10. Rules and Standards in Jewish Law and American Constitutional Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 211-235
Author(s):  
Jeffrey B. Meyers

Samuel J. Levine’s research and writing collected in the two-volume anthology, Jewish Law and American Law: A Comparative Study addresses the connection between contemporary American Law and ancient Talmudic Law through the lens of contemporary Constitutional Law and Professional Ethics. Professor Levine mines the legacy of the late Robert Cover and his theory of law and narrative in particular to draw out the similarities and differences between rabbinic interpretation of the Torah and judicial interpretation of the US Constitution. He also considers where Jewish ethics converge and diverge from professional rules of conduct in the legal profession. This article summarizes some of the key turns in Levine’s recently published collected works and reflects critically on their key themes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ran Hirschl

Abstract Constitutional law and religious law are often portrayed as diametrically opposed domains. While there are obvious foundational differences between the two domains, the simplistic portrayal of religious law as altogether irrelevant to contemporary discussions about engagement with the laws of others provides an all-too-easy excuse for contemporary constitutional discourse to blind itself to religious law’s rich history and doctrinal innovation. Alongside other possible new horizons of interdisciplinary inquiry, religious law may provide a fertile terrain for placing contemporary debates in (comparative) constitutional law in a broader context. In particular, few authors have paid close attention to the potential value of legal concepts developed within religious law to meeting the challenge of encounters with foreign law. Even fewer have drawn analogies between the effect of extra-doctrinal factors on interpretation in the two domains. The poignant dilemmas of rejection of or interaction with foreign law yearn for thorough and prompt cross-disciplinary analysis, as their relevance to contemporary constitutional law comes to echo their historic importance in religious law. In this article, I explore elements of early engagement with the constitutive laws of others along two lines: (i) various doctrinal innovations in pre-modern religious law, particularly Jewish law, in respect to engagement with the laws of others; (ii) earthly motivations for change to religious law’s treatment of external sources and practices. I conclude by suggesting that the current liberal constitutional canon’s hostility toward religion, in particular its simplistic portrayal of religion as a monolithically “traditional,” “particularist,” “backward” and outdated domain runs the risk of throwing out the baby (religious law) with the bathwater (religion).


Author(s):  
Hirschl Ran

Many purportedly new debates in comparative constitutional law have early equivalents, some dating back over two millennia. The chapter examines pre-modern religion law and the birth of two concepts cardinal for understanding the philosophy of comparative constitutional studies of law and religion: acknowledgment of the legitimacy and integrity of the constitutive laws of others; and doctrinal innovation from a necessity-based or ideologically driven impulse to respond to or incorporate such laws. Pre-modern canon law and Jewish law suggest that engagement with the constitutive laws of others is much longer and thicker than the current convergence trend. Some of the concepts developed in religion-laden contexts in times long gone continue to be relevant for understanding contemporary constitutional reaction to external convergence pressures. Further examples illustrate that alongside inquisitiveness per se, instrumentalist factors matter greatly in explaining purportedly principled, doctrinal debates over openness toward, or rejection of, the constitutive laws of others.


Author(s):  
W. Elliot Bulmer

The rise of the Scottish national movement has been accompanied by the emergence of distinct constitutional ideas, claims and arguments, which may affect constitutional design in any future independent Scotland. Drawing on the fields of constitutional theory, comparative constitutional law, and Scottish studies, this book examines the historical trajectory of the constitutional question in Scotland and analyses the influences and constraints on the constitutional imagination of the Scottish national movement, in terms of both the national and international contexts. It identifies an emerging Scottish nationalist constitutional tradition that is distinct from British constitutional orthodoxies but nevertheless corresponds to broad global trends in constitutional thought and design. Much of the book is devoted to the detailed exposition and comparative analysis of the draft constitution for an independent Scotland published by the SNP in 2002. The 2014 draft interim Constitution presented by the Scottish Government is also examined, and the two texts are contrasted to show the changing nature of the SNP’s constitutional policy: from liberal-procedural constitutionalism in pursuit of a more inclusive polity, to a more populist and majoritarian constitutionalism.


Author(s):  
Lucas A. Powe Jr.

Texas has created more constitutional law than any other state. In any classroom nationwide, any basic constitutional law course can be taught using nothing but Texas cases. That, however, understates the history and politics behind the cases. Beyond representing all doctrinal areas of constitutional law, Texas cases deal with the major issues of the nation. This book charts the rich and pervasive development of Texas-inspired constitutional law. From voting rights to railroad regulations, school finance to capital punishment, poverty to civil liberty, this book provides a window into the relationship between constitutional litigation and ordinary politics at the Texas Supreme Court, illuminating how all of the fiercest national divides over what the Constitution means took shape in Texas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-63
Author(s):  
Ruth Roded

Beginning in the early 1970s, Jewish and Muslim feminists, tackled “oral law”—Mishna and Talmud, in Judaism, and the parallel Hadith and Fiqh in Islam, and several analogous methodologies were devised. A parallel case study of maintenance and rebellion of wives —mezonoteha, moredet al ba?ala; nafaqa al-mar?a and nush?z—in classical Jewish and Islamic oral law demonstrates similarities in content and discourse. Differences between the two, however, were found in the application of oral law to daily life, as reflected in “responsa”—piskei halacha and fatwas. In modern times, as the state became more involved in regulating maintenance and disobedience, and Jewish law was backed for the first time in history by a state, state policy and implementation were influenced by the political system and socioeconomic circumstances of the country. Despite their similar origin in oral law, maintenance and rebellion have divergent relevance to modern Jews and Muslims.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-97
Author(s):  
Sarip Sarip ◽  
Nur Rahman ◽  
Rohadi Rohadi

This article aims to explore the relationship between the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) and the Ministry of Villages (Kemendes) from theconstitutional law and state administrative law point of view.The second concerns of this research is the disharmony and problem between the two ministries.From the constitutional law point of view, it turns out that what the Ministry of Home Affairs is doing, is closer to the object of its discussion. The method used in this research is normative legal research bycomparingthe constitutional law and state administrative law to obtain clarity regarding the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Village. The result shows that the Ministry of Village approached the science of state administrative law, namely to revive or give spirits to the village. Disharmonization began to exist since the inception of the Ministry of Village. The root of disharmony itself was the improper application of constitutional foundations in the formation of the Village Law. It would be better if the government reassess the constitutional foundation for the village.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document