“There is no First Amendment Exemption in Contracts Generally or in the Federal Arbitration Act: It Would Be Poor Policy (and Maybe Unconstitutional) to Have One” by Michael J. Broyde

A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners on the topic of religious arbitration. View the full video and browse all essays here. “There is no First Amendment Exemption in Contracts Generally or in the Federal Arbitration Act: It

“‘Not a religion:’ Modern Hinduism and the Emergence of Hindutva” by Supriya Gandhi

A virtual conference sponsored by Canopy Forum and the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory (CSLR) featuring scholars, experts and practitioners who will examine the many religious traditions of South Asia and their diverse publics. Participation by invitation only. View selected videos and browse all essays here. ‘Not a religion:’ Modern Hinduism

“The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom” by Heather J. Sharkey and Jeffrey Edward Green

The Changing Terrain of Religious Freedom edited by Heather J. Sharkey and Jeffrey Edward Green An overview by the editors What is religious freedom and how should we understand it? In recent years, scholars have taken impassioned stances in responding to this question. Writing from the perspective of U.S. history, one group of scholars has

“Why This Supreme Court Should Overrule Employment Division v. Smith” by Raphael A. Friedman

Photo of the Village Church of Lincolnshire by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash. For several decades, parties asserting religious liberty claims under the Free Exercise Clause saw little success at the Supreme Court. Over the past few years, however, religious groups have fared better. Recently, they prevailed in cases challenging various restrictions imposed on houses of

“Ramirez v. Collier: Will the Supreme Court Expand the Right to the Presence of a Spiritual Advisor for Prisoners During Execution?” by Peter Wosnik

“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

“Why Secular Society Desperately Needs the Recognition of Religious Holidays” by Bruce Ledewitz

Image by Fabio Valeggia from Pixabay. It is the common and traditional view that disputes over the recognition of religious holidays — disputes over creches and menorahs on public property, for example — are a clash between religious and secular citizens over the meaning of the Establishment Clause in the Constitution. But this is an

“Locke, Toleration and Political Participation – A New Manuscript” by Craig Walmsley

Portrait of John Locke by Godfrey Kneller. (PD-US). A manuscript by the philosopher John Locke recently discovered in North Carolina raises fundamental questions of political participation. John Locke’s influence on the Founding Fathers in their formulation of the U.S. Constitution is well-known. It was Locke who argued, in the 1689 Two Treatises of Government, that

“An Evaluation of Religious Exemptions from COVID-19 Vaccine Requirements” by Samuel L. Bray and Nathan S. Chapman

Photo by Jurga Ka on Unsplash. This article also appears at Mere Orthodoxy. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many deaths and much suffering. It has also created a number of acute challenges for churches, one of which is how to think about religious exemptions to vaccine requirements. These requirements are sometimes imposed by employers, and

“Ceci n’est pas une pipe: The Crucifix in Italian Schools in the Light of Recent Jurisprudence” by Francesco Alicino

With a 65-page decision, the Joint Section of the Supreme Court (Sezioni Unite della Corte di Cassazione), the highest Italian Court, has ruled on the display of the crucifix in public school classrooms. Issued on September 9, 2021, decision no. 24414/2021 synthesizes an extensive number of precedents, including those of the Italian Constitutional Court and

Church and State

“Lemon v. Kurtzman: Reflections on a Constitutional Catastrophe” by William E. Thro and Charles J. Russo

Photo by Brad Dodson on Unsplash. One of the most contentious issues in constitutional law is whether governmental action amounts to “an establishment of religion” in violation of the First Amendment. For the past fifty years, the Court has often, but not always, resolved Establishment Clause cases using the three-pronged test established by Lemon v. Kurtzman. Under the