Special Topics: Religion and the Constitution

Catalog description

This course examines the First Amendment's Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. The two Religion Clauses continue to be a focus of controversy in the legal and political arenas. The course will examine Supreme Court opinions interpreting the Religion Clauses. Topics arising under the Establishment Clause include prayer in public school classrooms, religious symbols on public property, and government funding of parochial school education. Topics arising under the Free Exercise Clause as well as statutory analogs for freedom of religion such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act include the rights of members of a religion to be exempt from compulsory education laws and the rights of religious objectors to be excused from legal requirements such as compliance with the Affordable Care Act and anti-discrimination laws.