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Mirror of Justice 

Dedicated to the development of Catholic legal theory.
Post Frequency: 46.4/day Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 15:50:36 Recent Entries: 3708
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"Jesus Loves Me But He Can't Stand You"
Posted on July 05, 2010A favorite Gospel hymm from the Austin Lounge Lizards. "Jesus Loves Me But He Can't Stand You"
"Atheists Don't Have No Songs"
Posted on July 05, 2010A little humor from Steve Martin with The Steep Canyon Rangers. HT: Rick Gaillardetz "Atheists Don't Have No Songs"
Dear Michael S.,
Posted on July 04, 2010You could scarcely be more anti-relativist than I am. (Or, I suspect, than Les Green is. But Les can speak for himself.) As you might have understood if you had taken the time to look at the chapter I cited,...
Celebrating Relativism?
Posted on July 04, 2010This Independence Day post is, in a way, a continuation of my conversation with Michael P. on "relativism" and "relativisms." What are we celebrating today? Authentic freedom or illusory freedom? Freedom for or freedom from? Freedom to do what we...
Coolidge on the Declaration
Posted on July 03, 2010Here is an address, delivered by Pres. Coolidge (one of my favorites!), back in 1926, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration. (It's hard to believe that presidents and politicians used to be able to talk, write, and think...
The Case for Catholic Schools (Part Six): Exercising Religious Liberty
Posted on July 03, 2010[This is the last in a series. The full series may be found here.] Since the Catholic immigration to the United States began in numbers in the middle to late Nineteenth Century, religious liberty and Catholic schools have been intertwined...
"Seven Days that Shook the Vatican"
Posted on July 02, 2010A must-read piece by John Allen, the reporter-on-things-Catholic whom all Catholics, of all stripes, seem to respect: . . . I?m inclined to think the past week does mean something, and here?s my first-blush stab at expressing it: Collectively, I...
One more thing ...
Posted on July 02, 2010Michael S., I don't know that I've ever met a relativist. The serious issue, in my judgment, is ethnocentrism. I've met some ethnocentrists. On the challenge of negotiating the relationship?sometimes but not always a relationship of tension or even conflict?between...
On "relativisms" (plural)
Posted on July 02, 2010Michael S., There are different relativisms: in particular, anthropological, epistemological, cultural. Most discussions of relativism I've encountered outside the technical philosophical literature are deeply confused and, therefore, confusing. Wringing one's hands about "a dictatorship of relativism" may be, in some...
A thought about the Declaration, the Quebec Act, the Church, and Religious Freedom
Posted on July 02, 2010This weekend, we in the United States of America celebrate our Declaration -- and, in time, our achievement -- of Independence. We should hope that more than a few of our fellow citizens will mark Independence Day by actually reading...
Leslie Green and the will to power
Posted on July 02, 2010Thank you Michael P. for pointing us to Leslie Green's disagreement with Pope Benedict's assertion that we are in danger of "a dictatorship of relativism." My quick read of Green seems to confirm Benedict's thesis. Is it fair to say...
Inazu, Smith, and Cochran on the CLS case
Posted on July 02, 2010John Inazu (Duke) has a worth-reading blog post on the CLS case here (at "The Faculty Lounge") and an op-ed on the case ("Siding with Sameness"), in the Raleigh News & Observer, here. He says, among other things: Martinez at...
S.G. Kagan discusses religious freedom
Posted on July 02, 2010More here. Any reactions? Comments open.
Joseph Weiler's submission in the Italian crucifix case
Posted on July 02, 2010Here is (the eminent) Prof. Joseph Weiler's argument before the European Court of Human Rights in the Italian crucifix case. Here is a taste: 16. In today?s Europe countries have opened their gates to many new residents and citizens. We...
"Contra the NY Times" on the scandal
Posted on July 02, 2010Michael Sean Winters' response to the Times story -- posted this morning by Michael P. -- on the scandal is worth reading. Here's the opening: This morning?s New York Times ?expose? regarding then-Cardinal Ratzinger?s role in the Vatican?s response to...
Chicago's (Catholic) Mayor Daley
Posted on July 02, 2010I'm happy to join Michael Perry in lamenting gun violence, though I'm not sure why we should consign to Hell a group that exists to protect what the Supreme Court has told us (and since they've told us, it must...
Congrats to John O'Callaghan
Posted on July 02, 2010My colleague (and MOJ-friend) John O'Callaghan has been appointed to the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas. (He is, I gather, one of only 4 American members.) Established in 1879 by Pope Leo XIII to promote the study of the thought...
Abortion as the "lesser evil"
Posted on July 02, 2010"Yes, abortion is killing. But it's the lesser evil." That's the tiltle of an op-ed by Antonia Senior that was published in the Times of London on June 30, 2010. The essay is causing a stir. See this response by...
"A Dictatorship of Relativism"?
Posted on July 01, 2010Leslie Green, Professor of Philosophy of Law, Balliol College, Oxford University, takes on Benedict XVI, here. [HT: Leiter Reports: A Philosophy Blog.]
A new blog: Distinctly Catholic
Posted on July 01, 2010New blog on NCRonline.org Distinctly Catholic, a blog by Michael Sean Winters that examines politics, religion and the estuary where the two meet, all from a distinctively Catholic point of view. The blog is small "c" catholic as well as...
The Limits of Episcopal Authority
Posted on July 01, 2010COMMONWEAL June 30, 2010 Web Exclusive The Limits of Authority When bishops speak about health-care policy, Catholics should listen, but don't have to agree Richard R. Gaillardetz The aftershocks of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops? opposition to certain elements...
CLS v. Martinez and the case for same-sex marriage
Posted on July 01, 2010I noted earlier that the Martinez Court invoked Lawrence in rejecting Christian Legal Society's attempt to distinguish between status (homosexual orientation) and conduct (a refusal to acknowledge homosexual conduct as immoral). Apparently I'm not the only one who noticed.
The news concerning the scandal is unrelenting and bad
Posted on July 01, 2010NYT, July 2, 2010 Amid Church Abuse Scandal, an Office That Failed to Act By LAURIE GOODSTEIN and DAVID M. HALBFINGER In its long struggle to grapple with sexual abuse, the Vatican often cites as a major turning point the...
God bless Chicago's (Catholic) Mayor Daley -- and to Hell with the NRA
Posted on July 01, 2010Here.
The Insignificance of the Christian Legal Society Case
Posted on June 30, 2010I may be blind, but I do not see the law declared in the Christian Legal Society case as a serious blow to freedom of religion or freedom of speech. The Court affirmed an ?all-comers? policy in the case. In...
Wisdom?
Posted on June 30, 2010Okay, I'll take the bait. John Paul Stevens is wise? I don't think so. There is something decidedly and deeply unwise---tragically and, indeed, lethally unwise---about purporting to infer a right to kill unborn children from the constitutional principle that no...
The Catholic Church is Finished?
Posted on June 30, 2010[from The Atlantic, July/August 2010:] The Catholic Church is Finished By Ross Douthat This was the year when the cover-up of priestly sex abuse, a long-simmering crisis for Catholicism, became something much, much bigger. It was Watergate. It was Waterloo...
The CLS and other student organizations at Hastings
Posted on June 30, 2010I follow in the footsteps of others on the Martinez case. Yesterday, I looked at the student web page at Hastings Law and began to look at many of the student organizations, including the environmental, civil liberties, reproductive rights, Jewish,...
The significance of the CLS case
Posted on June 30, 2010I was very disappointed by the decision in the CLS case. (Disclosure: I submitted an amicus brief in support of CLS.) Yes, Hastings' "all comers" policy is not typical (it is not, in my view, actually the policy that Hastings...
The Case for Catholic Schools (Part Five): Preserving Urban Neighborhoods
Posted on June 30, 2010[This is the fifth in a series of six. You may find the previous parts here.] Most of the reasons offered for choosing Catholic schools naturally focus on the educational benefits for our children and the increased educational opportunities for...
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Anna Nicole Smith's Legal Troubles
Court cases and legal issues related to Anna Nicole Smith
Personal information/online harassment?
Quit talking with people on message boards that support these activities. The se...
Is there a time limit where someone can't be convicted of a sexual crime after the child has told someone?
The statute of limitations can differ from state to state. Look into it by conta...
My children's school is falsely charging me with truancy. The local district justice works for the school in the most blatently open way. And his wife works for the district, too! They have violated private health record
I am no lawer by any means, so I would love for someone to verify what I have to...

Personal information/online harassment?
Quit talking with people on message boards that support these activities. The se...
Is there a time limit where someone can't be convicted of a sexual crime after the child has told someone?
The statute of limitations can differ from state to state. Look into it by conta...
My children's school is falsely charging me with truancy. The local district justice works for the school in the most blatently open way. And his wife works for the district, too! They have violated private health record
I am no lawer by any means, so I would love for someone to verify what I have to...








