The Unraveling of Law

by Douglas Farrow

Introducing an essay on the evacuation of the body from law. Continue Reading »

9 Apr 2016

Inescapably Natural

by Hadley Arkes

Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes gave voice to the “modern” project in law: It would be a gain, he said, “if every word of moral significance could be banished from the law altogether, and other words adopted which should convey legal ideas uncolored by anything outside the law.” The law would . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Mar 2016

Letters

by Various

TeachersIn his “Re-Educate for America” (November), Malcolm Rivers identifies correctly the cultural hegemony that undergirds the educational establishment (and the leadership class) in America. A decade ago, as a New York City Teaching Fellow (a program in lockstep with Teach for America), I . . . . Continue Reading »

1 Jan 2016

Why Tolerate Religion?

by Rafael Domingo

Brian Leiter's Why Tolerate Religion? is a crucial book in the area of law and religion—published in 2013, it defends the view that there is no compelling moral or legal reason to provide special protection to religion as such.

27 Nov 2015

If the Law Isn't In Heaven, Where Is It?

by Benjamin Silver

In one of its more famous passages, the Talmud records a debate about the mundane (but important) issue of whether a certain oven can be used to cook kosher food. All of the rabbis except one, Rabbi Eliezer, rule that the oven cannot be used because it is impure. To prove that he is correct and that the oven is pure, Rabbi Eliezer calls on God to perform miracles in the presence of his colleagues—a carob tree is uprooted and moves across a field, a river reverses its course, and the walls of the rabbis’ study hall magically begin to cave in—but the rabbis remain unmoved. Continue Reading »

11 Nov 2015

Kim Davis and the Mess She's In

by Russell E. Saltzman

Once upon a time I was a sworn officer of the State of Kansas, occupying a statutory office as deputy secretary of state for legislative matters. I had to take an oath before I could sign my name to anything that pertained to the job. (Somewhere I think there is still a photograph of the occasion, . . . . Continue Reading »

10 Sep 2015

Won't Somebody Please Think of the Lawyers?

by Mark Movsesian

I’ll leave it to others more knowledgeable than I to assess the changes Pope Francis announced this morning with respect to the procedure for granting annulments. To an outsider, the changes certainly seem sweeping. Francis has eliminated the requirement that two tribunals agree to grant an . . . . Continue Reading »

8 Sep 2015

Kim Davis: The Guts of a Convert

by Luma Simms

Kim Davis may not have a legal leg to stand on (see here, and here). But I think some Christians are moving too quickly to critique her situation on a purely legal basis. We are Christians first, before we are Americans. So before we start talking about whether this is a good religious liberty . . . . Continue Reading »

4 Sep 2015

Producers vs. Scribes?

by Mark Movsesian

At the Liberty Law site, my friend John McGinnis has a very interesting post on what he calls America’s “scribal class.” These are people—professors, journalists, opinion writers, lawyers, even entertainment industry types—who set America’s cultural and political agendas. John writes . . . . Continue Reading »

2 Sep 2015

Difficult Questions on Unused Embryos

by Mark Movsesian

You might wonder whether questions as complicated and wrenching for people as these should be handled by contract law, as if they were equivalent to particularly difficult business transactions. Continue Reading »

17 Jun 2015