of disclosures. Here it goes: In 2016-17, I served as a…