Religion & Law

Douglas Laycock, "Substantive Neutrality Revisited"

By Michael Perry

I just finished reading a new article by Douglas Laycock, who, after many years at the University of Texas, is now Yale Kamisar Collegiate Professor of Law at the University of Michigan (where his spouse is Provost).  The article--titled Substantive Neutrality Revisited--appears in a symposium issue of the West Virginia Law Review:  volume 110, pages 51-88 (2007).  In the article Laycock defends his position on how the constitutional ideal of religious liberty should be understood.

The article is, in a word, superb.  Laycock's clarity is exemplary; and his argument, in my judgment, is utterly compelling, start to finish.  Laycock demonstrates--I use the word deliberately--the inferiority of two competing views, one represented by Noah Feldman, the other by Steven Gey.  With this article, Laycock has come as close as one can to achieving closure on the questions he addresses.

Do yourself a favor:  Get a copy of the article, find a relaxing venue, and read it!

Full post as published by Mirror of Justice on March 06, 2008 (boomark / email).