Constitutional Law. First Amendment. California Supreme Court Upholds Compulsory Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives over Establishment and Free Exercise Objections. Catholic Charities of Sacramento, Inc. v. Superior Court, 85 P.3d 67 (Cal. 2004)

AbstractIn Harris v. McRae, the recent case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Hyde Amendment, the Court for the first time was asked to consider whether antiabortion legislation respects the establishment of religion or violates the free exercise thereof. The Court held that the Amendment did not effect an establishment of religion, and found that the plaintiffs lacked standing to raise the free exercise argument.The writer explores the questions raised, agreeing with the Court's disposal of the establishment argument. He does find considerable.validity in the free exercise challenge, but concludes that the Court as presently constituted is unlikely to accept it. In addition, he believes that the Court, in its treatment of both arguments, either ignored or improperly dis tinguished earlier cases that supported the plaintiffs.

Download Full-text

Constitutional Law. Religion. State Statute Requiring Daily Reading, without Comment, of Holy Bible in Public Schools Violates First Amendment Bans on Establishment of Religion and Interference with Free Exercise Thereof

Virginia Law Review ◽

10.2307/1070686 ◽

1959 ◽

Vol 45 (8) ◽

pp. 1376

Keyword(s):

Public Schools ◽

First Amendment ◽

Constitutional Law ◽

Free Exercise

Download Full-text

The Competing Perspectives of the Religion Clauses

The Religion Clauses ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190699734.003.0001 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-20

Author(s):

Howard Gillman ◽

Erwin Chemerinsky

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

First Amendment ◽

American History ◽

Religious Beliefs ◽

Establishment Clause ◽

Court Cases ◽

Free Exercise ◽

Free Exercise Clause ◽

The Future ◽

Political Divide

This chapter describes the recent Supreme Court cases dealing with the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, while also previewing the issues likely to arise in the future. It identifies how for both of these provisions there are two competing philosophies, which are titled “accommodation” and “separation.” “Accommodationists” see little as violating the Establishment Clause but want the Free Exercise Clause to be aggressively used to create an exception to general laws based on religious beliefs. “Separationists” see the Establishment Clause as creating a secular government and reject special exceptions for religion. At this point in American history, there is a political divide: conservatives tend to favor the accommodation approach, while liberals favor the separationist view.

Download Full-text

The Federal Constitutional Law on Taxation and Religion

10.1093/oso/9780190853952.003.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Edward A. Zelinsky

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

First Amendment ◽

Constitutional Law ◽

Case Law ◽

Willingness To Accept ◽

Tax Base ◽

Related Case ◽

Federal Constitutional ◽

The Church ◽

The U.S

This chapter discusses the tax-related case law of the U.S. Supreme Court under the First Amendment, presaging many of the themes of this book: The first of these is the significance of entanglement considerations in the taxation and exemption of religious entities and actors. Minimizing church-state entanglement should be a critical, often controlling, consideration in the decision to tax or exempt sectarian institutions. A second theme emerging from the Supreme Court’s case law is the distinction between enforcement-related entanglement and borderline entanglement. When it comes to taxing or exempting the church, there are no purely disentangling choices. A third theme is the greater judicial willingness to accept the tax exemption of sectarian institutions and actors when exemption simultaneously extends to non-sectarian entities and individuals. A fourth teaching emerging from the Court’s case law is that an exemption may serve a non-subsidizing purpose and properly help to define the tax base.

Download Full-text

America's Lone Star Constitution

10.1525/california/9780520297807.001.0001 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Lucas A. Powe Jr.

Keyword(s):

Supreme Court ◽

Capital Punishment ◽

School Finance ◽

Constitutional Law ◽

Civil Liberty ◽

Voting Rights ◽

The Rich ◽

The Relationship

Texas has created more constitutional law than any other state. In any classroom nationwide, any basic constitutional law course can be taught using nothing but Texas cases. That, however, understates the history and politics behind the cases. Beyond representing all doctrinal areas of constitutional law, Texas cases deal with the major issues of the nation. This book charts the rich and pervasive development of Texas-inspired constitutional law. From voting rights to railroad regulations, school finance to capital punishment, poverty to civil liberty, this book provides a window into the relationship between constitutional litigation and ordinary politics at the Texas Supreme Court, illuminating how all of the fiercest national divides over what the Constitution means took shape in Texas.

Download Full-text