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PATHS AND PEDAGOGIES IN LAW AND ETHICS: ON CATHLEEN KAVENY, ETHICS AT THE EDGES OF LAW: CHRISTIAN MORALISTS AND AMERICAN LEGAL THOUGHT - Ethics at the Edges of Law: Christian Moralists and American Legal Thought. By Cathleen Kaveny. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 328. $34.95 (paper). ISBN: 9780190612290.

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Ethics at the Edges of Law: Christian Moralists and American Legal Thought. By Cathleen Kaveny. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 328. $34.95 (paper). ISBN: 9780190612290.

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2020

M. Christian Green
M. Christian Green*
Affiliation:
Senior Fellow, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, Emory University
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Keywords

Cathleen Kavenylawreligionethicspedagogy
Type
Book Review Symposium: On Pedagogy, Prophecy, and Public Engagement: The Recent Works of Cathleen Kaveny
Information
Journal of Law and Religion , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , December 2019 , pp. 433 - 448
Copyright
Copyright © Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University 2020

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References

1 Christian ethics tends to be used as an umbrella term for ethical inquiry emerging from any Christian denomination; whereas moral theology is the term used in many Roman Catholic institutions of learning.

2 Except in law schools with law and religion programs or which are located within religious universities, the study of law, except in areas such as the constitutional law of religion and state—and perhaps in those areas, too—remains notably secular.

3 Eric Zimmerman, “Obama: We Need a Justice with ‘Empathy’,” Blog Briefing Room (blog), The Hill, May 1, 2009, https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/36170-obama-we-need-a-justice-with-empathy; Janet Hook and Christi Parsons, “Obama Says Empathy Key to Court Pick,” Los Angeles Times, May 2, 2009, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-may-02-na-court-souter2-story.html; James Christophersen, “Obama's Empathy Rule: Alive and Well in the Second Term,” National Review, April 9, 2013, https://www.nationalreview.com/bench-memos/obamas-empathy-rule-alive-and-well-second-term-james-christophersen/.

4 The conviction was upheld on appeal. Christine Hauser, “Brock Turner Loses Appeal to Overturn Sexual Assault Conviction,” New York Times, August 9, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/us/brock-turner-appeal.html; Daniel Victor, “Brock Turner Wanted Only ‘Outercourse,’ Lawyer Argues in Appeal,” New York Times, July 26, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/26/us/brock-turner-victim-outercourse-appeal.html.

5 Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, Part I-II, Question 94, Article 2.

6 Many of the developments reported in this paragraph are well captured in the 2009 American Academy of Religion presidential address of Mark Juergensmeyer. See Juergensmeyer, Mark, “2009 Presidential Address: Beyond Words and War: The Global Future of Religion,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 78, no. 4 (2010): 882–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7 For background on the split, see Orsi, Robert, “2003 Presidential Address: A New Beginning, Again,” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 72, no. 3 (2004): 587–602CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

8 Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, Job Advertisement Data, 2001–2010, November 2012, 8, https://www.aarweb.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/Career_Services/AARSBLJobsData2001-2010.pdf.

9 Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, Job Advertisement Data, 2001–2010, 3.

10 Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion, 3.

11 See Miller, Richard B., Friends and Other Strangers: Studies in Religion, Ethics, and Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 2016)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lewis, Thomas A., Why Philosophy Matters for Religious Studies—and Vice Versa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

12 For recent critiques of legal pedagogy, see Tamanaha, Brian Z., Failing Law Schools (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Harper, Steven J., The Lawyer Bubble: A Profession in Crisis (New York: Basic Books, 2013)Google Scholar; West, Robin, Teaching Law: Justice, Politics, and the Demands of Professionalism (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014)Google Scholar. See also an earlier call to concern in Kronman, Anthony T., The Lost Lawyer: Failing Ideals of the Legal Profession (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1995)Google Scholar. See also David Segal, “Is Law School a Losing Game?” New York Times, January 8, 2011, https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09law; Lincoln Caplan, “An Existential Crisis for Law Schools,” New York Times, July 14, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/opinion/sunday/an-existential-crisis-for-law-schools; Lawrence E. Mitchell, “Law School Is Worth the Money,” New York Times, November 28, 2012, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/opinion/law-school-is-worth-the-money; Noam Scheiber, “The Law School Bust,” New York Times, June 19, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/business/dealbook/an-expensive-law-degree-and-no-place-to-use-it.html?module=inline.

13 Joe Patrice, “Junior Lawyers Are Going Extinct and Nobody Knows What to Do about It” (blog post), Above the Law, January 17, 2019, https://abovethelaw.com/2019/01/junior-lawyers-are-going-extinct-and-nobody-knows-what-to-do-about-it/.

14 “Why Boutiques Are Becoming Increasingly Popular,” Improve Your Business, Practice Panther, https://www.practicepanther.com/blog/boutique-firms-increasingly-popular/; “More Big Businesses Flock to Boutique Law Firms, and for Good Reason,” Raymond Law Group LLC, https://www.raymondlawgroup.com/What-we-are-up-to-Articles/More-big-businesses-flock-to-boutique-law-firms-and-for-good-reason.shtml.

15 For the effects of this in one US jurisdiction in a way that is suggestive of a larger national problem, see Campbell Robertson, “In Louisiana, the Poor Lack Justice,” New York Times, March 19, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/us/in-louisiana-the-poor-lack-legal-defense.html.

16 There have also been proposals to rank law schools based on scholarship, as well as practice preparation. See James Paterson, “US News Wants to Rank Law Schools by Scholarly Impact,” EducationDive, February 21, 2019, https://www.educationdive.com/news/us-news-wants-to-rank-law-schools-by-scholarly-impact/548872/.

17 Erwin Chemerinsky and Carrie Menkel-Meadow, “Don't Skimp on Legal Training” (op-ed), New York Times, April 14, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/15/opinion/dont-skimp-on-legal-training.html. See also Dylan Jackson, “Patricia White: Law Schools Should Make Law Graduates Better Humans, Not Just Better Lawyers,” Daily Business Review, Law.com, April 5, 2019, https://www.law.com/dailybusinessreview/2019/04/05/patricia-white-law-schools-should-make-law-graduates-better-humans-not-just-better-lawyers/?slreturn=20190806233805.

18 Chemerinsky and Menkel-Meadow, “Don't Skimp on Legal Training.” See also Mark A. Cohen, “How Will Legal Training and Education Keep Pace with Change?” Forbes, September 10, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/markcohen1/2018/09/10/how-will-legal-education-and-training-keep-pace-with-change/#4c014bf67055.