Chad G. Marzen (Florida State University) has posted The Gospels and American Jurisprudence on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Just as the concept of law is noted in a number of passages in the Gospels, notation of the Gospels has historically been present in the jurisprudence of the United States. This Article contributes to the academic literature by comprehensively discussing legal cases throughout the history of the United States in which courts have made reference to and discussed the Gospels.
It is probably no surprise to most people that the Gospels are referenced in jurisprudence involving the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. But quite surprisingly, mention of the Gospels appear in a very diverse set of cases - from cases involving oaths, asylum in immigration law, and of course, the First Amendment. This Article discusses and analyzes these varied cases and they all illustrate that throughout the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first centuries, the Gospels retain a prominent historical and current role in American jurisprudence.
