bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Recapturing” the “Other”: Jewish Laws of War and International Law
Authors: Kuzmarov Betina
Published: February 2016

The story would recapture the trace of Judaism, particularly the mystical Jew, in the early literature of international law—I think most readily of Gentilis' obsession with Judaism—a Judaism that seems at once the law that revelation and redemption replace and the mysticism that law and state refuse. Paradoxically enough, we find here our own complex relationship between law and religion exactly mirrored in the relationship between Christianity and Judaism.

This article examines the relationship between the Jewish laws of war and international law. As Kennedy notes in the opening quote, one way of understanding the relationship between Jewish laws of war and international law is as part of the relationship between international law and its “other.” Kennedy defines Jewish law as mystical, and in so doing he asserts that Jewish law is different in form than state law/international law. Kennedy's opposition of Jewish law and international law is not accidental. It is a direct consequence of the history of international law. As Mutua has noted “[i]nternational law claims to be universal, although its creators have unambiguously asserted its European and Christian origins.” From this point of view, international law has “universalized” its particular origins with the consequence that any non-European or non-Christian tradition is not universal and is the “other.” This fact leads Kennedy to argue that international law has ignored (among many other things) the traces of religion, mysticism and Judaism in its history in its quest to claim secular universality.
Recognition and Mutuality: Pannenberg's Theology of Law
Authors: Shingleton Bradley
Published: February 2016

Wolfhart Pannenberg is considered by many to be one of the preeminent living Protestant theologians. Now retired, Pannenberg's active career spanned almost five decades. From 1968 to 1994 he was Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Munich; previously he taught in Mainz and Wuppertal in Germany. Pannenberg has published prolifically, culminating with his three-volumeSystematic Theology. Even in retirement, Pannenberg has continued to publish extensively, producing several volumes over the past decade. He has lectured in the U.S. on numerous occasions, and many of his books and articles have appeared in English translation. In this country, Pannenberg is generally associated with the theology of hope, a now-dated movement that was characterized by an emphasis on eschatology and the proleptic anticipation of the future through the events of history. But that association reflects only a limited aspect of Pannenberg's lengthy career, one since eclipsed by the further development of his thinking and concerns.

The breadth of Pannenberg's interests is vast. In addition to his concentration on the classical themes of theology, he has explored other subjects from a theological perspective, among them sociology, science, nature, anthropology, politics and ethics. Over the course of his career, Pannenberg has repeatedly addressed questions of law and jurisprudence, beginning with essays in the early 1960s and continuing up to a publication that appeared in 2004. For the most part, these writings consist of thematic essays, a form Pannenberg has used extensively for a wide variety of subjects. In addition to these essays, portions of Pannenberg's larger works treat law and jurisprudential themes, though as subsidiary topics. His continuing concern with law reflects his view that law is strongly tied to ethics, an area to which he has devoted more attention after he completed hisSystematic Theology. Taken together, Pannenberg's writings on law constitute a coherent and reasonably well-articulated theory of law, though one that has unfortunately received limited attention, and no sustained exposition in English. Nonetheless, because of Pannenberg's prominence, and because of his incisive analysis, his work on law deserves attention in this country as well.
“The Letter Kills, but the Spirit Gives Life”? On the Relevance of Jewish Concepts of Law for PostModern Legal Theory
Authors: Ladeur Karl-Heinz , Augsberg Ino
Published: February 2016

Is there anything that a contemporary (post-) modern legal theory could or even should learn from the traditional Jewish concept of law? Before we can look for an answer to this question, we should reply to an obvious objection. Apparently, our question implies that there is “the” Jewish understanding in a problematic singular, which can then be compared to “the” Christian or Islamic concept of law. Thus, in contrast to some attempts to describe the complex idea of “monotheism,” with all its multiple genealogies, transitions and recursive conjunctions, these different religions are portrayed as sharply disconnected, unitary phenomena. Yet we do not intend such an essentialistic perspective. We will neither neglect the fact that one can find totally different conceptions within the Jewish tradition nor claim that our view represents the “actual” Jewish conception, i.e. the conception most adequate in terms of the Jewish belief—not even in the paradoxical form that states that “controversy among authorities” is “the central unit in the study of Jewish law.” Our interest is not one stemming from the concerns of religious studies, but one of legal theory. Hence, what we claim is just this: there is within the Jewish tradition a concept of law which so closely interrelates text and interpretation that it undermines the classical hermeneutic idea of an author and the meaning that he wants to give to his text. This particular understanding of the law focused on the process of reading demonstrates a remarkable resemblance to certain post-structuralist analyses of the connection between a text and its reading. Within the Jewish tradition, we will argue, the constitution of language and the understanding of law are closely interrelated.
What is Truth? Setting the Bounds of Justiciability in Religiously-Inflected Fact Disputes
Authors: Mason Caleb E.
Published: February 2016

What does it mean for a religious belief to be true? This question has been the subject of a rich theological and philosophical debate stretching back thousands of years. But times change, and the answers appropriate for one epoch will cease to fit new ones. As long as people continue to care about their religions and their beliefs, the question must be continually posed and competing answers evaluated.

In the United States, facially theological questions quickly take on constitutional dimensions, thanks to the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Government interaction with religion is inevitable, and ongoing public debate about the proper scope and limits of that interaction is a familiar and necessary component of our constitutional order. The meaning of “free exercise of religion” and its infringement is the continuously evolving product of litigation, legislation, and regulation pursued by state and private actors against a backdrop of assumed—and often contested—constitutional constraints and constitutional ideals.
Broadening the Picture of Nineteenth-Century Baptists: How Battles with Catholicism Moved Baptists Toward Separationism
Authors: McMahone Marty
Published: February 2016

Discussions about the historical meaning of religious liberty in the United States often generate more heat than light. This has been true in the broad discussion of the meaning of the First Amendment in American life. The debate between “separationists” and “accommodationists” is often contentious and seldom satisfying. Both sides tend to believe that a few choice quotes that seem to disprove the other side's position prove their own. Each side is tempted to miss the more nuanced story that is reflected in the American experience. In recent years, this division has been reflected among those who call themselves Baptists. One group, best represented by the work of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, tends to argue that the Baptist heritage is clearly steeped in the separation of church and state. The other group, probably best represented by the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, tends to reject the term separation and sees value in promoting an American society that “affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority.” This group tends to reject the separationist perspective as a way of defending religious liberty. They argue that Baptists have defended religious liberty without moving to the hostility toward religion that they see in separationism. Much like the broad story of America, the Baptist story is considerably more complicated than either side makes it appear.
Pro-Justice Ethics, Water Scarcity, Human Rights
Authors: Hughes Richard A.
Published: February 2016

In my book,Pro-Justice Ethics, I define justice as an act of protesting, preventing, and remedying situations that arouse a sense of injustice. Formally, injustice is the violation of fairness, equality, and dignity; and the experience of injustice activates the justice imperative: “Act so as to promote justice in all situations for all times and places.” The beginning of ethical theory is the critique of injustice.

In this essay, I examine current situations of freshwater scarcity from the standpoint of pro-justice ethics. Water scarcity means that the amount of water withdrawn from rivers, lakes, or aquifers is so great that existing water supplies cannot satisfy human and ecosystem requirements. This essay (1) surveys factors of freshwater scarcity, (2) exposes the injustices of corporate water privatization, (3) discusses the concept of sacramental commons in the context of public trust doctrines, and (4) argues for a human right to water in relation to the intrinsic value of water in nature.
Speaking of Law and Religion: Why Law, Why Religion?—A Conversation Between a Lawyer and a Theologian
Authors: Vogel Howard J.
Published: February 2016

On October 23-25, 2009, the Journal of Law and Religion celebrated its twenty-fifth year of publication devoted to “Speaking about Law and Religion” with a Symposium that brought a diverse group of scholars. A highlight of that Symposium was a celebratory luncheon held on October 24 that featured a conversation about law and religion between Douglas Sturm, Professor Emeritus, Becknell University, and Milner Ball, Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia School of Law. These two scholars, one a theologian who takes law seriously in his work, and one a lawyer who takes theology seriously in his work, have inspired many to enter the conversation about the intersection of law and religion to which each of them have made so many contributions over the years.

Among Milner Ball's many contributions is the inspiration he provides to many who, like him, seek to explore a new vision of law as an enterprise that can nurture the life of all in the world we share, and the courage he displays by drawing on theology for this task. He demonstrated this many years ago by posing a provocative question to a critic of his work who said, “she did not want or expect theology” in reading a draft of his book Lying Down Together: Law, Metaphor, and Theology. Milner's response was “if not theology, then what?” Since then he has continued to offer his own contributions that take this question seriously at the very heart of his work. Two notable examples, The Word and the Law (University of Chicago Press 1993), and Called by Stories: Biblical Sagas and their Challenge for Law (Duke University Press 2000).
Why Law, Why Religion?—A Conversation Between a Lawyer and a Theologian
Authors: Ball Milner S.
Published: February 2016

Howard Vogel invited Doug Sturm and me to explain ourselves. Why did we take up law? Why theology? And why law and theology together? He encouraged us to offer personal accounts in response, and I am glad to comply.

Why law? The answer is simple. I had no choice. I was ordained to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in 1961, and in 1962 became minister to a small congregation in a small town in middle Tennessee. In 1966 I was named the Presbyterian Campus Minister at the University of Georgia. My wife, June, our children and I moved to Athens.

The Presbyterian Center was notorious for its faithful witness in difficult, explosive times. I had read about the Center and its work a couple of years earlier in a New Yorker magazine article by Calvin Trillin. That article was subsequently incorporated into a well-taken book about the liberating trauma of integration in Georgia, especially at the University.

When Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter desegregated the University of Georgia, they were greeted by massive, violent riots.

Minority students who followed Charlayne and Hamilton and enrolled in the University, were subject to no less intimidation. The Presbyterian Center was a place of refuge for them, and some lived in apartments on the premises. In due course, the Center became a gathering place for people committed to remedying racism.
The Absence of Muslim Women in Shaping Islamic Thought: Foundations of Muslims' Peaceful and Just Co-Existence
Authors: Barazangi Nimat Hafez
Published: February 2016

This paper explores the ethical and legal pedagogy of the current debates on “reforming” Muslim societies, whether they claim to reform social and legal systems, reform educational institutions, or liberate Muslim women. Since these debates claim to achieve balance in global or domestic conflicts, I address the foundations of these debates by answering three questions:

Are the rationales for American and/or European governments' interventions justified?;

Can the discipline of civil law help in rethinking Islam for Muslims; and

Are Muslims themselves ready to critically address the use and misuse of Islam's primary sources (the Qur'an and particularly theHadith) in their rethinking of Islam?

I argue that rather than seeking to “reform others,” in this case Muslims with an elitist attitude and sometimes violent interventions, we scholars of law and religion, scholars of Islam, policy-makers, and social justice researchers would be better off if:

we thought of Islam as a religio-moral rational worldview, rather than a set of laws,

we recognized Muslims as subject to historical transformation, like any other religious groups, and understood how they developed their present views of Islam, and

we considered our own real responsibilities to address the forms of global injustices as powerful shapers of world politics, particularly the politics of difference—the view that the “other” is inferior, and women's role as mostly complementary to men.
Theological and Political Liberalisms
Authors: Rasor Paul
Published: February 2016

Several highly critical theological responses to political liberalism have appeared in recent years. John Milbank, continuing his onslaught on all things modern, complains that political liberalism's “empty heart” suffers from a “totalitarian drift” toward “an increasingly joyless and puritanical world.” For Oliver O'Donovan, liberalism is “a false posture of transcendence” and modernity is “conceived as Antichrist, a parodie and corrupt development of Christian social order.” Robert Song warns against “the partial and limited character” of liberalism's freedoms and proclaims that “a responsible theology will learn to articulate its ‘No’” to liberal political society. Other commentators offer critiques of particular aspects of political liberalism, often suggesting revisions based on their own theological perspectives. These critical voices join others such as Stanley Hauerwas, one of liberalism's most outspoken theological critics for more than a quarter century, and they continue a line of critique that extends back through Reinhold Niebuhr and Karl Barth.

Not all the theological voices are critical. Christophe Insole, for example, finds that “politically liberal principles are compatible with a full-blooded and theologically main-stream Christian commitment.” Several Roman Catholic theologians have commented on the increasing mutuality between liberal democracy and Roman Catholic political and social teachings. Paul Sigmund notes that “the relation between Catholicism and liberal democracy has now become a positive and, one would hope, a mutually reinforcing one, even if there are a number of continuing tensions between them.” And Daniel Dombrowski offers a general defense of Rawlsian liberalism against claims that it is hostile to religion.
Transcending Tradition: An Examination of the Manner in Which the Law Induces Change in Institutions Defined by Religion
Authors: Shrivastava Abhinav
Published: February 2016

In this paper, I want to consider how the law navigates the space lying between the concepts of faith and religion so as to effectively induce change in institutions defined by their religious expression without distorting the faith reposed by individual believers in their religious institution. In order to consider whether this is possible, we must first consider whether the seemingly twin concepts of faith and religion are so intertwined that they are inseparable, or whether they lie in different planes, with the law regulating conduct that expresses the faith, and thereby potentially affecting both concepts.

In considering this problem, I would suggest that religion or religious dictates generally offer to guide the believer toward the attainment of salvation, often conceived of as adherence to religious dictates. In my view, however, reducing the concept of salvation to adherence to religious dictates would rob it of its character as a comprehensive set of beliefs and commitments held by individual believers, whatever the particular religion they follow. In essence, “salvation” lies within the individual believer and while compliance with religious dictates may be part of that process, ultimately, whether one has achieved salvation is entirely determined by the individual. “Salvation” resonates from the faith held by the individual, while religion is simply a means of expressing that faith.
Law, Religion, and Culture: The Function of System in Niklas Luhmann and Kathryn Tanner
Authors: Rothchild Jonathan
Published: February 2016

Since the founding of the Journal of Law and Religion, burgeoning numbers of distinctively interdisciplinary approaches have appeared in the study of law including feminist jurisprudence, sociological jurisprudence, critical and postmodern legal studies, and law and religion. These approaches enrich the theoretical and practical dimensions of law. Nevertheless, in response to such conversations, the legal academy has been buffeted by disciplinary impulses toward marginalization, tribalism, and balkanization. These impulses can attenuate the prospects for interdisciplinary conversations by simplifying plural realities and multifarious foci into dichotomies (“us” and “them”) or totalities (“us”).

They reflect the conceptual challenges of the complexity of culture, which, according to theologian David Tracy, includes “a diminishment of belief in the possibility of authentic civic discussion in the community.” This diminishment of belief in discussion on a broader civic level has also contributed to facile assumptions about the unlikelihood of interdisciplinary conversations between law and religion.
Evangelicals and Human Rights: The Continuing Ambivalence of Evangelical Christians' Support for Human Rights
Authors: Nichols Joel A.
Published: February 2016

The language and ideas of “international human rights” have become seemingly ubiquitous in modern times. Indeed, within the United States, even many prominent evangelical Christian churches and leaders have sparingly started to use the language of human rights despite earlier misgivings. While there has been important academic discussion concerning the foundational role of Christian theology for the modern human rights regime, and literature discussing the acceptance of human rights within Catholic, mainline Protestant, and even Orthodox Christian circles, gaps remain in the literature concerning the relationship between general human rights norms, language, and culture and evangelical Christian theology.

This Article suggests that evangelical Christians have a greater connection to human rights than is often acknowledged (and greater than they often acknowledge themselves). But, it ultimately appears doubtful whether modern evangelical theology is amenable to a robust and deep understanding of human rights. Nonetheless, the recent rise in the number of evangelical non-governmental organizations and the attendant rise in awareness of human rights within evangelical discourse potentially serve as signposts that the uncomfortable dance of evangelicals and the human rights movement may become slightly less awkward over the coming years.
The Implications of Protestant Christianity for Legal Interpretation
Authors: Greenawalt Kent
Published: February 2016

This comment on Chaim Saiman's illuminating comparison between rabbinic and Christian approaches to religious texts that are in some sense authoritative focuses on what we can fairly infer from the sharp difference he describes. I believe there is much more to be said on this fascinating topic, and I now write with large gaps in my understanding of relevant subjects. I concentrate here on the question whether the Christian view that Professor Saiman describes actually has strong logical implications for what one should regard as desirable interpretive and legislative strategies for the (secular) law of large diverse societies. On that crucial point, I am more skeptical than Saiman appears to be.

I begin with a few preliminary observations, and then pose some other questions about connections between religious perspectives and views about ordinary legal interpretation before tackling my main topic.
The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities
Authors: Lerner Pablo , Rabello Alfredo Mordechai
Published: February 2016

The statutory prohibition against ritual slaughter, which does not stun the animal prior to slaughter, as required in most Western nations, poses a significant challenge for the international right to freedom of religion or belief in European nation-states. This prohibition is important not only in Europe, or because of the prohibition itself, but because it implicates the legal status of two minority religious communities in these nation-states, those of Judaism and Islam. Some animal rights advocates have objected to ritual slaughter without stunning because, in their view, it causes needless suffering by the animal, and they have been successful in getting their views enacted into law in a number of European countries. Indeed, some countries prohibit ritual slaughtering altogether, as we shall discuss below.

This paper argues that the right to freedom of religion or belief requires nation-states to respect the rights of religious minorities that engage in ritual slaughter, even if they recognize the importance of avoiding unnecessary suffering of animals. Following a review of the legal status of animals in rights discourse generally, we will show why the prohibition of ritual slaughter needlessly results in discrimination against religious minorities, and why it is important that nation-states attempting to reduce animal suffering more clearly specify realistic alternatives for avoiding such suffering that are compatible with current religious mandates about animal slaughter. We will also consider whether the alternative of importing kosher orhalalmeat in place of ritual slaughtering, proposed by some nation-states as a method of alleviating the harm to religious minorities, is an effective and fair alternative.
Engaged Surrender in the Void: Post-Secularist “Human” Rights Discourse and Muslim Feminists [sic]
Authors: Hartigan Emily Albrink
Published: February 2016

“Human” rights discourse is inherently multicultural, and multicultural discourse is messy. The academese for that goes something like this: I am an “agnostic and ambivalent subject of a double, decentered multicultural choice” (see the following quotations) and my text comes from a minority stance in a “different context.”

“[A]ffirmative multi-culturalism” can bring no such closure and composure to the subject of cultural choice. Its subjectivity is performatively constituted in the very tension that makes knowledge of cultural difference dense, conglomerative, and nondeliberative. What emerges is an agonistic and ambivalent subject of a double, decentered multicultural choice. (emphasis added)—Homi K. Bhabha
Using Legislation to Protect Against Unethical Conversions in Sri Lanka
Authors: Owen Alexandra
Published: February 2016

The year 2006 marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination Based on Religion or Belief. In her recent report to the United Nations General Assembly, Asma Jahangir, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, stated that despite the time that has elapsed since the Declaration was drafted, it “seems evident that contentious religious issues have not only evolved but also become more acute in many societies.” In a report submitted to the Commission on Human Rights in late 2004, the Special Rapporteur listed “the continuing violations of human rights of members of certain religious minorities, as well as the still widely applied practice of forced conversion” among the main concerns in the area of freedom of religion. Jahangir said that she considers that “such a practice breaches the strongest and most fundamental part of freedom of religion or belief and should be given greater attention by the international community.”

In May 2005 the Special Rapporteur made an in situ visit to Sri Lanka—a country where the issue of unethical conversions has fueled religious tensions in recent years. Approximately 69% of Sri Lanka's population are Buddhists, followed by Hindus (15%), Christians (8%), Muslims (7%) and others (1%). Despite such a majority, the ethnic conflict which has affected Sri Lanka for decades, and which began to escalate again in December 2005 and throughout 2006-07, has been largely devoid of a religious element: relations between the different religious groups have for some time been relatively peaceful. This religious co-existence has, however, begun to deteriorate, due largely to the issue of unethical conversions and a desire to protect the majority religion.
Erastian and High Church Approaches to the Law: The Jurisprudential Categories of Robert E. Rodes, Jr.
Authors: Kaveny M. Cathleen
Published: February 2016

It is a great honor for me to have been asked to contribute to this issue of the Journal of Law and Religion focusing on the work of my colleague and friend, Robert E. Rodes, Jr. In June 2006, Professor Rodes celebrated his fiftieth anniversary as a member of the faculty of Notre Dame Law School. His long career has marked him as a founding father of interdisciplinary scholarship at the intersection of faith, law, and morality—the very sort of scholarship which this journal is dedicated to fostering and preserving.

The topics that Professor Rodes has considered over the years are wide-ranging; for example, he has written insightfully on both sexual ethics and economic justice. The methods that he has used are diverse; he has deftly deployed the tools of historiography as well as logic. Moreover, the normative stances that he has taken defy location on the normal liberal/conservative spectrum as it plays itself out in American political life. He has argued in favor of a legal system that would encourage a more traditional sexual morality, while emphasizing the need to compassionately accommodate those whose lives do not conform to its strictures. He has also maintained the importance of assessing social and economic structures from the perspective of the most marginalized members of the society, without succumbing to romantic illusions that technology, progress, or the dynamism of history will eliminate class stratification and its ensuing divisions of humanity into the “haves” and the “have nots.” His writings at the intersection of law and religion reflect neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party at prayer—and neither party at a town hall meeting, for that matter.
Religious Freedom, Modern Democracy, and the Common Good: Conference Papers
Authors: Devenish Philip E.
Published: February 2016

The papers that follow were presented on April 27, 1996, at a conference entitled “Religious Freedom, Modern Democracy, and the Common Good” and devoted to Franklin I. Gamwell's The Meaning of Religious Freedom: Modern Politics and the Democratic Resolution (Albany: SUNY, 1995). The conference was sponsored by the Lilly Endowment and held at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis.

Gamwell's constructive proposal is significant not as a further nuance on settled ways of understanding the relation of religion and politics in the United States, but rather as an explicit attempt to unsettle the current consensus in approaching this issue itself. As Gamwell shows, the contemporary discussion is dominated by so-called separationist and religionist understandings that alike assume, rather than argue, that religion is “nonrational.” He engages positions representing the entire spectrum of such understandings, including the “privatist” view of John Rawls, the “partisan” view of John Courtney Murray, and the “pluralist” view of Kent Greenawalt, in order to demonstrate that such a nonrational approach makes it impossible democratically not only to assert, but also to give coherent meaning to the political principle of religious freedom.
Memorial to James Luther Adams
Authors: Mott Stephen C.
Published: February 2016

James Luther Adams died last summer at the age of 92. He was one of four or five giants in his generation of American Christian ethicists. Many members of this society who were doctoral students under him have themselves become important teachers and writers of religious ethics.

George Huntston Williams has described Adams as one of the three most significant figures in the history of the Unitarian Universalist denomination, yet Adams grew up as the son of a Baptist and Plymouth Brethren preacher. Adams lived in tension but not in rejection with this Fundamentalist youth. On the one hand, he found lacking there what became his constant passion. Christian life must be carried out in the midst of the institutions of society.
James Luther Adams: A Memorial Address
Authors: Stackhouse Max L.
Published: February 2016

In consultation with his pastoral advisor, James Luther Adams dictated two letters when one of his many strokes forced him to ponder his own mortality with a new urgency. In the first letter, he specified that a memorial service be held at his beloved Arlington Street Church in Boston (rather than in an academic setting), that it be on a Sunday afternoon so his daughters and the clergy could come, and that we have particular pieces of music.

His wishes in death extended his commitments in life: he loved the church and called those in academia to attend to its importance in the souls of individuals and in the destiny of civilizations, even though he often became a “smiling prophet” in his impatience with the ecclesiastical community. He loved his family, in spite of the fact that he knew that he often neglected them because he was preoccupied with a multitude of adopted sons and daughters, represented by the many ministers and professors here today. And he loved the arts, holding that true beauty also shows itself to have a “heart of service,” one that can reveal “the nature of existence, and the character of the transformed life,” as a marvelous homage to him, in ARTS, says.
Essays in Honor of Judge John T. Noonan, Jr.: An Introduction
Authors: Cassidy Bernard J.
Published: February 2016

Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., the honoree of this festschrift, is a major figure in both legal studies and religious studies, and so it is especially fitting that theJournal of Law and Religionpublish these essays in his honor. This essay will serve as an introduction to Noonan's works and to the essays collected herewith.

John Noonan's activities in connection with secular law are fairly well known. He has served with distinction as United States Circuit Judge on the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 1985. In addition to serving on the bench, he has taught for nearly thirty years at Boalt Hall, the law school at the University of California at Berkeley, and twice been a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Earlier he was Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame Law School, and throughout his career he has served as a visiting professor at other distinguished law schools including Stanford and Harvard, his alma mater.
Introduction
Authors: Tushnet Mark
Published: February 2016

The essays that follow were originally presented at a conference held in connection with the bicentennial of Georgetown University. The topic, the constitutional status of claims for exemption based on religion from general legislation, fit well into the bicentennial's theme “Learning, Faith, Freedom.” The connection between claims based upon faith and the freedoms we exercise could be illuminated by a scholarly examination drawing upon the disciplines of law, history, and theology.

The historical studies provide an overview of the background of the religion clauses of the first amendment, and a case study of the implementation of the principles of those clauses in the nineteenth century. Father Curry's essay stresses the inconsistency between the articulated principles of nonestablishment and free exercise, and the actual practices in the colonies and early republic. By bringing the historian's sense of the complexity of experience to the subject, he provides a useful corrective to the lawyer's usual effort to rely too heavily on historical experience to justify contemporary positions about the meaning of the first amendment. At the same time, Father Curry does not hesitate to say that the inconsistencies between historical practice and principles should probably be resolved in favor of principles, on the ground that practices were unreflective and habitual, whereas principles were articulated in the midst of controversies that required Americans to think seriously about the nature of their most fundamental commitments.
Experiences with a voluntary surveillance system for early detection of equine diseases in Switzerland
Authors: STRUCHEN R. , HADORN D. , WOHLFENDER F. , BALMER S. , SÜPTITZ S. , ZINSSTAG J. , VIAL F.
Published: February 2016

Clinical observations made by practitioners and reported using web- and mobile-based technologies may benefit disease surveillance by improving the timeliness of outbreak detection. Equinella is a voluntary electronic reporting and information system established for the early detection of infectious equine diseases in Switzerland. Sentinel veterinary practitioners have been able to report cases of non-notifiable diseases and clinical symptoms to an internet-based platform since November 2013. Telephone interviews were carried out during the first year to understand the motivating and constraining factors affecting voluntary reporting and the use of mobile devices in a sentinel network. We found that non-monetary incentives attract sentinel practitioners; however, insufficient understanding of the reporting system and of its relevance, as well as concerns over the electronic dissemination of health data were identified as potential challenges to sustainable reporting. Many practitioners are not yet aware of the advantages of mobile-based surveillance and may require some time to become accustomed to novel reporting methods. Finally, our study highlights the need for continued information feedback loops within voluntary sentinel networks.
Relevance of workplace social mixing during influenza pandemics: an experimental modelling study of workplace cultures
Authors: TIMPKA T. , ERIKSSON H. , HOLM E. , STRÖMGREN M. , EKBERG J. , SPRECO A. , DAHLSTRÖM Ö.
Published: February 2016

Workplaces are one of the most important regular meeting places in society. The aim of this study was to use simulation experiments to examine the impact of different workplace cultures on influenza dissemination during pandemics. The impact is investigated by experiments with defined social-mixing patterns at workplaces using semi-virtual models based on authentic sociodemographic and geographical data from a North European community (population 136 000). A simulated pandemic outbreak was found to affect 33% of the total population in the community with the reference academic-creative workplace culture; virus transmission at the workplace accounted for 10·6% of the cases. A model with a prevailing industrial-administrative workplace culture generated 11% lower incidence than the reference model, while the model with a self-employed workplace culture (also corresponding to a hypothetical scenario with all workplaces closed) produced 20% fewer cases. The model representing an academic-creative workplace culture with restricted workplace interaction generated 12% lower cumulative incidence compared to the reference model. The results display important theoretical associations between workplace social-mixing cultures and community-level incidence rates during influenza pandemics. Social interaction patterns at workplaces should be taken into consideration when analysing virus transmission patterns during influenza pandemics.
United States – Measures Affecting the Importation of Animals, Meat and Other Animal Products from Argentina (US–Animals, DS447)
Authors: Carlson Geoffrey
Published: February 2016

Following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Argentina in 2001, the United States maintained import prohibitions on certain animals and animal products from Argentina. In this dispute, Argentina challenged two sets of measures: (1) the United States' prohibition on importation of fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from a portion of northern Argentina and on the importation of animals, meat, and other animal products from the Patagonia region as a consequence of the failure to recognize Patagonia as an FMD-free region; and (2) the undue delay of the United States’ application of certain regulatory procedures under which the United States assessed Argentina's requests for re-authorization to import fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from a certain area of northern Argentina and for the recognition of the Patagonia region as FMD-free.
Poštová banka, a.s. and ISTROKAPITAL SEv.Hellenic Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/13/8 (Poštová bankav.Greece)
Authors: Chevry Jonathan
Published: February 2016

InPoštová bankav.Greece, an ICSID case initiated on the basis of both the Cyprus‒Greece and the Czech Republic‒Greece bilateral investment treaties (the BITs), the tribunal concluded that it lacked jurisdiction over the dispute.
Cytogenetic and molecular abnormalities in chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
Authors: Patnaik M M , Tefferi A
Published: February 2016

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a clonal stem cell disorder associated with peripheral blood monocytosis and an inherent tendency to transform to acute myeloid leukemia. CMML has overlapping features of myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms. Clonal cytogenetic changes are seen in ~30%, whereas gene mutations are seen in >90% of patients. Common cytogenetic abnormalities include; trisomy 8, -Y, -7/del(7q), trisomy 21 and del(20q), with the Mayo–French risk stratification effectively risk stratifying patients based on cytogenetic abnormalities. Gene mutations frequently involve epigenetic regulators (TET2 ~60%), modulators of chromatin (ASXL1 ~40%), spliceosome components (SRSF2 ~50%), transcription factors (RUNX1 ~15%) and signal pathways (RAS ~30%, CBL ~15%). Of these, thus far, only nonsense and frameshift ASXL1 mutations have been shown to negatively impact overall survival. This has resulted in the development of contemporary, molecularly integrated (inclusive of ASXL1 mutations) CMML prognostic models, including Molecular Mayo Model and the Groupe Français des Myélodysplasies model. Better understanding of the prevalent genetic and epigenetic dysregulation has resulted in emerging targeted treatment options for some patients. The development of an integrated (cytogenetic and molecular) prognostic model along with CMML-specific response assessment criteria are much needed future goals.
Emerging pathogens of gilthead seabream: characterisation and genomic analysis of novel intracellular β-proteobacteria
Authors: Seth-Smith Helena M B , Dourala Nancy , Fehr Alexander , Qi Weihong , Katharios Pantelis , Ruetten Maja , Mateos José M , Nufer Lisbeth , Weilenmann Roseline , Ziegler Urs , Thomson Nicholas R , Schlapbach Ralph , Vaughan Lloyd
Published: February 2016

New and emerging environmental pathogens pose some of the greatest threats to modern aquaculture, a critical source of food protein globally. As with other intensive farming practices, increasing our understanding of the biology of infections is important to improve animal welfare and husbandry. The gill infection epitheliocystis is increasingly problematic in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata), a major Mediterranean aquaculture species. Epitheliocystis is generally associated with chlamydial bacteria, yet we were not able to localise chlamydial targets within the major gilthead seabream lesions. Two previously unidentified species within a novel β-proteobacterial genus were instead identified. These co-infecting intracellular bacteria have been characterised using high-resolution imaging and genomics, presenting the most comprehensive study on epitheliocystis agents to date. Draft genomes of the two uncultured species, Ca. Ichthyocystis hellenicum and Ca. Ichthyocystis sparus, have been de novo sequenced and annotated from preserved material. Analysis of the genomes shows a compact core indicating a metabolic dependency on the host, and an accessory genome with an unprecedented number of tandemly arrayed gene families. This study represents a critical insight into novel, emerging fish pathogens and will be used to underpin future investigations into the bacterial origins, and to develop diagnostic and treatment strategies.
Relationship between ultrasound elastography and myofibroblast distribution in breast cancer and its clinical significance
Authors: Hao Yi , Guo Xia , Ma Binlin , Zhu Lin , Liu Lisha
Published: February 2016

The study investigated the relationship between ultrasound elastography (USE) scoring and myofibroblast distribution with expression features of α-SMA + /CD34− in patients of Uyghur and Han ethnicities with breast masses in Xinjiang, China. The data was used to evaluate its clinical significance in the early diagnosis of breast cancer. A total of 300 patients with breast masses were included in the study, which involved conventional sonography and USE, with histopathologic diagnosis as the reference standard. Myofibroblast distribution was investigated by detecting the expression levels of α-SMA and CD34 in lesions using immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR. Out of 300 lesions, 185 were histologically malignant and 115 benign. The mean elasticity score for malignant lesions was significantly higher than for benign lesions. The expression level of α-SMA was elevated while the expression level of CD34 was lower in malignancies, compared with benign lesions. The expression of α-SMA was positively associated with the USE scores, while a negative relationship was observed between CD34 expression and USE scoring. The combination of USE and molecular diagnosis provides a promising modality for the early diagnosis and evaluation of the risks in particular types of breast cancer.
miR-203 inhibits proliferation and self-renewal of leukemia stem cells by targeting survivin and Bmi-1
Authors: Zhang Yi , Zhou Shu-yan , Yan Hai-zhao , Xu Dan-dan , Chen Hai-xuan , Wang Xiao-yan , Wang Xiao , Liu Yu-ting , Zhang Li , Wang Sheng , Zhou Peng-jun , Fu Wu-yu , Ruan Bi-bo , Ma Dong-lei , Wang Ying , Liu Qiu-ying , Ren Zhe , Liu Zhong , Zhang Rong , Wang Yi-fei
Published: February 2016

Drug resistance is one of the leading causes of failed cancer therapy in the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Although the mechanisms of resistance are poorly understood, they may be related to the presence of leukemia stem cells (LSCs). Down-regulation of the miR-203 reportedly contributes to oncogenesis and chemo-resistance in multiple cancers. We found that miR-203 expression was down-regulated in CD34 + AML cells as compared with CD34− cells isolated from patients as well as in LSC-enriched (CD34 + CD38−) cell lines KG-1a or MOLM13. Additionally, re-expression of miR-203 led to decreased cell proliferation, self-renewal and sphere formation in LSCs. Moreover, miR-203 was found to directly target the 3′un-translated regions of survivin and Bmi-1 mRNAs affecting proliferation and self-renewal in LSCs. In this study, we identified a novel miR-203/survivin/Bmi-1 axis involved in the regulation of biological properties of LSCs. This axis may represent a new therapeutic target for acute myeloid leukemia and a potential prognosis/diagnostic marker for LSCs therapy.
Dirac fermions at high-index surfaces of bismuth chalcogenide topological insulator nanostructures
Authors: Virk Naunidh , Yazyev Oleg V.
Published: February 2016

Binary bismuth chalcogenides Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3 and related materials are currently being extensively investigated as the reference topological insulators (TIs) due to their simple surface-state band dispersion (single Dirac cone) and relatively large bulk band gaps. Nanostructures of TIs are of particular interest as an increased surface-to-volume ratio enhances the contribution of surfaces states, meaning they are promising candidates for potential device applications. So far, the vast majority of research efforts have focused on the low-energy (0001) surfaces, which correspond to natural cleavage planes in these layered materials. However, the surfaces of low-dimensional nanostructures (nanoplatelets, nanowires, nanoribbons) inevitably involve higher-index facets. We perform a systematic ab initio investigation of the surfaces of bismuth chalcogenide TI nanostructures characterized by different crystallographic orientations, atomic structures and stoichiometric compositions. We find several stable terminations of high-index surfaces, which can be realized at different values of the chemical potential of one of the constituent elements. For the uniquely defined stoichiometric termination, the topological Dirac fermion states are shown to be strongly anisotropic with a clear dependence of Fermi velocities and spin polarization on the surface orientation. Self-doping effects and the presence of topologically trivial mid-gap states are found to characterize the non-stoichiometric surfaces. The results of our study pave the way towards experimental control of topologically protected surface states in bismuth chalcogenide nanostructures.