Faith-Based Law Schools

Monday December 27, 2004

Can a religious law school turn out better and more moral lawyers? Some think so, that's why Jerry Falwell has opened Liberty University Law School. Not everyone agrees, though, and lawyers are debating whether religion has an important role to play in all this.

David Giacalone writes:

Advocates of faith-based law schools start with a premise with which I strongly disagree -- they believe that it is impossible to have a strong moral code or sense of social responsibility outside of a religious context. (See Dean Mengler, "What's Faith Got to do with It? [faith provides the "missing premise" supporting the social obligation to perform pro bono service]).

Over the 30 years since I entered law school, I've come to be a strong critic of the ethical and moral lapses, and the social irresponsibility of much of the legal profession, which mostly stem from making money the top priority. [see our ethicalEsq archive] And, to be frank, I see absolutely no evidence that lawyers -- or any other members of society -- who consider themselves to be "believers" have any stronger code of morality or ethics than those they would call non-believers. If anything, I'd say that those lawyers who appear to care the most about social justice and morality, and the least about amassing wealth through the morally-indifferent practice of law, have a disproportionate number of "nonbelievers" in their ranks.

If one law school thinks judges must apply the truths its believers find in the Bible, and another thinks that an infallible Pope can interpret truth in all matters of Faith, we are no longer talking about a Nation of Laws or a legal system that is accountable to the Constitution or the People. That should worry lawyers and all American citizens. ... Catholics and evangelical Christians can be great lawyers, legislators and citizens. But legal education will not be improved through religious indoctrination or blinders.

I think that Giacalone is right. Religion doesn't make one more moral, so a religion-based legal education couldn't be expected to turn out more moral lawyers. It's also doubtful that religious traditions necessarily have a great deal to offer when it comes to a legal education today. In fact, if a religion-based education inspires one to try to apply religious texts to legal cases rather than just the law, it could cause more problems. Aren't religious conservatives the ones who complain about judicial activism?

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