Drawing on the Christian Tradition as a Source for the Renewal of Labor Law Theory

Does the Christian tradition have anything to offer to legal theorists exploring the renewal of labor law from its ossified framework? This Essay argues that the Christian tradition has much to offer. There are streams within the Christian intellectual tradition that offer a third way between a “naked public square” of legal thought that refuses to look at religion as a source of ideas for constructing law and Christian nationalism. Schools of theological inquiry within the Christian tradition such as the Theology of the Social Gospel, Catholic Social Teaching, and Liberation Theology draw on the “Sermon on the Mount” for lessons about how to treat the poor, including low-wage workers. These well-developed theological traditions have much to scholars in the nascent Law and Political Economy (“LPE”) movement as well as labor law scholars. Scholars of labor law and those within the LPE movement draw on moral concepts that sound similar to some of the language that the Christian tradition uses. This Essay urges scholars in the LPE movement to mine the theological schools of thought described above because they provide rich intellectual and moral grist to draw on in constructing an alternate theory of labor law that privileges the needs of workers while drawing on language familiar to millions of Americans who profess the Christian faith

Cultivating Thoughtful Dialogue, Shared Humanity, and Emotional Intelligence in Client Counseling Courses

Historically, client counseling courses in law schools across the country omitted concepts fundamental to a successful attorney-client relationship–thoughtful dialogue, shared humanity, and emotional intelligence. Psychology and the practice of law, including the omitted concepts, are now being integrated into more courses each semester. The essay demonstrates how I integrate them into my own course and work alongside students to help them practice those concepts and the most important skill of active listening. The students’ practice requires thoughtful work around self-awareness, bias, power, and money–topics often neglected because of the discomfort involved in their contemplation and reflection. The earlier students are able to grapple with those skills, concepts, and ideas in their legal career, the more fulfilling they will find their legal career and, I believe, will decrease the likelihood of burnout

What Went Wrong? Identifying the Historical Roots of Racial Disparities Among Older Adults in Nursing Facilities

In early 2020, as the nation was just becoming familiar with COVID-19, over a million nursing facility residents were already experiencing crisis-level disasters. Extreme lockdowns, increased hospitalizations, and high mortality rates plagued nursing facilities earlier and far worse than the rest of the population. Data gradually showed that facilities with higher numbers of residents of color were facing particularly dire outcomes. Although the severity of COVID-19 was surprising, the pandemic highlighted existing and long-standing problems with the country’s long-term care facilities. Many of the problems that led to the horrible disparities during COVID-19 are rooted in a wholly insufficient long-term care system that fails to provide quality, equitable, and dignified care to the increasing number of older adults needing such care. This article will show how the largest public insurance programs – Medicare and Medicaid- were designed without consideration for meaningful and equitable long-term care coverage. The limitations in the Medicare and Medicaid statutes furthered many of the racial disparities experienced among older adults of color when trying to access long-term care either in the community or in facilities. Lastly, this article will provide equity-centered solutions focused on improving both the quality of nursing facilities and the overall long-term care infrastructure

Opening Space for Negotiation Reflection in Law Practice

Critical to negotiations learning and skills-building, reflection is an enduring feature of law school negotiations courses. At the same time, anti-reflection forces in law practice persist. Lawyers face demanding work environments that compel them to make seemingly impossible choices among advancing their careers, maintaining mental and emotional health, and continuing to learn and grow. The time for slowing down and reflecting can be excruciatingly hard to come by. Technology in negotiations may also obscure the need or opportunities for reflection. This Article highlights the importance of negotiation reflection and the longstanding and emerging challenges to creating and maintaining a lawyer’s capacity for reflection. It proposes further exploration of the nature of negotiation reflection in law practice and law schools and calls for a collaborative focus on evolving law school teaching and workplace structures to better help negotiation reflection live and thrive in law practice

2025--Contemparary Challengers in International Humanitarian Law: Is there Hope for the International Order?

Out of the 122 ongoing armed conflicts in the world, certainly two conflicts (Russian intervention in Ukraine and the War in Gaza) have raised important and critical concerns about how war is being conducted. The way the different parties to the conflicts have interpreted and applied the Laws of War (International Humanitarian Law) is a matter of intense debate. When and how, who and what can be targeted, the role of new technologies of warfare, and the mechanisms of accountability are the issues that will gather 17 world-renowned academics at the 2025 SLU LAW Center for International and Comparative Law and Saint Louis University Law Journal Symposium. The SLU LAW Center for International and Comparative Law and SLU LAW Journal are proud and grateful to contribute to the international discussion on the current challenges of International Humanitarian Law.https://scholarship.law.slu.edu/lj_cicl_symposia/1002/thumbnail.jp

§1983 and the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act: A Perfect Fit

The Supreme Court rarely takes a case involving federal quality standards for nursing home care, and that alone would make Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski (Talevski) a significant case for those interested in long-term care. The Court’s decision in Talevski, however, reaches far beyond long-term care with implications for every federally funded program that relies on the states for administration, delivery of benefits, or enforcement of standards. Much about the Talevski case signaled that a significant change in law may be coming. The plaintiff’s cause of action relied on a statutory instrument (§1983) frequently used by private parties to enforce federal authority over the states; and the case involved the Medicaid program, a lightning rod in federal-state power struggles. Moreover, the defendant made the extreme argument that §1983 provides no cause of action whatsoever where the source of the claimed rights is federal legislation enacted under the Spending Clause, the authority that underlies the largest portion of federal legislation regarding healthcare. Talevski was closely watched as well because it presented the Court with an opportunity to establish a more stringent standard for deciding when §1983 provides a private cause of action for violation of federal law. Ultimately, the Court rejected the defendant’s Spending Clause argument and held that §1983 provides a cause of action for violations of two particular provisions of the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act (FNHRA). This article examines the statutory language and context that support the Court’s ruling, providing insights for statutory construction in future §1983 cases and taking the opportunity to revisit the legal and policy origins of the FNHRA, a milestone in long-term care quality regulation. The article concludes that the FNHRA provisions at issue so perfectly fit even the most stringent test for §1983 actions that Talevski does not resolve several significant questions, especially in cases where the statutory language and context do not replicate the Talevski model

Originalism, the Second Amendment, and the Vibe of the Constitution

Constitutional law often comes down to how judges feel about the vibes of the Constitution’s text, structure, and history. This has always been true, but in the past, courts had more leeway to be honest about this. With a majority of the Supreme Court embracing an originalist approach to constitutional interpretation, the opportunity for candor has been lost. Judges now pretend that history and tradition supply the answers to difficult constitutional questions, even when they must rely on tenuous inferences from the historical record. This Essay examines major cases from the past where the Supreme Court acknowledged that it was making decisions based on constitutional vibes, contrasts those with more recent decisions made under the cloak of originalism, and explores how the lower courts in Second Amendment cases must now struggle to follow the Supreme Court’s lead

Whose Labor Law Do We Follow? St. Louis’s Jesuits and Labor Justice

In this essay, Br. Ken Homan, SJ explores how Jesuits in St. Louis varyingly referred to Natural Law and statutory law when addressing questions of labor rights and justice. Homan provides three categories of engagement before turning to the present-day relationships between mission-oriented institutions, workers, and the state. Homan argues that all three parties are at their best and can avoid state-religion entanglement when they actively seek to promote worker justice