OpenArgsWiki

October 9, 2017

Listen to the Episode

Guest

• Andrew Seidel

From The Official Website:

Today’s episode marks the triumphant return of attorney Andrew Seidel of the Freedom From Religion Foundation to the show!

We begin with an “Andrew Was Wrong” segment in which patron Kristen Hansen discusses how better to evaluate charities than the simple overhead metric the guys used in Episode 102.

After that, Andrew Seidel joins us for two segments. First, the two Andrews discuss separation of church and state, including their recent disagreement as to whether FEMA funds will be spent rebuilding churches damaged by the recent hurricanes, as well as a return foray into gay wedding cakes discussed in Episode 105.

Then, Andrew Seidel updates us regarding two recent victories by the FFRF.

Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas (& Andrew) Take the Bar Exam Question #44 regarding witness testimony. Don’t forget to following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and like our Facebook Page so that you too can play along with #TTTBE!

Show Notes & Links

1. If you like their work, please consider supporting the Freedom From Religion Foundation.
2. We originally discussed the Masterpiece Cakeshop case in Episode 105.
3. Here is the link to the major victory Andrew Seidel discussed in the “C” segment of the show.

Law Talkin' Stuff

It's in the Constitution

• Constitution
• Establishment Clause
• Free Exercise
• First Amendment

Lawsplaining

• Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)

Law Court Thingies

• Barker v. House
• Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
• Bob Jones University v. United States
• Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist
• Employment Division v. Smith
• Freedom From Religion Foundation v. The County of Lehigh
• Hunt v. McNair
• Lemon v. Kurtzman
• Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
• Tilton v. Richardson
• Trinity Lutheran v. Comer
• Williamson v. Brevard County
• Wisconsin v. Yoder
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris

Magic Law Words

• Commercial speech
• Compelled speech
• Distinction
• Equal protection
• Freedom of Expression
• Freedom of Religion
• Hearsay
• Rule against perpetuities
• Spontaneous utterance
• The Lemon Test

People

• Antonin Scalia
• Anthony Kennedy
• Bob Jones
• Julia Sweeney
• Steven Pinker

Organizations

• ACLU
• ACLU Florida
• Americans United for Separation of Church and State
• FFRF
• House of Representatives
• US District Court for the Middle District of Florida

References

• Kekistani flag

Topics

• Bulletproofing an opinion
• Ceremonial deism
• Cleveland voucher program
• Evaluating charities
• FEMA aid for churches
• Judicial activism
• School vouchers

Content

• [00:00:00] Commercial
• [00:00:16] Intro
• [00:02:59] Andrew Was Wrong: The best merit for evaluating charities isn't always overheads. (Andrew and Thomas were wrong)
• [00:08:06] A Segment: Andrew Seidel returns
  • [00:08:42] Masterpiece cake shop
  • [00:21:36] FEMA aid for churches
  • [00:24:28] Nyquist - repair of religious school buildings
  • [00:25:31] Tilton - money not going to advancing religion
  • [00:26:30] School vouchers vs repairs
• [00:35:42] Commercial
• [00:40:22] B Segment: FFRF victories
  • [00:40:56] The cross on Lehigh County's seal
  • [00:43:35] Brevard County and the secular invocation
  • [00:52:29] Support the FFRF
• [00:53:15] Thomas Takes the Bar Exam: Co-working testifying to manager's statement; Hearsay (answer)
• [01:00:36] New Patron Tuesday
• [00:02:31] Outro

(The time stamps above are derived from the audio provided on the official website; they may vary from audio without ads that are provided through the patreon feed.)

Follow up

• Episode 131: the Masterpiece Cake Shop oral arguments
• Episode 180: the Supreme Court decision on Masterpiece Cake Shop