Religion and the Law: of Church and State and the Supreme Court

There are few issues as controversial as where to draw the line between church and state. The framers of the Constitution's Bill of Rights began their blueprint for freedom by drawing exactly such a line. The first clauses of the First Amendment provide: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The justices of the Supreme Court have not been wanting for advice from self-appointed guardians. The difficulty with such advice is that the contestants are more convincing when they criticize their opponents' interpretations than when they seek to establish the validity of their own.

Philip B. Kurland was William R. Kenan, Jr. Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. He had been a consultant for various government agencies and committees, including the Conference of Chief Justices, the DePartment of Justice, and U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Separation of Powers. Some of his works include: Watergate and the Constitution, Cablespeech, and Politics, the Constitution and the Warren Court.