Legal Commentary

Here's more information about a conference -- sponsored by The Federalist Society -- on religious freedom and church-autonomy, that might be of interest to Prawfs readers.  The invited presenters include John Garvey, Nick Wolterstorff, Chip Lupu, Bob Tuttle, Doug Laycock, Tom Berg, and others.   Here's a summary of the agenda:

Church autonomy issues are at the forefront of contemporary debates in church/state law.  Such issues arise whenever the government seeks to impose a regulatory burden on a church or any religious organization.  Often the regulatory burden comes in the form of generally applicable legislation that is facially neutral with respect to religion.  The regulation may also take place through developments in the common law, such as claims sounding in tort, contract, trust, or real property.

Some of the pressing topics in the area of church autonomy include ministerial exceptions to employment discrimination claims, IRS tax exempt status and political speech, unconstitutional conditions on public benefits, and bankruptcy litigation.  An older and still important line of cases deals with intra-church disputes in which two factions litigate ownership of church property.  Finally, there is the matter of tort claims against a church for clergy sexual abuse, a particularly difficult area that has arguably eroded the scope of church autonomy in other contexts.