Law and Religion, Cases and Materials - 5th Edition - Leslie C. Griffin

Law and Religion, Cases and Materials 5th Edition Leslie C. Griffin ISBN 9781636597126

The fifth edition of this casebook introduces a new co-author, Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional attorney with over a decade of experience litigating religion clause cases. Seidel is the author of The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American and American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom, and serves as Vice President of Strategic Communications at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. This edition has been updated to include key recent Supreme Court cases addressing state funding of churches and religious freedom issues arising from COVID-19.

Maintaining its interdisciplinary approach, the fifth edition continues to offer student-friendly notes, questions, and extensive coverage of non-Supreme Court decisions from state, federal, and international courts. Each chapter highlights the impact of recent developments on law and religion:

1. Free Exercise of Religion examines the growing diversity of religion and non-religion in the U.S., using United States v. Seeger as a foundational conscientious objection case defining “religion.”

2. Introduction to Establishment covers government-sponsored prayer, including Town of Greece v. Galloway, and explores shifts in Establishment Clause jurisprudence since that decision.

3. What is an Establishment of Religion? analyzes religious symbols, monuments, public funding, and religious speech, featuring American Legion v. American Humanist Association and recent funding cases like Trinity Lutheran Church v. Pauley, Espinoza v. Montana, and Carson v. Makin.

4. Constitutional and Statutory Protection of Free Exercise reviews Smith and its application in Fulton v. Philadelphia, as well as RFRA, RLUIPA, and COVID-related religious law developments.

5. Conscience, Complicity, and Conscientious Objection links Hobby Lobby to cases like Zubik v. Burwell and Little Sisters of the Poor, exploring military, medical, and legal conscientious objection, including the case of Kim Davis.

6. Conflicts between Individual and Institutional Religious Freedom examines the Court’s growing protection of institutional over individual religious freedom in church property, employment discrimination, and torts, with key cases including EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch, Hosanna-Tabor, and Morrissey-Berru.

7. Comparative Religious Freedom incorporates international perspectives on topics covered in earlier chapters, including religious garb (e.g., Turkish hijab cases), blasphemy, and conscientious objection, featuring Bayatyan v. Armenia, Miller v. Davis (UK), and “Australia’s Hobby Lobby.”

8. Religion and Politics explores same-sex marriage and the influence of religion in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision, as well as ongoing debates on political activity and tax law.

9. Teaching about Religion and Science addresses efforts to introduce religion courses and remove evolution from public schools.

10. The Old and New Law of Religion contrasts historical treatment of the Amish in Yoder with contemporary developments, including the growing influence of the Nones, the fastest-growing “religious” group in the United States.

This edition blends historical and contemporary cases with practical, doctrinal, and international perspectives, making it a comprehensive guide to understanding law, religion, and their intersections in modern society.

Law and Religion, Cases and Materials 5th Edition Leslie C. Griffin ISBN 9781636597126, 978-1636597126 & 9781685615345

Authors
Leslie C. Griffin
Andrew L. Seidel