Standing, Spending, and Separation: How the No-Establishment Rule Does (And Does Not) Protect Conscience
Richard W. Garnett, 54 Vill. L. Rev. 655 (2009)
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The Establishment Clause, many believe, safeguards conscience; the fact that it does is, many believe, a justification both for the Clause and for its energetic judicial enforcement; and the Supreme Court’s construction of the Clause has been guided, at least in part, by its conclusions about what the well-being of conscience requires. We are not entirely sure what the liberty of conscience is, means, or requires, but, nevertheless, it is, as Professor Steven Smith has observed, ‘central to the modern discourse of religious freedom’ and, indeed, ‘to the modern self-understanding generally.’
Related:
How the No-Establishment Rule Does (and Does Not) Protect the Freedom of Conscience
Public Discourse, Richard W. Garnett, April 3, 2009
