Welcome to the Rutgers Journal of Law & Religion

The Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion was founded in 1999 and is committed to increasing legal scholarship focusing on the intersection of these two dynamic aspects of the human tradition – law and religion.  As a print and online journal, our publication is globally accessible to numerous individuals and an active contributor to the growing conversation about law and religion among scholars, professionals and the general public.
 

Features from our Current Issue

In A Higher Law: Abraham Lincoln’s Use of Religious Imagery, Wilson Huhn explores Lincoln’s use of biblical imagery to express the depth of his own conviction, the stature of the founders of this country, the timeless and universal nature of the principles of the Declaration, and the magnitude of our moral obligation to defend those principles.

In Seeking Religious Validity For Body Piercings and Tattoos:  How the Church of Body Modification Should Gain Recognition as a Religion in the Modern Era, Danielle Gold argues that the Church of Body Modification, although non-conventional, should be recognized as a valid religion based on the Church’s religious tenets.

In A Life for an Afterlife: Assessing the Potential Redemption of Capital Inmates’ Requests to Posthumously Donate Organs under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, Jessica Miller explores whether a capital inmate could compel prison officials to allow him to donate organs upon execution as a religious exercise by bringing a claim under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).

In “Pray Away the Gay?” An Analysis of the Legality of Conversion Therapy by Homophobic Religious Organizations, Jonathan Sacks suggests that while it is unlikely that federal funding for religiously based homophobic organizations would be found unconstitutional under the Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments, legal attacks on the practice of conversion therapy could dissuade the continuation of the practice.

In Render Less Unto Cesar?: Denying Communion to Catholic Judges, Dermot Lynch explores in depth, the prospect of communion denial for Catholic judges.