Legal Commentary

My colleague Lloyd Mayer -- whose work relating to the constraints on political activity by tax-exempt churches has been mentioned here before -- sent me this announcement about an interesting looking "hot topics" program at the upcoming AALS meeting.  A great line-up of people will be discussing this:

The relationship between church and state has always been fraught with tension, as some advocate a strict separationist approach and others support interaction on various levels. In May 2008, a conservative religious freedom group, the Alliance Defense Fund, launched an organized campaign to challenge one particular flashpoint for disagreement: the extent to which pastors, rabbis, imams, and other religious leaders speaking to their congregations should be able to express views about politics and particularly about candidates for public office. Thanks to a federal tax provision, churches and other houses of worship have in theory had to either restrain their leaders from expressing such views from the pulpit or face the loss of the significant tax benefits they enjoy. The recruitment by the ADF of pastors at more than 30 churches to challenge this restriction on First Amendment grounds, and the demands from supporters of a strong separation between church and state for the IRS to enforce the restriction against these churches have brought this flashpoint to the fore. The panel will discuss the legal and public policy rationales that support and oppose the restriction and also this looming confrontation?s broader ramifications for religious freedom, elections, and federal tax law.