{"id":131478,"date":"2017-10-27T12:56:17","date_gmt":"2017-10-27T16:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=131478"},"modified":"2017-11-08T15:50:11","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T20:50:11","slug":"symposium-examines-divisions-religious-liberty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2017\/10\/symposium-examines-divisions-religious-liberty\/","title":{"rendered":"Symposium Examines Divisions Over Religious Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When UConn Law students Emily Gait \u201818 and Stephani Roman \u201918 began planning a symposium on religious freedom, they knew it was a polarizing issue across the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut where else are we going to talk about it? This is law school,\u201d Gait said. She and Roman served as symposium editors for the Connecticut Law Review, which organized the event. More than 200 people attended, filling the Reading Room in William F. \u00a0Starr Hall on Oct. 20, 2017.<\/p>\n

The symposium, entitled\u00a0Religious Freedom: Liberty, Legislation and Litigation<\/em>, focused on controversies in recent years, including litigation that has reached the U.S. Supreme Court. \u00a0Members of four panels dissected the aftermath of decisions in\u00a0Obergefell v. Hodges<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby<\/em>, which pitted religious groups against advocates for the LGBTQ community and women\u2019s reproductive rights.<\/p>\n

The cases are recent but the conflict is not, said University of Texas Law Professor Lawrence Sager, the keynote speaker. \u201cEvery step in our nation\u2019s equal membership has been met with dissent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The symposium brought together clergy, scholars and policymakers from around the country to discuss the issues. Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy spoke about his own personal views and the state\u2019s anti-discrimination laws, which include protection against discrimination based on gender identity.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiscrimination has no place in our society,\u201d Malloy said. \u201cI believe that we as citizens of the U.S. have an obligation to stand for all our citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

For religious leaders, however, there are complexities. Rabbi Bruce Alpert of the Beth Israel Synagogue in Wallingford, speaking on a panel of religious leaders, said most of his congregants support marriage rights for same-sex couples. But \u201cin any given moment you are going to have people in your congregation on both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other panels addressed Connecticut\u2019s legislative initiatives, federalism and religious liberty, and federal and state protection for corporate religious liberty, including the\u00a0Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado<\/em>\u00a0case, which the U.S. Supreme Court will hear on Dec. 5.<\/p>\n

Aaron Frankel \u201918, one of many UConn Law students attending the symposium, said the conversation has national relevance. \u201cI\u2019m happy I\u2019m being given the tools to think about this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dean Timothy Fisher said the symposium furthered the law school\u2019s mission to explore \u201cthe intersection between the rule of law and public policy\u201d and credited Gait and Roman with \u201cpredicting so precisely the perfect moment for this conference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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