Dear Colleagues:

Happy 2014! I hope you find some interest in the Spring, 2014 Friday Public Affairs discussions. We’ve put together almost an entire schedule, but please feel free to suggest possible topics and speakers to joseph.white@case.edu.

Religious speech is one of the knottiest issues of constitutional law. The government is supposed to neither establish nor prevent the free exercise of religion, and neither to censor nor restrict speech. But what if an individual or group wants to promote their religious views in a forum that in some way could be viewed as sponsored by government?

For many years the Supreme Court’s analyses have focused on whether the case seemed to send a message that people with different beliefs were not part of the community, and whether the opportunity for speech was offered equally. In two recent cases, however, the Court emphasized property rights – in one case those of the owner of a Latin Cross in the Mojave Desert National Reserve, and in another those of a government. In each case the Court allowed what might look to some people like government endorsement of particular religions.

What does this “turn to property” mean both for religious speech issues and for the broader pattern of how the Court thinks about rights? How might it apply in future cases? Does it suggest the Court will use property rhetoric to justify exclusion and inequality in other decisions?

All best regards,
Joe White
Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy and Director, Center for Policy Studies

About Our Guest

Jessie Hill joined the faculty in 2003 after practicing First Amendment and civil rights law with the firm of Berkman, Gordon, Murray & DeVan in Cleveland. Before entering private practice, Hill worked at the Reproductive Freedom Project of the national ACLU office in New York, litigating challenges to state-law restrictions on reproductive rights. She also served as law clerk to the Honorable Karen Nelson Moore of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Hill’s teaching focuses on constitutional law, federal civil procedure, civil rights, reproductive rights, and law and religion. Her scholarship has been published in the Michigan Law Review and the Texas Law Review, among others.

Where We Meet

The Friday Public Affairs Lunch convenes each Friday when classes are in session, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. We usually meet in the Dampeer Room of Kelvin Smith Library. The Dampeer Room is on the second floor of the library. If you get off the elevators, turn right, pass the first bank of tables, and turn right again. Occasionally we need to use a different room; that will always be announced in the weekly e-mails.

Parking Possibilities

The most convenient parking is the lot underneath Severance Hall. We regret that it is not free. From that lot there is an elevator up to street level (labeled as for the Thwing Center); it is less than 50 yards from that exit to the library entrance. You can get from the Severance garage to the library without going outside. Near the entry gates – just to the right if you were driving out – there is a door into a corridor. Walk down the corridor and there will be another door. Beyond that door you’ll find the entrance to an elevator which goes up to an entrance right inside the doors to Kelvin Smith Library.

Friday Lunch Upcoming Topics and Speakers:

January 24: Are We Doomed? Climate Change and What We Are Really Doing About It. With Jessica F. Green, Assistant Professor of Political Science.

January 31: The Conspiracy Against Obamacare: How Academic Bloggers Influenced the Legal Battle Over the Individual Mandate. With Jonathan H. Adler, Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and Director, Center for Business Law and Regulation.

February 7: America’s Future in Space. With Michael L. Heil, Ph.D., President and CEO, Ohio Aerospace Institute.

February 14: The Wizard Behind the Curtain: ALEC and State Legislatures in 2014. With Amy Hanauer, Executive Director, Policy Matters Ohio.

February 21: The Profession of Accounting: Where It Came From, Where It Has Been, and Where It’s Going. With Gary Previts, Distinguished University Professor and E. Mandel de Windt Professor of Leadership and Enterprise Development.

February 28: TBA

March 7: Shared Success: Law Enforcement, Faith-Based Organizations, and the Fugitive Safe Surrender Program. With Daniel Flannery Ph.D., Semi J. and Ruth W. Begun Professor and Director, Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education.

March 14: Spring Break

March 21: What the Jewish Experience Tells Us About Religion in America Today. With Peter J. Haas, Abba Hillel Silver Professor of Jewish Studies and Chair, Department of Religious Studies.

March 28: Muslims in the United States. With Justine Howe, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies.

April 4: The “Problem” of Teen Mothers. With Mary Erdmans, Associate Professor of Sociology.

April 11: Is the Federal Government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States Anti-Asian? With Timothy Webster, Assistant Professor of Law and Director, East Asian Legal Studies. ***Alternate Site: Mather House Room 100.***

April 18: Is Cleveland Dying? With John A. Begala, Executive Director, Center for Community Solutions.

April 25: TBA