For those who follow such things, President Bush has just nominated Tom Griffith, current general counsel for BYU, to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. For the non-law geeks of the universe, the D.C. Court of Appeals is an intermediate level appellate court (just below the Supreme Court) and after the Supreme Court it is widely regarded as the most important court in the United States, frequently serving as a training ground for Supreme Court justices. (Three of the nine current justices — Scalia, Thomas, Ginsburg — previously served on the D.C. Court of... Read more »
LDS Newsroom
- Manaus Brazil Temple Opens To the Public May 16, 2012
- Ground Broken for Provo, Utah’s Second Temple May 12, 2012
- Released for Mother's Day: Bible Video Depicts Mary, Mother of Jesus May 11, 2012
- Pacific Mormon Helping Hands Come to the Aid of Their Neighbors May 11, 2012
- Mormon Story: Journalist Describes It Well May 10, 2012
- Church Preserving Legacy of Historic Buildings May 10, 2012
- “Stately and Magnificent” Mormon Kansas City Missouri Temple Dedicated May 6, 2012
- Mormonism in the News: Getting It Right | May 4 May 4, 2012
- Political Neutrality: Whiteboard Animation 'Draws Out' Church Position (VIDEO) May 3, 2012
- Mormon Helping Hands: Fix Up, Clean Up, Build It in California and Hawaii May 2, 2012
Law
No More Kids, by Law
A disturbing case, all around. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Quick Newdow Note
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A new old voice in the Bloggernacle
Ever wonder what Brother Joseph was up to on this very day, 170 years ago? Here’s hoping that Dave can carry us all the way through to 2014. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
So Help Me God
We take oaths in this country when we testify. Nowadays, anybody can do it, and perjury is the only penalty. Used to be that hellfire also awaited the liar. That was the theory, anyway, and under that theory until well into the 20th Century, the several states wouldn’t let atheists testify because the atheists didn’t believe in future rewards and punishments. I don’t know what the states did about Universalists or cheap grace evangelicals, or even what they’d do with us–our discussion below about having too little hellfire in our beliefs got me wondering, though I eventually concluded that... Read more »
Arresting Ministers
The State of New York is charging two Unitarian Universalist ministers with a misdemeanor for solemnizing a marriage without a liscense. (Story here) The Unitarians have long granted gay couples religious unions, but they have not exercised the power delegated to them by the state to create legal marriages. Given the ubiquitious comparisons between the gay marriage legal kerfuffle and the anti-polygamy crusades, is there a parallell here? Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Woman charged with murder for refusing C-section
Hey, all you legal eagles! Somebody please explain what in the world the Utah D.A. who’s charging Melissa Rowland with murder for refusing a cesaearean section could be thinking. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Civic Religion – Again
For those not aware of the fact, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Locke v. Davey a few hours ago, holding that it did not violate the Free Exercise Clause for the State of Washington to exempt divinity degree applicants from an otherwise available scholarship fund. I am not going to comment here on the opinion itself, but there was a line from Justice Scalia’s dissent that brought to mind an earlier discussion here at T&S on civic religion. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Mormons and Lord Devlin
When Mormons get up set about things like abortion, pornography, SSM, constitutional prohibitions on anti-sodomy laws, and the like they frequently talk about how these kinds of developments threaten to undermine society’s “moral fabric.” However, I don’t think that we have been sufficiently reflective about this rhetoric. I think that Lord Devlin can help us understand why. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Chaplinsky in Zion
According to the Deseret News, Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson is considering a city ordinance that would ban some of the more extreme street preaching around Temple Square. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Office, Oaths, and Sins
I work as a law clerk for a federal appellate judge. As part of my work, I routinely assist in the enforcement of legal rules that I think are unwise or even unjust. Of late I have been wondering about the morality of what I do every day. Be the first to like. Like Unlike Read more »
Justice for Fornicators
The extended discussion of Matt’s last post has got me thinking about abortion. I freely admitt that this is not a subject that I have actually spent a lot of time on, so I can’t claim that what follows is informed by either deep reading or deep thinking. What I have tried to do is put together an argument that makes sense out of the Church’s somewhat modified pro-life position, i.e. no abortion with limited exceptions of for rape, threats to life, etc. Warning, what follows contains a fair amount of pseudo-philosophical rambling. Be the first to like. Like... Read more »
Against Mardell
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Suing the Church
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Conferences and Events
- Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research (FAIR) Conference
- BYU Education Week
- BYU Idaho Education Week
- Sperry Symposium
- Utah State Historical Society Conference
- John Whitmer Historical Association Annual Meeting
- Association for Mormon Letters Annual Meeting
- LDS Semi-Annual General Conference
- Matthew Bowman: "Mormonism and American Progressivism"
- Samuel Morris Brown: "In Heaven as it is on Earth"
Calls for Papers
- Brazilian Mormon Studies Conference
- Colloque international sur le mormonisme (International Conference on Mormonism)
- LDS Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists
- Mormon Media Studies Symposium
- Sunstone Kirtland
- Sunstone West
- Sunstone Symposium: MORMONS AND MORMONISM AS A POLITICAL FORCE
- BYU Religious Education Student Symposium
- RESTORATION STUDIES SYMPOSIUM
- Claremont Mormon Studies Student Association