Episode 088: Conversation with Prof. Nelson Tebbe

Episode 088: Conversation with Prof. Nelson Tebbe.mp3

This podcast features a conversation with Brooklyn Law School Professor of Law Nelson Tebbe who teaches courses on constitutional law and religious freedom and other subjects. Professor Tebbe and University of Virginia Law Professor Micah Schwartzman posted on SCOTUSblog an entry entitled Symposium: The puzzle of Town of Greece v. Galloway.  It concerned the U.S. Supreme Court’s acceptance of a petition to hear its first legislative prayer case in 30 years involving the town of Greece, New York which has been holding Christian prayers, typically conducted by local ministers, at town meetings since 1999. In a unanimous decision, the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the prayer practice was unconstitutional. The case is the first legislative prayer case the Supreme Court’s decision in Marsh v. Chambers in 1983, which upheld the constitutionality of government funding for chaplains.

In the conversation, Professor Tebbe also discusses the upcoming symposium, Religious Freedom and Equal Treatment: An International Look, scheduled for Friday, October 11, 2013 (9:00 am – 4:30 pm) and Saturday, October 12, 2013 (9:00 am – 2:00 pm) at Brooklyn Law School’s Subotnick Center, 250 Joralemon Street in Brooklyn, New York. The conference will focus on how legal systems address threats to religious freedom, as well as the use of religious liberty claims to limit equal treatment. Distinguished global experts from the academic and advocacy communities will discuss legal and advocacy challenges in different parts of the globe; offer new theoretical and doctrinal approaches to the potential conflict between these most fundamental individual rights; broaden the academic debate and develop new advocacy strategies; and build lasting cross-border networks among academics and advocates. The conference is open to everyone. Those interested in attending can RSVP here.