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Leslie Griffin - University of Houston Law Center
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“ I would think they would pass legislation that would help them vote, rather than not vote .” (Saint Mary's College freshman Lauren McCallick) I can’t stop thinking about the twelve Sisters of Holy Cross , all in their 80s and 90s, many in wheelchairs or walkers or electric carts, who were not allowed to vote in the recent Indiana primary because they lacked valid Indiana drivers’ licenses or current... [Read More]
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The Religion Clauses of the First Amendment provide: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” These two Clauses, the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause, are frequently in tension. Striking a proper balance between free exercise and establishment has been a difficult endeavor for the U.S. Supreme Court, like walking... [Read More]
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Anyone wanting to answer the question of “how we began” in Iraq has to confront the monumental fact that the United States, the most powerful country in the world, invaded Iraq with no particular and specific idea of what it was going to do there, and then must try to explain how this could have happened . One possible explanation for the George W. Bush administration’s Iraq policy is the president’s... [Read More]
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Senator Barack Obama voted not to confirm John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States because of Roberts’ values. If Obama applied the same standard to himself, he would vote no a second time. In rejecting the justice, the senator explained that about five percent of the Supreme Court’s docket involves legally indeterminate questions “ that can only be determined on the basis of one’s deepest... [Read More]
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QUESTION: As a woman, I know it's hard to get out of the house and to get ready. And my question is very personal. How do you do it? SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON: It's not easy. It's not easy. And, and I couldn't do it if I just didn't, you know, passionately believe it was the right thing to do. You know, I have so many opportunities from this country. I just don't want to see us fall backwards, you know?... [Read More]
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Mitt Romney got it wrong in his well-publicized speech about “ Faith in America .” A neutral, non-religious, constitutional government—which Romney incorrectly derided as a secular religion—protects Mormons against discrimination much better than would Romney’s government of faith. According to Romney, an unidentified “they” have established a new religion of secularism that governs American political... [Read More]
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Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke recently at VillanovaLawSchool on the assigned topic of “the role of Catholic faith in the work of a judge.” Although a transcript of the lecture has not been made available, a news report summarized Scalia’s simple “bottom line”: “there is no such thing as a ‘Catholic judge,’” any more than there is a “‘Catholic’ way to cook a hamburger.” “I am hard-pressed,”... [Read More]
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Senator John McCain attracted considerable criticism recently when he stated in an interview on beliefnet that he would prefer a Christian to a Muslim president: “I just have to say in all candor that since this nation was founded primarily on Christian principles . . . personally, I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith.” McCain later seemed to back away from that remark... [Read More]
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Dr. Ron Paul is by all accounts a man of principle and conviction. Paul, a Republican Member of the House of Representatives who represents the 14th District of Texas, is running to become the Republican Party’s presidential candidate. In 1988 Paul was the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate, running third behind George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. Paul “reportedly would like to be listed... [Read More]
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When asked by an Iowa voter whether he was a practicing Catholic, Republican presidential candidate and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani responded: My religious affiliation ... and the degree to which I am a good or not so good Catholic, I prefer to leave to the priests. When the voter pressed him to answer the question, Giuliani reiterated: That's a matter of individual conscience. . . . I... [Read More]
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Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton has borrowed a page from President George W. Bush’s playbook. She is running her presidential campaign on vague faith. The Senator has frequently decried the Democrats’ abandonment of the faith playing field to the Republicans. She does not want to make that mistake. Instead, she has decided to run on faith, just as Bush, a fellow Methodist, did. Despite her recent protestation... [Read More]
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Democrats are talking about their faith, most recently in interviews on CNN . Faith helped Hillary Clinton to endure her husband’s infidelity. Because John Edwards sins multiple times every day, he is unable to identify the biggest sin he ever committed. Joe Biden prays the rosary every day. Bill Richardson’s grandmother gave him a tiny crucifix to put in the pocket of his baseball uniform for good... [Read More]
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In April the five Catholic Justices on the United States Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003 in Gonzales v. Carhart . Leroy Carhart, one of the doctors who unsuccessfully challenged that federal ban on partial-birth abortion [PBA], was on the winning side in 2000, when the Court issued a 5-4 ruling in Stenberg v. Carhart that a statute banning partial-birth abortion... [Read More]
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Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards believes that politicians should speak openly about their faith but not politicize it. According to the 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee and 2008 presidential candidate, faith should not be used as part of any political strategy: I embrace faith, and I believe America should embrace all faiths and those who don’t have faith. If we are multicultural... [Read More]
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Former Arkansas Governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee is a Republican presidential candidate who takes his faith seriously. On Meet the Press, the governor told host Tim Russert: I’m appalled, Tim, when someone says, “Tell me about your faith,” and they say, “Oh, my faith doesn’t influence my public policy.” Because when someone says that, it’s as if they’re saying, “My faith isn’t significant,... [Read More]
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According to presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, “the American people want to see a person of faith lead the nation, and I don’t think the American people care very deeply about which brand of faith that is.” I think that brand of faith should be political faith. Romney’s campaign has raised numerous questions about the significance of his Mormon faith for public office.... [Read More]
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Illinois Senator Barack Obama is attracting attention because of his promises to practice a new, less partisan, type of politics, based on common values that unite, not divide. He describes that program in his new campaign book, The Audacity of Hope . My hope is that his new politics will approach public religion in a way that unites, not divides, us because it is grounded in common constitutional... [Read More]
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