Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2016

Source Publication

Religion and the Exercise of Public Authority by Benjamin L. Berger and Richard Moon (eds.), HART Publishing, Oxford and Portland, Oregon, 2016

Keywords

Religious discrimination; Law and legislation; Judicial independence; Sentences (Criminal procedure); Religious aspects; Religion and law; Criminal justice, Administration of; Canada; Québec

Abstract

This chapter questions the interpretation of religious ­ signs and symbols— and the interpretive possibilities that emerge when we demand more from one another in thinking about such symbols— by ­ examining the question of judges and religious dress in the particular context of the judge’s role as wielding the coercive force of the state through the exercise of criminal punishment. I advance the argument that recent debates have proceeded on a misleadingly simplistic approach to understanding the meaning of signs of religious belonging and identity in this setting and that, with this, we miss an opportunity for a deeper understanding of the virtues that we hope to find in our public officials.

Comments

Distributed with permission of the copyright holders (the Editors).

Chapter copyrighted by the book editors (Benjamin L. Berger and Richard Moon).

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