My family was in England for the summer while I taught a law course at Cambridge University, and one afternoon my son and I happened upon an interesting program on the radio. It was a radio “play” featuring a self-confident young woman and Kenneth Lay, the now-deceased president of Enron who masterminded the company’s … Read more
One of the big issues under debate in the United Kingdom this summer is whether to ban the burqa. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said last month that the burqa debases women and is not welcome in his country; Britain is trying to decide whether to follow suit. Â To begin with, there is some confusion … Read more
It’s interesting to be known as “the Catholic guy” at a public university in a predominantly Baptist town. I don’t think I fully understood the implications, however, until quite recently. It was February, and I was in Little Rock for the Southeastern Conference’s women’s basketball tournament. While I was out of town, some undergraduate student … Read more
In this Crisis Magazine classic, Ronald J. Rychlak says that while Pius XII was no Nazi collaborator, Hitler did have a strong religious ally… the grand mufti of Jerusalem. Â Â The Jewish Holocaust of World War II is a story of human tragedy, with real victims, real villains, and real heroes. Important questions often … Read more
Why do Catholics make such good judges? Well, it depends what you mean by "Catholics," I suppose. What I had in mind was a person in no doubt about any of the propositions in the Catholic creeds — including no doubt that the words mean what they say, and not something else. That … Read more
The global warming theory holds that certain gases are accumulating in the atmosphere. These so-called greenhouse gases essentially trap heat in, resulting in a slight increase in temperatures around the world. The most significant greenhouse gas is water vapor, but most political debate is focused on carbon dioxide (CO2). It has been hard to justify … Read more
The Grayson-Himes Pay for Performance Act of 2009 is ostensibly designed to prevent corporations that receive bailout money from wasting it on undeserved bonuses and executive pay. Already passed (along party lines) by the House Financial Services Committee, this law would make it illegal to award executives with “unreasonable or excessive” compensation, and it specifies … Read more
The month of March brings with it many things, usually including the first spring-like days, Lent, baseball spring training — and, for college basketball fans, the NCAA tournament. Sixty-four teams from around the nation are invited to participate. For many programs (including the one at the university where I teach), a major goal of each … Read more
On January 9, the Illinois House deliberated less than 90 minutes before voting 114-1 to impeach Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The case then went to the state senate, where on January 29 he was convicted by a vote of 59-0. Illinois legislators may tolerate some corruption, but they will not stand for the incompetence of being … Read more
The other night, along with many other Americans, I watched the Frank Capra classic It’s a Wonderful Life. Starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, the movie has become a Christmas staple — but it was not always that way, and how it attained its holiday status has as much to do with the intricacies of … Read more
The election is over, and the changes are already beginning. For sincere Catholics, the most disappointing prospect is President-elect Barack Obama’s complete embrace of the culture of death. He is dedicated not only to preserving the right to abortion, but actually to extending it. Unfortunately, he can make lots of changes quite quickly, and he … Read more
In October 2008, the Archdiocese of Zagreb celebrated the 10th anniversary of the beatification of Aloysius Cardinal Stepinac, who led the Catholic Church in Croatia during the Second World War. Though he is a hero in Croatia, his reputation elsewhere is a matter of controversy: The Communist regime that took over after the war convicted … Read more
InsideCatholic is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but I write from Oxford, Mississippi. Oxford has a population of about 14,000, which approximately doubles when the University of Mississippi students are in town. So, as you might imagine, the presidential debate here at Ole Miss tonight — assuming it comes off — is a big deal. The … Read more
None of this year’s Catholic presidential candidates (Sam Brownback, George Pataki, Rudolph Giuliani, Joe Biden, Wesley Clark, Christopher Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, and Bill Richardson) earned a nomination from either of the two major political parties. Arguably, however, the Church had its highest profile in a presidential race since 1960 with this past Democratic primary. Unfortunately, … Read more
In back-to-back days of June this year, the U.S. Supreme Court came down with opinions in two different cases that illustrate very different judicial philosophies. The cases themselves are unrelated, and they are generally seen as coming down on different sides of the political spectrum, but together they provide a good lesson about constitutional interpretations. … Read more
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly earlier this year, Pope Benedict XVI returned to a theme he has advanced several times in his papacy: the importance of faith combined with reason, and the inadequacy of either faith or reason alone. This idea of the complementary nature of faith and reason received international … Read more
One of the questions on my Constitutional Law final examination this past semester focused on the Texas ranch from which authorities seized over 400 children. I played with the facts a bit to set up a few extra issues that we studied in the course, but even unedited, this case raises numerous interesting constitutional issues … Read more
With Father’s day just around the corner, it’s a good time to take a look at the importance of fathers in our society. In 1950, 6 percent of America’s children lived in a home without a father. Today, almost one out of every four children does not have a “Dad” at home, and about 40 … Read more
In my last column, I noted that the California Supreme Court was about to decide on the constitutionality of gay marriage in that state. The verdict is in, and a law defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman has been overturned. By a 4-3 decision, the court declared the state’s Defense … Read more
America’s position on homosexual activity has radically changed over the past few decades. Fifty years ago, every state criminalized homosexual acts under “sodomy laws.” As recently as 1986, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of such laws. In 2003 there were still 13 states that criminalized homosexual acts (though the laws were rarely enforced). That … Read more