Religion & Law

Nina J. Crimm (St. John's University School of Law) and Laurence H. Winer (Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University) have just published Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit: Provocative First Amendment Conflicts (OUP 2011).  I'll let some of the blurbs on the back of book speak for themselves, especially because one of them is by me. 

Here's what John Witte Jr. says in his blurb:  "Crimm and Winer on religious tax exemptions will be the standard treatment for many years to come.  This book is the most insightful and incisive analysis we now have of the history, policy, law, and constitutional questions surrounding federal income tax exemptions for religious communities.  Litigators, lobbyists, judges and legislators will find powerful new arguments to rethink whether it makes sense to force churches to pay taxes to play in the game of politics -- especially when virtually everyone else plays for free and the Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion."

And here's my blurb:  "Politics, Taxes, and the Pulpit is a model of how to translate the First Amendment's exalted values into the workable details of a functioning legal system.  With clarity, cogency, and conviction, Crimm and Winer demonstrate why and how current restrictions on the speech of 501(c)(3) corporations, including many houses of worship, should be reformed to give better effect to our constitutional norms of freedom of religion and free speech.  This strong yet subtle account of pressing social, ethical, and legal issues deserves the careful study of a wide readership."