2016 Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools (RALS) - Hosted by Regent Law

Regent University School of Law will host the 2016 Conference of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools entitled “Challenges and Opportunities for Faith Based Legal Education” on September 29-30, 2016, on the university’s Virginia Beach campus.

The RALS Conference is a venue for law faculty members from religiously affiliated law schools across the country to come together for a scholarly symposium to discuss current events as they relate to a law school’s religious mission.  The four sessions of the symposium will discuss implementing ethical formation and professional identity in law school; potential accreditation and tax exempt status issues for religiously affiliated law schools after Obergefell; new scholarship; and pursuing global justice. 

Presentations will include "Faith and Sexuality: The Unique Challenges Facing Religious Educators" by Prof. Robin Fretwell Wilson of the U. of Ill., "Institutional Engagement & Institutional Mission - why religiously affiliated law schools should be deeply and proactively engaged with the #BlackLivesMatter movement” by Dean Robert Vischer of St. Thomas Law School, Minnesota, "Religious liberty & LGBT equality clashes, exemptions, and conflicts with antidiscrimination laws" by Prof. Linda McClain of Boston University Law,  “The Role of Religiously Affiliated Law Schools in the Rebirth of American Public Life” by Prof & Assoc. Dean Bruce Ledewitz of Duquesne Law , and a conference opening address from Robert Cochran of Pepperdine Law School.

The symposium will conclude with a showing of Remand: Global Justice in Uganda, a documentary made by a Nashville-based production company about our Global Justice Program’s work in Uganda, and how the work is transforming lives on both continents, presented by Prof. Jim Gash of Pepperdine Law and Prof. Ernie Walton of Regent Law.

The cost of the symposium is $125 (registration is available until the week prior to the event).  For more information or to register, please visit www.regent.edu/rals.  For directions, a campus map and parking, please visit www.regent.edu/campuses/vb/campusmapflyer.pdf.  For other information, contact lynnkoh@regent.edu or 757.352.4660.

The Trouble with Obergefell in [Relay] Journal

I really appreciate Dean Enlow providing excellent insight on the deeper issues in Obergefell in his posts here.

My very short piece on three troubling aspects of the case is published in [Relay], the Journal of Worldview Academy, for whom I teach during the summer.

I begin where Chief Justice Roberts and Scalia begin, with the alarming fact that the opinion-- the thing that is supposed to justify the legal reasoning of the court to the world-- has nothing to do with law and has no "legal reasoning" in it:

First, the most troubling aspect of Obergefell is what it says about law itself and what that means for the future of the rule of law in America. This decision was not based on law—in fact, it had nothing to do with the law. The case was decided, instead, on pure will: the political and social preferences of five justices on the Supreme Court.

Read the whole thing. It's barely 1000 words.

Podcasts are now searchable on iTunes

Also, if you wonder how a Christian criminal defense lawyer justifies his trade theologically, check out my latest podcast, which is a Remix of an old Cross & Gavel interview with my former student, J.T. Borah. It's a good conversation. He claims, for example, that a criminal trial is not about truth, but is about "process."