A Holey Cause: Sharia as a Cultural Defense

States have the power to ban cultural defenses under the police powers doctrine. However, any attempt to ban the use of Sharia as a cultural defense presents a serious problem. Because Sharia is a religious doctrine, any statute regulating Sharia must survive scrutiny under the religion clauses of the First Amendment. As a result of Supreme Court precedent, states are only permitted to ban the use of Sharia as a cultural defense if the statute is neutral and of general applicability. This Comment analyzes Awad v. Ziriax, in which the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma struck down an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution barring the use of Sharia in courtrooms. This Comment then proposes a statutory solution that would survive First Amendment scrutiny, allowing states to ban Sharia as a defense to criminal offenses

Global leadership program : summary of model area research

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/96939/1/MBA_Singh_1998Final.pd

Nand Singh and Jangnamah Europe: subaltern insights on the wars of Empire

Jangnamah poetry is a literary form dating back to the 16th century, used by Punjabi authors to narrate conflict. Here Raman Singh Chhina discusses the significance of Jangnamahs as a historical resource, highlighting one particular work which offers a unique insight on a Sikh soldier’s experience of WWI

A functioning consumer bankruptcy code can help those Indian debtors who are paying back with their lives

Earlier this year, the Indian government presented figures to the parliament on the number of suicides caused by financial distress in the country. Bankruptcy was shown as an important cause of such deaths. Raman Singh Chhina argues below that, while no panaceas are available, the government can provide more effective help to people who are unable to pay back debts due to negative life events by implementing and systematically improving the proposed consumer bankruptcy code instead of resorting to ad hoc and politically-motivated debt-waivers and other such debt-relief packages