Perry Dane

Covid-19 and Religious Liberty

Readers of this blog might be interested in my recent post on Canopy Forum trying to shed some light on the current theological and legal debates about shutting down live religious services during this time of plague.

Law Clerks: A Jurisprudential Lens

Abstract American law clerks often draft opinions for their judges. Yet American legal culture is remarkably diffident about that simple fact. The role that law clerks play in drafting opinions is not a secret. Far from it. But it might qualify to be…

'Hanging by A Thread': A D’var Torah on Parshat Lech Lecha

Abstract Readers of the Book of Genesis have come to take for granted that the primordial history of the Jews begins with a single pair of founders – Abraham and Sarah – and then passes through a very narrow line of successions – to Isaac and Rebekah…

'Avinu, Malkeinu, Kin(g) of All the Earth': A Yom Kippur D’var Torah

Abstract This talk explores the image of divine Kingship that is central to the liturgy of the Jewish High Holidays. The divine King is our sovereign and judge, and that image might even suggest a God Who is painfully transcendent and even austere.…

Echad: A D’var Torah on Parshat Vaetchanan

Abstract This talk explores two mysteries about the Shema, the great motto of Judaism, which begins “Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad.” The first mystery is familiar. What does it mean to say “Adonai Echad”, which literally means…

Names and Numbers: A D’var Torah on Parshat Bamidbar

Abstract The D’var Torah on Parshat Bamidbar explores the power and meaning of names and numbers. The Hebrew name of the second book of Exodus, the second book of the Torah, is Shemot – Names. The English name of the fourth book of the Torah is…

'A Thousand and One Reasons to Hope': A D’Var Torah on Parshat Emor

Abstract I originally presented a version of this talk at a gathering in the city of Sighet, Maramures County, in Transylvania, Romania. Sighet once had a large and vibrant Jewish community, making up almost half the population of the city. In May…

Ironies in the City: Reflections on Stephen Smith's Pagans and Christians in the City

Abstract This essay appeared as part of a symposium issue on Stephen Smith's new book, “Pagans and Christians in the City.” Much of the Smith’s book is compelling, even lyrical. His account of the religious sensibility is powerful and convincing.…

I Am Your God: A D’var Torah on Parshat Yitro

Abstract What, in the religious imagination, was the point of the Ten Commandments and their dramatic revelation to Israel at Mount Sinai? After all, most of the Ten Commandments consist of the sort of general rules of conduct that the Israelites…

Robert Cover and Legal Pluralism

Abstract This short talk focuses on three aspects of Robert Cover's brand of legal pluralism: First, Cover's account of legal pluralism went beyond the simple recognition of non-state legal orders; just as important for him was the claim that…

Vested Rights, "Vestedness," and Choice of Law

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Corporations

Abstract This essay on Corporations is a chapter in an upcoming volume on economic theology edited by Stefan Schwarzkopf. The secular study of corporations has long regularly focused on three sets of concerns: (1) Is the idea of corporate…

Jury Nullification: Features, Bugs, and the Possibility of Granular Law

Abstract Jury nullification is the ability of juries to acquit criminal defendants even against the apparent weight of the law and the facts. This commentary asks whether jury nullification is a “bug” or a “feature” of the American criminal trial, a…

Christmas, again

« A Prayer by Theologian Walter Rauschenbush, circa 1910 Speaks to the Greed of Our Time | Main | Individual & Shared Responsibility: a preliminary syllabus » This is the time of year when I typically draw attention to my short, unpublished, essay…

The Magic of Mercy: A Yom Kippur D’Var Torah

Establishment and Encounter

Research Handbook on Law & Religion (Edward Elgar Publishing, Rex Ahdar, ed.) (Forthcoming). Abstract One of the great puzzles in the law of “religion and law,” considered normatively, is the profound and dramatic diversity, even among Western…

A Tale of Two Clauses: Search and Seizure, Establishment of Religion, and Constitutional Reason

Abstract This Article dissects two developments in widely separate areas of American constitutional law – the “reasonable expectation of privacy” test for the Fourth Amendment’s Search and Seizure Clause and the “endorsement” test for the First…

'The Son You Love:' A D'var Torah on Parshat Vayera

Abstract The typical question commentators ask about the Akedah (the binding of Isaac) is whether, in Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac at God’s command, he passed God’s test of faith, or spectacularly failed it. That is a big…

Playacting: A D'Var Torah on Parshat Hukkat

Abstract Some historians have argued that one of the great theological innovations of the early Rabbis was to understand much of halakha as a form of spiritual discipline rather than a reflection of cosmic metaphysical reality. This view of halakhic…

The Immigration Executive Order and the Structural Establishment Clause

The Trump administration, in defending Trump's notorious anti-immigrant and anti-refugee executive order in the current emergency proceedings before the federal Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, makes essentially two sorts of arguments. One…