April 24, 2012
This semester, the
Center for Law and Religion (CLR) inaugurated an exciting new
course, “Colloquium in Law: Law and Religion.” The seminar, taught
jointly by CLR Director
Mark L. Movsesian and Assistant Director
Marc O. DeGirolami, gave selected St. John’s Law School
students an opportunity to study cutting-edge issues in law and
religion with some of the most prominent thinkers in the field,
including Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
The seminar was structured as a series of workshops in which
speakers presented papers to the students and faculty from St.
John’s and other universities. The papers addressed a variety of
topics and perspectives. Michael W. McConnell (Stanford Law School)
critiqued the Supreme Court’s free-exercise jurisprudence,
demonstrating the tensions in the Court’s landmark decision in
Employment Division v. Smith. Philip Hamburger (Columbia
Law School) discussed the history of freedom of conscience,
focusing on medieval thinkers like Aquinas and Bonaventure, and M.
Cathleen Kaveny (University of Notre Dame Law School) critiqued a
classic contracts case, Watts v. Watts, from the
perspective of moral theology. Two papers were comparative. Joseph
Weiler (NYU School of Law) addressed the recent European Court of
Human Rights decision in the Italian crucifix case, Lautsi v.
Italy, and Ayelet Shachar (University of Toronto Faculty of
Law) discussed religious family-law arbitration in Canada and the
UK.
Photo Gallery
Justice Scalia’s session was the highlight of the series. The
Justice spoke about several of the Court’s recent religion cases
and fielded questions on subjects like the original meaning of the
religion clauses, the effectiveness of history as a check on the
Court and the balance the Constitution strikes between public
religiosity and minority rights. “I came to law school excited
about the opportunity to debate constitutional law with my
classmates,” said
CLR Fellow Yosefa Heber ’13, one of the students in the
Colloquium. “I never imagined that I would get the opportunity to
discuss the cases with one of the Justices himself. It was
fascinating to hear Justice Scalia express his views and respond to
student questions and criticisms.” Professor Movsesian added, “I
was so proud of our students. They asked great, thoughtful
questions and were ready when the Justice came back with some of
his own.”
Students in the Colloquium and visiting faculty remarked on how
valuable the course was. “The Colloquium was a refreshing change of
pace from traditional law school classes,” said CLR Fellow Jordan
Hummel ’13 “The opportunity to engage with scholars immersed in the
field ― to critique their work and receive immediate responses to
our questions ― was an invaluable learning experience.” Dylan
Sherwood ’13 agreed: “It was exciting to ask leading scholars about
their work and occasionally even get them to reevaluate their
positions.” Ashley Berner of the University of Virginia’s Institute
for Advanced Studies in Culture, who attended several of the
sessions, added, “What an opportunity: law students, obviously
well-trained and well-prepared, engaging with renowned scholars on
the deep questions of culture, law and religion. As an historian
who finds herself working increasingly with jurisprudence, the
Colloquium proved to be an invaluable (and enjoyable!) intellectual
resource."
The Colloquium reflects the Law School’s commitment to providing a
forum for open dialogue on important issues in legal theory and
practice. “Our students and the entire Law School community benefit
from offerings like the new Colloquium seminar,” said Dean
Michael A. Simons. “The scholarship and case law arising in the
field of law and religion has a deep impact on our society. I am
proud that our Center for Law and Religion now offers a platform
for engaging thoughtful discussion about these important
issues.”
To learn more about the Colloquium and the
Center for Law and Religion at St. John’s School of Law, please
contact us.