An old adage warns that “the devil is in the details.” This is especially true of the law, where “standards of review” and precedents (stare decisis) can eviscerate the clearest constitutional norms while apotheosizing the most nebulous. Case-in-point: Linda Greenhouse’s... Read More →

  During the pontificate of John Paul II the world began to hear about “structures of sin.” In paragraph 12 (Chapter One) of his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae, the late pontiff described structural sin as a pattern of institutional evil that rendered society hostile to... Read More →

One evening in 1787 a young English M.P. pored over papers by candlelight in his home beside the Houses of Parliament. Wilberforce had been asked to propose the Abolition of the Slave Trade although almost all Englishmen thought the Trade necessary, if nasty, and that economic... Read More →

Perhaps you know this Old Testament story (2 Samuel 11). King David, on his roof after a nap, spied a married woman, Bathsheba, bathing on her own roof below. Admiring her beauty, he sent for her and lay with her. Shortly afterward, Bathsheba sent the king word that she was... Read More →