Legal Spirits

Legal Spirits


Latest Episodes

Legal Spirits 063: Ethnic Cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, One Year Later
September 18, 2024

In September 2023, in violation of an order from the International Court of Justice, Azerbaijan ethnically cleansed the region of Nagorno-Karabakh of its 120,000 Christian Armenian inhabitants. In thi

Legal Spirits 062: Can a Public School Ask Kids to State Their Religion?
August 28, 2024

When the Cedar Grove School District in New Jersey surveyed students about their religious identities and other sensitive matters, St. Johns Law Professor Patricia Montana went into action. She and o

Legal Spirits 061: Is a Catholic Charter School Constitutional?
July 22, 2024

Last month, in a much-watched case, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that a new Catholic charter school, St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School, violates the First Amendments Establishment Cl

Legal Spirits 060: Memorial Day, the Knights of Columbus, and the National Park Service
June 24, 2024

In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews religion journalist Kelsey Dallas about the controversy that arose last month when the National Park Service refused to allow the Knights of

Legal Spirits 059: Daniel McCarthy on “the Other Nones”
April 15, 2024

In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews journalist Daniel McCarthy on his recent essay in Modern Age, The Other Nones. Dan argues that the decline of traditional Christianity in t

Legal Spirits 058: Law & Justice in Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure”
April 03, 2024

First performed 400 years ago, William Shakespeares Measure for Measure addresses an enduring human dilemma. No society can safely exist without law, but law itself depends on human judgment, which

Legal Spirits 057: Historian Richard Brookhiser on Religious Freedom in America
March 07, 2024

In this episode, Center Director Mark Movsesian interviews historian Richard Brookhiser (left) about his new documentary, Free Exercise: Americas Story of Religious Liberty. How have minority relig

Legal Spirits 056: Can the NY State Thruway Ban Chick-fil-A?
January 18, 2024

In this episode, we discuss a bill pending in New York that would require future fast food restaurants at rest stops on the State Thruway to open seven days a week. The bill expressly targets Chick-fi

Legal Spirits 055: Speaker Mike Johnson on the Separation of Church and State
December 05, 2023

In a TV interview last month, House Speaker Mike Johnson raised eyebrows by asserting that Framers welcomed religion in public life and that the Establishment Clause protects religion from the encroac

Legal Spirits 054: Is Classical Law Due for a Comeback?
October 25, 2023

Recently, many people have been talking about classical lawspecifically whether classical law, with its focus on Christian universals and natural law concepts, can make a comeback in American law sch