Episodes

Mark welcomes back his friend and former colleague, Professor Marc DeGirolami of the Catholic University of America, for a conversation about Marc’s new book, The Constitution of Practice. Drawing on questions they have discussed and debated for years, Mark and Marc explore the case for constitutional traditionalism, how it differs from originalism, and what the Supreme Court’s turn to “history and tradition” means for the Establishment Clause. Mark presses Marc on some of the harder questions f...

The Tomb of Frederick II in Palermo Cathedral In this Legal Spirits Short Take, Center Director Mark Movsesian reflects on his recent visit to Sicily and the 13th-century tomb of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Sicily, and the famous Stupor Mundi—the “Wonder of the World”—in Palermo Cathedral. Medieval Sicily was a major theater in the long struggle between popes and secular rulers over the boundaries of spiritual and temporal power, a struggle that included disputes over the appointme...

Catholicos Karekin II (OC Media) In this episode of Legal Spirits, Center Director Mark Movsesian speaks with Professor Arman Tatoyan of the American University of Armenia about a controversy involving the Armenian Apostolic Church and the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The dispute centers on a civil-court order requiring the Church to allow a bishop to continue serving as diocesan Primate while he challenged his removal. After the Church defrocked the bishop, authorities brought ...

Photo: Becket In this Legal Spirits Short Take, Center Director Mark Movsesian discusses a new federal lawsuit challenging New York’s Medical Aid in Dying Act. Catholic healthcare providers argue that the state’s statutory regime will require them to counsel patients about medically assisted suicide, even though their religious commitments prohibit them from participating in the practice. New York has not yet responded, and important questions remain about what the law actually requires. Assumin...

Poetica Coffee in Brooklyn In this Legal Spirits Short Take, Mattone Center Director Mark Movsesian discusses the recent controversy involving Congressman Dan Goldman and a Brooklyn coffee shop that reportedly said it would have refused him service because of his support for Israel. Was this illegal discrimination based on religion, or a refusal of service based on politics? What does this episode reveal about public accommodations law, political disagreement, and our penchant for turning ordina...

The Defense Department recently created a controversy by revising its list of religious affiliation codes for service members and failing to designate the LDS Church as Christian. After objections, DOD removed the Christian designation from the list altogether. In this Legal Spirits Short Take, Center Director Mark Movsesian explains how the episode reveals a deeper problem of liberalism in a religiously diverse society: government must frequently classify religion, but no classification can be ...

In this episode of Legal Spirits, I speak with Andrea Pin about his new book, Dignity in Judgment, and the role of human dignity in contemporary constitutional law. We explore competing understandings of dignity—a secular, autonomy-based view and a more communal conception influenced by religious traditions—and consider how courts choose between them. Along the way, we discuss why the secular view appears to dominate in practice and how judicial formation shapes the meaning of dignity in constit...

Therapist Kaley Chiles at the Supreme Court (CSPAN) In this short take, Mark Movsesian looks at the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision this week in Chiles v. Salazar, involving a Christian therapist who challenged Colorado’s ban on so-called conversion therapy for minors. Formally, Chiles is not a free exercise case. But religion is clearly in the background—a reminder that law-and-religion controversies are often worked out through the First Amendment’s speech protections. Listen in! The post Legal ...

Louisiana Authorities Announce the New 10 Commandments Policy (CNN) A couple of weeks ago, the en banc 5th Circuit vacated on ripeness grounds a lower court ruling that Louisiana’s law requiring placement of the 10 Commandments in public school classrooms violates the Establishment Clause. In this short take, Mattone Center Director Mark Movsesian explains what the case is all about, and the significance of the en banc court’s decision. Listen in! The post Legal Spirits 075: A Short Take on the...

Nearly eighty years after Japan adopted constitutional provisions separating religion and the state, Japanese courts continue to grapple with a question familiar to American lawyers: how to enforce separation without severing law from history, tradition, and social practice. In this episode of Legal Spirits, Mark Movsesian speaks with Professor Eiichiro Takahata of Nihon University about the Japanese Supreme Court’s church–state jurisprudence, including its adaptation of U.S. Establishment Claus...