St. John’s University School of Law Hosts a Constitution Day Symposium on Religious Freedom

Last week, leading scholars in the fields of law, religion, politics, and ethics came together at St. John’s Law for a Constitution Day symposium on “Religious Freedom Today.”

Hosted by the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development with the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and the Center for Law and Religion, the event presented a discussion of Religious Freedom in an Egalitarian Age (forthcoming from Harvard University Press), a book by Nelson Tebbe, a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School and a visiting professor at Cornell Law School.

In the book, Professor Tebbe sets out a new method—called social coherence— for mediating between religious freedom and equality laws that have gained recent recognition in the areas of women’s rights, gay marriage, and LGBT citizens. After he introduced his methodology to the symposium attendees, Professor Tebbe welcomed commentary from his colleagues on the panel:

• Carlos A. Ball (Rutgers School of Law-Newark)

• Alan Brownstein (UC Davis School of Law)

• Chad Flanders (Saint Louis University School of Law)

• Andrew M. Koppelman (Northwestern University School of Law)

• Patricia Marino (University of Waterloo)

Each of the panelists presented their views on one of the following points:

• The method of “social coherence,” which considers values and beliefs in a reasoned, logical, and non-arbitrary manner

• The application of the method of “social coherence” for the purpose of avoiding harm to others through public accommodations law in a manner that does not defeat the purpose of the law and to promote three objectives: (a) economic opportunity, (b) expressive harm avoidance, and (c) government exclusion

• Freedom of association (private v. public) and employment law (retaliation) such as the ministerial exception.

“It was very interesting to observe the critique of Professor Tebbe’s work in this open forum,” says journal staff member Joshua Soares ’18. “We saw legal scholarship advanced between leading academics, along with an application of new legal arguments to an issue that can be fraught with tension.”

Victoria Drake ‘17, the journal’s editor-in-chief, agrees that the event offered St. John’s Law students a unique learning opportunity. “The event exposed us to a conversation on religious freedom that goes beyond what we typically learn in the classroom,” she notes. “As future practitioners, it’s important for students to understand how the law impacts the beliefs and lives of people everywhere. This symposium gave us that critical perspective.”

The symposium proceedings will be published in a future issue of the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development.

The student-run publication launched in 1985 as the Journal of Legal Commentary. Its name was changed in 2010 to better reflect the journal’s mission and content. Throughout its history, the journal has offered a vital forum for illuminating and discussing vital issues of the day, including child advocacy, criminal justice, race and the law, national security, and law and religion.

Guiding the journal as faculty advisors are Professor Elaine M. Chiu, who directs the Ron Brown Center, and Professor Rosa Castello ’06, the Center’s assistant director. In addition to working on the publication, journal members participate in the affiliated Perspectives on Justice course taught by Professors Chiu and Castello. There, they have an opportunity to write notes, blog posts, and op-ed pieces on topics of social justice.

“The Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development has always been, and will continue to be, a resource for exploring issues that impact our society and its citizens deeply,” says Professor Chiu. “Our Constitution Day symposium on religious freedom reflects that core commitment to providing an open and ongoing conversation about freedom, civil rights, equality, and social justice, among other topics that go to the heart of our identity as individuals, as communities, and as nations.”

JCRED Hosts SCOTUS Program and Tom Goldstein

On Tuesday, October 1, 2013, the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development and The Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights hosted a program at the Law School on the Supreme Court of the United States October Term 2013.

The event brought an audience of St. John’s Law students, faculty, and alumni together in the Belson Moot Court Room. After welcoming the attendees and participants, Dean Michael A. Simons introduced the event’s keynote speaker, noted U.S. Supreme Court advocate and scholar Thomas C. Goldstein. Mr. Goldstein, who is also the co-founder and publisher of the SCOTUSblog ──a widely popular blog offering comprehensive Supreme Court coverage ── then recognized St. John’s Law students Justin Wax-Jacobs ’15 and Joshua Goldman ’15, who took first and third place, respectively, in the 2013 Bloomberg Law-SCOTUSblog Supreme Court Challenge.

Testing knowledge of the Supreme Court and an ability to analyze legal decisions, the second annual Challenge gave law students the opportunity to compete against SCOTUSblog’s experts and other law students in forecasting the disposition of six merits cases and six petitions for certiorari before the Court in March 2013. Justin topped a field of 89 teams from 44 law schools around the country, as well as the SCOTUSblog team, to win the full $5000 first prize. Joshua came away with $1,500 for his third place win.

In his keynote remarks, Mr. Goldstein offered observations on the Supreme Court’s last term and its upcoming term. Focusing on the key role Justice Anthony Kennedy plays, Mr. Goldstein noted that, possessing “a very strong sense of individualism under the Constitution,” Justice Kennedy has aligned with both liberals and conservatives on the current Court. The October Term 2013 is notable for the opportunities it offers the Court’s conservative justices to overturn prior precedent ── including decisions written by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor ── and to move the Court to the right. Mr. Goldstein also opined that, with some Justices approaching retirement, the next presidential election will be pivotal in reconfiguring an ideologically divided Court.

After the keynote address, Professor Leonard M. Baynes moderated a panel of St. John’s Law professors on the upcoming Supreme Court term. The engaging panel discussion showcased the Law School faculty’s timely and compelling scholarship on a range of constitutional law issues that come before the Court and that have a deep impact in the political arena, in national and international debate, and in the everyday lives of U.S. citizens. The panelists and their topics were:

Elaine M. Chiu, Professor of Law

Topic: Rosemond v. United States (Does aiding and abetting the use of a firearm during a violent or drug trafficking crime require proof of intent or simply knowledge?)

Marc O. DeGirolami, Associate Professor of Law; Associate Director, Center for Law and Religion

Topic: Town of Greece v. Galloway (Constitutionality of legislative prayer)

Margaret E. McGuinness, Professor of Law; Co-Director, St. John’s Center for International and Comparative Law

Topic: Bond v. United States (Federalism limits on Congress’s ability to legislate pursuant to the treaty power)

Janai S. Nelson, Professor of Law; Associate Dean for Faculty Scholarship; Associate Director, The Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights

Topic: McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission (Constitutionality of campaign finance limitations)

Rosemary C. Salomone, Kenneth Wang Professor of Law

Topic: Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action (Constitutionality of state referendum banning use of race and sex in university admissions)

“This was a very exciting event to organize and moderate,” said Professor Baynes. “Tom Goldstein provided a great deal of gravitas and inside knowledge about the upcoming Supreme Court term, while the panel of faculty experts shed light on key issues in constitutional law, such as criminal procedure, Congressional treaty power, campaign finance reform, affirmative action, and law and religion. The event not only offered our students a wonderful opportunity to learn more about forthcoming Supreme Court cases, it showed how our faculty’s scholarship has real-world relevance and importance.”

Journal for Civil Rights and Economic Development Hosts Criminal Justice Symposium

The Journal for Civil Rights and Economic Development (JCRED) recently hosted a symposium on “Criminal Justice in the 21st Century: The Challenge to Protect Individual Freedoms, Civil Rights, and Our Safety.” The day included timely, impassioned discussions of cutting edge issues in the criminal justice system. “I couldn’t be more impressed with the panelists,” said Symposium Editor Jordan Hummel ’13, who helped produce the event. “Their presentations raised insightful questions and challenged me to think about these compelling issues in a novel way. The entire day was truly thought-provoking.”

The first panel, “Prisons, Reforms and Rehabilitation,” presented issues facing prisons from the privatization of the prison system generally to specific consequences for prisoners from the high cost of phone calls to disenfranchisement upon their release. The next panel, “Juveniles and Criminal Law,” surveyed the unique challenges juveniles face within the criminal justice system and posited solutions to remedy these inequalities. The first roundtable discussion of the day, “Racial Profiling, Police Accountability and Individual Rights,” featured Juan Cartagena, President of Latino Justice/PRLDEF, and Donna Lieberman, Executive Director of the New York Civil Liberties Union. Their discussion highlighted contemporary controversies like the NYPD stop-and-frisk policies and stand-your-ground laws in other states. “The morning agenda set the positive tone for this unique and significant event,” said Professor Leonard M. Baynes, who facilitated the symposium as Director of The Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights (The RHB Center) and faculty advisor to JCRED. “The RHB Center is committed to providing an open forum for examining vital issues of social justice, and this symposium honors that commitment and moves this important dialogue forward.”

The afternoon program began with Dean Michael A. Simons moderating a colloquy between United States District Court Judges Harold Baer, Jr. of the Southern District New York, and Sterling Johnson, Jr. of the Eastern District of New York. The esteemed jurists reflected on their experiences on the bench, and with sentencing in particular. A second roundtable discussion followed, featuring Richmond County District Attorney Daniel M. Donovan, Jr. and Craig Levine, Senior Counsel and Policy Director at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. The discussants addressed the highly publicized and debated topic of “Gun Safety,” reconciling tragedies like the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting and New York’s recent firearm legislation, and predicting potential challenges for implementation and more effective solutions. The final panel, “Technology and Criminal Law,” looked to the future of the criminal justice system as panelists debated government regulation of citizens’ privacy rights with the emergence of new technologies, such as GPS devices and drones.

“Criminal justice reform is one of the most critical legal, social, and policy issues of our time, said Professor Janai S. Nelson, who helped organize the symposium as Associate Director of The RHB Center and faculty advisor to JCRED. “This symposium provided an in depth exploration of compelling questions in criminal law and will continue to inform the discussion in this area through its forthcoming published volume on the subject.”

JCRED Holds Symposium on Border Patrols

From the time of our nation’s founding, immigration has been crucial to the growth of the United States, yet also a source of conflict.While there has been no significant movement toward federal immigration reform to address unauthorized immigration since 2007, there has been a wave of controversial legislation at the state level, most notably with the passage of statutes in Arizona and Alabama that have authorized state officials to enforce immigration laws.

The federal government has been paralyzed in enacting immigration reform.Those opposed to a pathway for legal status for unauthorized immigrants express moral outrage about unauthorized immigrants breaking the law, job competition, wage pressures, the perceived social costs of unauthorized immigrants, and border security. Proponents of a pathway to legal status, on the other hand, argue that there should be justice for individuals who have been members of their communities for decades and focus on the contributions that unauthorized immigrants have made to U.S. growth and prosperity.

This symposium provides a multi-disciplinary exploration of these issues that is thoughtful, intellectually rigorous, and provocative.