Context Matters: Michel Rosenfeld on Rethinking His Initial Support of the ECtHR Judgement in Leyla Şahin v. Turkey

In Leyla Şahin v. Turkey (2004), the European Court of Human Rights sided with the Turkish government in prohibiting a medical student to wear the hijab on public university property. Michel Rosenfeld (Benjamine N. Cardozo School of Law) explains why he changed his opinion regarding the Court’s Leyla Şahin judgment and why he believes that, had it been decided in 2026, the case would have required a different approach.

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Correct Bits that Do Not Fit: Elizabeth A. Clark on the ECtHR Grand Chamber’s Unsettling Judgement in Lautsi v. Italy

In Lautsi v. Italy (2011), the European Court of Human Rights considered whether a crucifix displayed in an Italian public-school classroom violated a non-Catholic student’s right to religious freedom. While a chamber of the Court decided in favor of the student, the Grand Chamber later sided with the Italian government and found the crucifix to be a passive symbol that did not infringe the student’s and his parents’ rights. Elizabeth A. Clark explains how her experience as a member of a religious minority group complicates her views of the Grand Chamber’s Lautsi judgment.

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Constitutional Rights Symmetry: Thomas Berg’s Evolution of Opinion on Obergefell v. Hodges

In the video, Thomas Berg, the author of Religious Liberty in a Polarized Age and professor of law at University of St. Thomas School of Law, explains his evolution of opinion on same-sex marriage. While initially he supported same-sex marriage as a matter of policy important for both conservatives and liberals, he eventually began viewing it as a constitutional right—the recognition of which is important not only for same-sex couples but also for symmetrical religious freedom protection.

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