Legal Spirits

Dec 19 2024 20 ep. 31 mins 21

Legal Spirits Podcast artwork

Podcasts from the St. John's Law School Center for Law and Religion

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Legal Spirits 065: Reading CS Lewis in Law School

Dec 19 2024 38 mins

In this episode, Fordham Law Professors Sean Griffith and Richard Squire join Mattone Center Director Mark Movsesian to talk about their experience leading a discussion of CS Lewis’s Mere Christianity in a student reading group this past semester. Sean and Richard discuss their goals in establishing the group, their students’ response to Lewis–in particular, his…

Legal Spirits 064: A City Upon a Hill

Ever since President Ronald Reagan popularized the phrase in the 1980s, American leaders have referred to the United States as the “shining city on a hill.” Reagan adapted the phrase from John Winthrop, the 17th century governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who himself took it from the Gospel of Matthew. But the message has…

Legal Spirits 063: Ethnic Cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, One Year Later

Sep 18 2024 35 mins

In September 2023, in violation of an order from the International Court of Justice, Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed the region of Nagorno-Karabakh of its 120,000 Christian Armenian inhabitants. In this episode, human-rights attorney Karnig Kerkonian describes the events of a year ago and efforts to hold Azerbaijan responsible in international forums. He also explains the role…

Legal Spirits 062: Can a Public School Ask Kids to State Their Religion?

Aug 28 2024 26 mins

When the Cedar Grove School District in New Jersey surveyed students about their religious identities and other sensitive matters, St. John’s Law Professor Patricia Montana went into action. She and other parents sued the district for violating student privacy laws, including the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment, a federal statute. Last month, the US Department…

Legal Spirits 061: Is a Catholic Charter School Constitutional?

Jul 22 2024 29 mins

Last month, in a much-watched case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a new Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, violates the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause–and, alternatively, that denying St. Isidore a charter does not violate the school’s rights under the Free Exercise Clause. In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian�

Legal Spirits 060: Memorial Day, the Knights of Columbus, and the National Park Service

Jun 24 2024 30 mins

In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews religion journalist Kelsey Dallas about the controversy that arose last month when the National Park Service refused to allow the Knights of Columbus to celebrate an annual Memorial Day Mass at a national cemetery in Virginia. The Park Service said it was enforcing the rules against “demonstrations”;…

Legal Spirits 059: Daniel McCarthy on “the Other Nones”

Apr 15 2024 32 mins

In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews journalist Daniel McCarthy on his recent essay in Modern Age, “The Other Nones.” Dan argues that the decline of traditional Christianity in the West hasn’t led to the age of rationalism and progress that many secularists predicted, but instead to an age of entropy, in which people…

Legal Spirits 058: Law & Justice in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”

Apr 03 2024 40 mins

First performed 400 years ago, William Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” addresses an enduring human dilemma. No society can safely exist without law, but law itself depends on human judgment, which is prone to error and corruption. In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian and Northwestern Law Professor John McGinnis discuss this great but problematic play…

Legal Spirits 057: Historian Richard Brookhiser on Religious Freedom in America

Mar 07 2024 24 mins

In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews historian Richard Brookhiser (left) about his new documentary, “Free Exercise: America’s Story of Religious Liberty.” How have minority religions tested and shaped America’s commitment to religious freedom over the centuries–and how has America changed those religions in return? From the Flushing Remonstrance of 1

Legal Spirits 056: Can the NY State Thruway Ban Chick-fil-A?

Jan 18 2024 29 mins

In this episode, we discuss a bill pending in New York that would require future fast food restaurants at rest stops on the State Thruway to open seven days a week. The bill expressly targets Chick-fil-A, which closes on Sundays in line with the owners’ religious commitments. Does the bill violate Chick-fil-A’s free exercise rights…