Legal Spirits

Sep 18 2024 10 ep. 31 mins 21
Legal Spirits Podcast artwork

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

  Government  Society & Culture  Religion & Spirituality
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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…

Legal Spirits 055: Speaker Mike Johnson on the Separation of Church and State

Dec 05 2023 31 mins  
In a TV interview last month, House Speaker Mike Johnson raised eyebrows by asserting that Framers welcomed religion in public life and that the Establishment Clause protects religion from the encroachment of government, not the other way around. In this podcast, we show how Johnson was both right and wrong. Many Framers shared his view,…

Legal Spirits 054: Is Classical Law Due for a Comeback?

Oct 25 2023 32 mins  
Recently, many people have been talking about classical law–specifically whether classical law, with its focus on Christian universals and natural law concepts, can make a comeback in American law schools. Will classical law have traction in an academy dominated by positivism, law-and-economics, and critical theories? Would it be a good thing if it did? We’re…