Nahmod Law

The Decalogue Society of Chicago invited Professors Nicole Garnett of Notre Dame Law School, Michael Helfand of Pepperdine Law School and me to speak about government funding and church-state separation in light of the Supreme Court’s June 2022 decision in Carson v. Makin.

This on-line program, held on September 20, 2022, went for a little over two hours. I spoke first about the Religion Clauses in general, including their history and purposes, and what some of the Founders thought. Professor Garnett spoke next about the complicated relationship between the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. She was then followed by Professor Helfand, who spoke about government funding and the Carson case. Each of us spoke for about one-half hour, and there was a question-answer period after that.

Spoiler alert: during the question-answer period, I took a strong strict-separation position and criticized the current Supreme Court majority in several respects. First, in disregarding the historical evidence of the dangers of blurring the lines between government and religion and, consequently, thinking that religious “wars” cannot happen here. And second, in naively (disingenuously?) considering itself “objective” in its Religion Clause decisions and thereby disregarding the “passive” virtue of judicial restraint.

Below is the link. I hope you find the program informative and useful.

https://fb.watch/fHg2w8RUAU/

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