Abstract
I would like to thank Seton Hall Law School for inviting me to participate as a panelist in this event. And I would like to thank Professor Stephen Carter for his outstanding Holmes Devise lecture. I am honored to be part of the group of (otherwise) distinguished commentators given the opportunity to address different aspects of Professor Carter's themes of religion and public life. I do not know Professor Carter well, but my contacts with him date back to 1982, my first year as a student at Yale Law School and his first as a professor. I am sure he will not remember our first meeting, but I asked Professor Carter if he would supervise me for an independent research paper on the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Professor Carter turned me down, explaining that his interests were more in the area of separation of powers and the structural provisions of the Constitution. I am glad that Professor Carter's interests have branched out since that day about fourteen years ago! He has become one of the nation's leading academic spokesmen on the issue of religious liberty. I found myself agreeing with nearly every word Professor Carter said in his Holmes Devise lecture, which was a pleasant surprise: On other topics - including separation of powers and the structural provisions of the Constitution - I have sometimes found myself disagreeing with nearly every word Professor Carter has said. 1 (Perhaps Professor Carter will wish to reconsider his ...