Today the news broke that Kyle Rittenhouse had been “acquitted on all charges in the shooting deaths of two men and wounding of a third at a Wisconsin protest against racial injustice last year,” as AP put it. I don’t say this glibly: God help us. Rittenhouse, as we would say growing up, was clearly “looking for…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “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.…
Photo by Sebastian Pichler on Unsplash. This article is part of our “Law and Religion Under Pressure: A One-Year Pandemic Retrospective” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. Many are still shocked to learn that the United States is the largest jailer in the world. Data shows that the U.S incarcerates about 2…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Subjective Beliefs, Social Judgments, and Witch Killers” Matthew P. Cavedon In a 1992 abortion decision, Casey v. Planned Parenthood, a plurality of the U.S. Supreme Court held: “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and…
Photo by Guido Coppa on Unsplash. Though you might not know it, you’re probably familiar with the Biblical story of Barabbas. Appearing only briefly in the crucifixion narrative of the New Testament, Barabbas is the prisoner who was chosen by the crowd, over Jesus Christ, to be released by Pontius Pilate in a customary pardon…
Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash. This article is part of our “Chaos at the Capitol: Law and Religion Perspectives on Democracy’s Dark Day” series.If you’d like to check out other articles in this series, click here. In a deeply divided nation, and especially after the events of January 6, 2021, no one is in a particularly forgiving…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Opening the Doors to Perception” Matthew P. Cavedon This past Election Day saw a shift in the treatment of psychedelics, with voters in Oregon and the District of Columbia legalizing their use. This comes a year after Denver decriminalized them. Psychedelics’ ability to alter perceptions of reality –…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “If God is a God of Redemption, Should Government Get in the Way?” Teri Thompson If the greatest sinner on earth should repent at the moment of death, and draw his last breath in an act of love, neither the many graces he has abused, nor the many…
Image adapted from Wikicommons by DhLeaks44 / CC BY-SA 4.0 “Practicing (and) Catholic” Matthew P. Cavedon Sai Santosh Kumar Kolluru recently reflected for Canopy Forum on how Hindu beliefs and practices inform his service as a lawyer. His writing inspired me to put down some thoughts on the relationship between Catholic theology and my own practice as a…
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Right / Flickr / CC BY-NC 2.0 Florida is the most populous battleground state, famous for high-stakes contests, razor-thin margins, and trouble with electoral administration. Back in 2000, George W. Bush won Florida by 1,784 votes. In Florida, perhaps more than in any other state, every vote counts.…