The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law

Examines clashes over religious liberty spanning the life cycle of families - from birth to death.

Robin Fretwell Wilson (Edited by)

9781108405508, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 8 August 2019

743 pages
23 x 15.3 x 4.6 cm, 1.06 kg

'… this is an excellent collection. For those looking at how family law and religion interact in the United States, it is a one-stop shop filled with everything they could possibly need.' Russell Sandberg, Ecclesiastical Law Journal

Like many beliefs, religious views matter across an individual's life and the life cycle of a family - from birth to marriage, through child-rearing, and, eventually, death. This volume examines clashes over religious liberty within the personal realm of the family. Against swirling religious beliefs, secular values, and legal regulation, this volume offers a forward-looking examination of tensions between religious freedom and the state's protective function. Contributors unpack some of the Court's recent decisions and explain how they set the stage for ongoing disputes. They evaluate religious claims around birth control, circumcision, modesty, religious education, marriage, polygamy, shared parenting, corporal punishment, faith healing, divorce, and the end of life. Authors span legislators, attorneys, academics, journalists, ministers, physicians, child advocates, and representatives of minority faiths. The Contested Place of Religion in Family Law begins an overdue conversation on questions dividing the nation.

Foreword Senator Orrin Hatch
Introduction Robin Fretwell Wilson
Part I. The Foundations and Boundaries of Religious Liberty: 1. The risky business of RFRAs after Hobby Lobby Elizabeth Sepper
2. Religion and the family in the wake of Hobby Lobby Michael A. Helfand
Part II. Religious Claims at Birth: 3. Religious exceptionalism and religiously motivated harm Michele Bratcher Goodwin
4. Contraceptive access and religious liberty: can we afford to protect both? Mark L. Rienzi
5. The contraceptive-coverage cases and the problem of politicized free-exercise lawsuits Gregory M. Lipper
6. The substantial burden question: secular tools for secular courts Michael A. Helfand
7. Coming soon to a court near you: male circumcision in religious families in Europe and the United States Eric Rassbach
Part III. Religious Claims in Childrearing: 8. The easiest accommodation: abandoning other people's children to their parents' religious views James G. Dwyer
9. Marriage agreements and religious family life Brian H. Bix
10. Religious parents who divorce Margaret F. Brinig
11. Regulating the relationship between parents: moving beyond marriage and custody law Merle H. Weiner
12. Bad faith: when religious beliefs imperil children Paul A. Offit
13. By faith alone: when religious beliefs and child welfare collide Robin Fretwell Wilson and Shaakirrah Sanders
Part IV. Rethinking Marriage after Obergefell: 14. After Obergefell: locating the contemporary state interest in marriage Kari E. Hong
15. Transformational marriage: how to end the culture wars over same-sex marriage Robin B. Kar
16. Divorcing marriage and the state post-Obergefell Robin Fretwell Wilson
17. Why no polygamy John Witte, Jr
18. Scrutinizing polygamy under religious freedom restoration acts Maura Irene Strassberg
Part V. Religious Claims at End of Life: 19. Religion and advance medical directives: formulation and enforcement implications Richard L. Kaplan
20. Personal religious identity at the end of life Naomi Cahn and Reverend Amy Ziettlow
Part VI. Shaping the Legal Culture of the Family: 21. Taking colliding trains off a collision path: lessons from the Utah compromise for civil society J. Stuart Adams
22. Family law and civil rights movements: examining the influence of courts and legislatures on racial and sexual orientation equality Anthony Michael Kreis
23. Latter-day constitutionalism: sexuality, gender, and Mormons William N. Eskridge, Jr
Part VII. International Perspectives: 24. The future of marriage in secular societies Patrick M. Parkinson
25. A tale of fragmentation and intertwinement: the sacred and the secular systems for forming and dissolving marriages in Israel Karin Carmit Yefet and Arianne Renan Barzilay
26. Religious modesty for women and girls: a comparative analysis of legal protections in France and the United States Asma T. Uddin.

Subject Areas: Social law [LNT], Family law [LNM], Legal system: general [LNA], Legal history [LAZ], Law & society [LAQ], Law [L]