Virtue Ethics

Dear Diary,

Today the law school hosted a fascinating speaker on the topic of Virtue Ethics. The speaker incorporated wisdom from Aristotle:

He looked to both education through reason and education through habit.

By the latter he meant learning by doing -

Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it...

We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate ones, brave by doing brave ones.

(Aristotle Niconachean Ethics, Book II, p.91). Such learning is complemented by reason - and this involves teaching 'the causes of things'. We can see here a connection with more recent theorists that have emphasized experience, reflection and connecting to theories.

The speaker asked if lawyers promote virtues when they persuade jurors. He also said that virtues are best used as a self evaluative tool rather than an external judgment weapon.

Churches File Bankruptcy to Escape Lawsuits

Dear Diary,

Today's discussion centered around bankruptcy as a solution to strain on church budgets, but also discussed the entanglement of judicial system with the church. This article discusses some of the issues raised today:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/bankrupt/2004-07-28-Beaudette-ChurchesWeigh.htm

Reception with the Provost & President

Dear Diary,

I attended a wonderful reception for Minority Faculty in the Press Box at the Stadium.

The Teacher is Also the Student

Dear Diary,

In preparing for the Legal Research Final this afternoon, in the midst of answering an onslaught of reference questions from the 1L (first year law students), it hit me that...I have pretty much learned along with them. In the beginning I had the privilege to work through the assignments at least 1 week before them, but without the benefit of an accompanying lecture to explain the assignments. But at least when they came to me for answers, I had already struggled through and the answer was burned into my brain.

Now, however, we are in the same boat. We have the same exposure to the information and it encourages me that I have been answering their questions in a rapid-fire manner, from memory. That means I have finally begun to grasp these concepts on a deeper level and my comprehension has moved from one of simply being able to answer those specific questions on the weekly assignments to my ability to speak intelligently about the subject matter and the overall process and reasoning behind the complex methods.

We'll see how it goes this afternoon. But either way, for a gal with no prior law school experience, I am doing a darn good job if I do say so myself.

Tuskegee Airmen Visit Campus for Veterans Day

Dear Diary,

Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC units will hold a series of ceremonies Thursday and Friday (Nov. 10 and 11) to mark Veterans Day.
Tuskegee Airmen ─
U. S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Lucius Theus
Lt. Cols. Alexander Jefferson
Washington Ross ─
will speak at 3 p.m. Friday in the Hesburgh Library’s Carey Auditorium.

The name Tuskegee Airmen refers to those involved in the so-called “Tuskegee Experiment,” the Army Air Corps World War II program to train African-Americans to fly and man combat aircraft. The airmen overcame segregation and prejudice to become one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. They never lost a bomber to enemy fighters while serving as an escort fighter wing during the war and their achievements paved the way for full integration of the U.S. military.

Theus was on active military duty for more than 36 years and moved through the ranks from a private in the Army Air Corps to become the commanding general of the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center. He was the first African-American to be promoted to general and currently is the principal director and chief operating officer of the Wellness Group.

Jefferson flew in both France and Italy during World War II, completing 18 long-range escort missions for B-17 and B-24 bombers, before being shot down three days before the invasion of France. He spent nine months in German POW camps before being liberated by American forces. Following the war, he became an elementary school teacher in Detroit and retired from education as an assistant principal.
Ross flew 63 sorties and missions during the war and served in the U. S. Air Force Reserves for 25 years. In his civilian life, he was a teacher and department head with the Detroit Board of Education for 25 years. http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=14442

For more information:
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/history/prewwii/ta.htm

http://tuskegeeairmen.org/pages/16/index.htm

http://www.nps.gov/tuai/

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Broken Landscape Library Project

Dear Diary,

I am a firm believer in harnessing the power of information to ignite action. There is an article in American Libraries that highlights such an instance. The Louisville Free Public Library has created a way to bring attention to the problem of AIDS in Africa with an exhibit focused on "Broken Landscapes," click here for Broken Landscapes photo gallery and information: http://www.networkphotographers.com/aidsinafrica/aidsinafrica.html

Do Tax Exemptions for Religious Organizations Violate the First Amendment

Dear Diary,

Today I finally found answers to a complex request, concerning the "public benefit" that results from "Tax exempt" status of religious organizations. (Cite as: 22 Cumb. L. Rev. 521)

INTRODUCTION

One commentator has written that "[i]t is easier to admire the motives for [a religious tax] exemption than to justify it by any sound argument." [FN1] Nonetheless, tax exemptions for religious institutions are a matter of longstanding historical practice despite the current controversy. The matter is often debated in the United States, at both federal and state levels, due to a lack of clear consensus regarding the proper basis for such tax exemptions in this country.

One basis for the exemption is due regard for tradition and respect for the test of time as evidenced in history. However, as one commentator laments, a "current, comprehensive history of tax exemption in the West remains sorely needed." [FN2] Other bases for the exemption may be found in the United States Constitution. Yet another basis might be theological. " S ome church people have expressed uneasiness with ... a pragmatic, utilitarian sort of rationale for tax exemption of churches .. feeling that the churches' mandate must be biblical and theological rather than legal and sociological." [FN3] A contrary perspective holds that:

[T]ax exemption is not a biblical or theological precept; the churches will attempt to preach and live the Gospel of Christ whether taxed or not, and have done so in many lands under many diverse regimes throughout the centuries, and they will continue to do so. Tax exemption is a legal and sociological *522 arrangement, and the only appropriate rationale for it is pragmatic, utilitarian, prudential. Furthermore, this argument is addressed not just to churches and those who accept their biblical and theological mandate, but it is designed to be useful to them in explaining their situation to those who do not necessarily accept that mandate. Therefore, it must be based on data and assumptions that are available to the wider community and which are a common grist for civic discourse. [FN4]

Part I reviews tax exemptions for religious institutions in various historical settings. [FN5] Part II of this article analyzes Supreme Court tax exemption jurisprudence relative to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Part III discusses the Court's treatment of religious tax exemptions in the context of the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. Part IV examines religious tax exemptions in relation to the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.

For more information http://www.acluprocon.org/SupCtCases/193Walz.html.