Law and Religion
The goal of Loyola University Chicago School of Law’s new program in Law and Religion is to explore the rich and complex relationship between law and the three Abrahamic Faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. These religions underpin and inform many of the cultural values and practices that are embodied in law and public policy in nations around the world. In turn, legal norms often facilitate, limit and shape religious practices. The Program in Law and Religion will facilitate an interdisciplinary and interfaith dialogue on the mutually informing influence of theology, religious traditions, and the law, and make the fruits of this dialogue widely available through education and outreach efforts.
Law and Religion Programs - Spring 2012
SAVE THE DATE— INAUGURAL LAW AND RELIGION LECTURE
Rabbi Jacob Neusner
Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Studies Bard College
The Three Religions of One God:
Do They Possess the Law of the Same God
Tuesday, April 17
5:30 - 7 p.m.
Power Rogers & Smith Ceremonial Courtroom
Rabbi Jacob Neusner is the Distinguished Service Professor of the History and Theology of Judaism at Bard College. Jacob Neusner is a widely renowned and prolific author in the field of Jewish studies, having published more than 900 books on the subject. He is also active in inter-religious dialogue efforts. Pope Benedict XVI devoted a substantial part of a recent book to a commentary on Neusner’s work, “A Rabbi Speaks with Jesus.” Other works have compared Jewish practices and beliefs with their Muslim and Christian counterparts. In this lecture, Neusner will reflect on how the three great monotheistic religions—Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—consider their shared view of God as a lawgiver, which in turn influences the legal, political, and social culture of more than half the world’s population. Neusner will provide an overview and starting point for assessing how these religious views shape and influence some of the most important questions of our day.
Nora O’Callaghan joined the School of Law in August as executive director of the new Religion and Law Program. The initiative, which will explore the connections and interplay between the Abrahamic religions and the law, will focus on both private scholarship and public outreach that shares that scholarly dialogue beyond the academic community. The program is supported by a $1 million gift from attorney and Loyola Trustee Barry McCabe.
“The two systems of law and religion are really important in the way they shape people’s lives, and at various points they interact and influence each other,” says O’Callaghan. “The study of how these issues interrelate is at the heart of many of the world’s most pressing issues right now.”
O’Callaghan, who holds a JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center, was previously a Myser Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture. Prior to that, she was a visiting professor at Marquette University Law School and the University of Idaho College of Law, and an associate professor at the Ave Maria School of Law. She has practiced with the firm of Latham & Watkins in Chicago and has published a number of scholarly articles on bioethics and end-of-life issues.
Thursday, March 22 –3:00-5:00 p.m.
Religious Law in Civil Courts: The Implications of the “Anti-Sharia” Law Movement in the United States
General and Professional Responsibility CLE credit will be offered.
In 2010, Oklahoma citizens approved an amendment to their state constitution preventing their courts from considering or applying “international law or Sharia law.” The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in early 2012 upheld an injunction preventing this amendment from being certified because it likely violates the First Amendment to the US Constitution.
Proponents of the anti-Sharia law movement have proposed new language to state legislatures that they believe will survive constitutional challenges, and 23 states considered such bills in 2011. How and why do civil courts consider religious law, and what are the implications of legislative restrictions on this practice? May states consider the procedural and substantive fairness of religious laws when deciding whether and how they apply in civil court matters?
Distinguished panelists
Professor Michael Broyde, Emory University Law School, and senior fellow at the Center for Study of Law and Religion. Professor Broyde also serves as a rabbi and member of the largest Jewish law court in the United States, the Beth-Din of America.
Professor Asifa Quraishi, University of Wisconsin Law School. Professor Quraishi specializes in comparative Islamic and U.S. Constitutional Law.
Marion Boyd, former Member of the Provincial Parliament in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and former Attorney General of Ontario, Canada. Ms. Boyd is the author of a report commissioned by the Provincial government which proposed reforms to their Arbitration Act in order to ensure protection of civil liberties of the parties while accommodating the civil enforcement of judgments by religious arbitration bodies.
Monday, February 13 – 12:00 p.m.
Power Rogers & Smith Ceremonial Courtroom, 10th Floor*
Debate on Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC: Should Religious Institutions be Exempt from Employment Discrimination Law?
CLE Credit will be offered. RSVP: lawandreligion@luc.edu
*Due to the enthusiastic response to this program, the debate has been moved from room 1401 to the Ceremonial Courtroom on the 10th floor of 25 E. Pearson Street.
Distinguished speakers
Professor Richard Garnett, University of Notre Dame Law School
Professor Paul Secunda, Marquette University Law School
- Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC has been called the most important religious liberty case to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in the last thirty years. In its opinion issued in early 2012, the Court upheld on First Amendment grounds a “ministerial exemption” from certain employment laws.
- Proponents of the court’s recent decision say it will have important implications for the ability of all religions to control their institutions free of governmental interference. Others are concerned that the Court has improperly sanctioned wrongful discrimination against employees of religious institutions.
- Professor Secunda teaches and publishes widely in the areas of labor and employment law, and Professor Garnett’s scholarship focuses on freedom of religion, speech and association. They will offer competing views on how the Court balanced these two sets of interests, and discuss the implications for future cases.
