Author: Paul Caron
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Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian?
Christianity Today: Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian?, by Marvin Olasky (Editor in Chief, Christianity Today): Was Abraham Lincoln a Christian? The book Abraham Lincoln, The Christian (1913) claims he was. Contemporary Lincoln biographer Allen Guelzo said in 2000, “He was not.” It’s a hard question: Lincoln was a skilled politician who understood his public, a compassionate president who…
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Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?
Following up on my previous post, Dogs, Joy, and God: Chronicle of Higher Education: Course Catalog: Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?: After the loss of a pet, many people wonder whether they’ll ever see their beloved companions again. In her course, “Do All Dogs Go to Heaven?”, Chelsea Jordan King, an assistant professor of…
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Prayer, Peacemaking, and the Christian Lawyer
Cross & Gavel: Prayer, Peacemaking (Not Peacekeeping), & the Christian Lawyer, by Michael C. Kelley (Partner, Lawson Huck Gonzalez (Orlando)): Every lawyer knows the feeling of stepping into someone else’s chaos. A deal has fractured. A partnership is collapsing. A board is divided. A family business is bleeding mistrust. A contractor, owner, architect, regulator, lender,…
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The 48 ABA-Approved Religiously Affiliated Law Schools
ABA, Council-Approved Religiously Affiliated Law Schools:
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Tax Lawyers Must Adapt to AI Now. It’s Already Changed the Game.
Bloomberg Law, Tax Lawyers Must Adapt to AI Now. It’s Already Changed the Game.: Artificial intelligence is no longer a future issue for tax lawyers. It is already changing how research is done, how large volumes of documents are reviewed, how contracts and motions are prepared, how audit responses are built, and how clients measure…
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Should Law Professors Charge For Their Substacks?
Josh Blackman (South Texas), Some Tentative Thoughts on Substack: Many readers frequently ask if I would set up a Substack. My usual response is that all of my posts are freely available on the Volokh Conspiracy. They reply that Substack makes it easier to read content in newsletter form, delivered right to their inboxes. That…
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Cauble: Non-Experts’ Impressions of Informal Tax Guidance
Emily Cauble (Wisconsin), Non-Experts’ Impressions of Informal Tax Guidance, 76 Syracuse L. Rev. 1 (2026) I conducted a survey of 2,191 U.S. adults designed to gain insight into the impact that statements in informal IRS guidance have on non-expert taxpayers. The survey also examines whether respondents form different impressions when they receive guidance delivered by an automated…
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‘The Odyssey’ and the Longing for Home
Christianity Today: Why Christopher Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ Haunts Us Right Now, by Russell Moore: One of the biggest cultural events this summer isn’t a superhero sequel or a streaming series. It’s a 3,000-year-old Greek poem. That The Odyssey would be a box office powerhouse is not all that unexpected—after all, filmmaker Christopher Nolan gave us The Dark Knight Rises and Oppenheimer.…
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Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World
Dispatch Faith: A Better Way to Think About Old Age, by Wesley Liu (Penn): Jen Wilkin’s Dust to Dust: Aging Wisely in an Anti-Aging World approaches aging through a Christian lens, arguing that [the] obsession with extending life’s “prime” has never been merely cosmetic. Rather, it’s also based on the belief that we can prolong the years…
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High Moral Standards and Limitless Mercy Make Catholicism So Appealing, Says America’s Most Media-Savvy Bishop
The Free Press: Two Drinks with. . . America’s Most Media-Savvy Bishop, by Madeleine Kearns: Bishop Robert Barron … began his Catholic media empire, Word on Fire, with the simple conviction that the Church should be more involved in mass media. As a priest in Chicago, he broke into radio in the late 1990s, TV in…
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Law School Dean Tenure Shrinks to 2.8 Years Due to Financial Constraints and Strained Relationships With University Administration
ABA Journal, Financial Pressures Lead Law Deans to Leave Their Posts, New Study Finds: The average tenure for law school deans has shrunk from 10.3 years in the 1950s to 2.8 years since 2020—and financial pressures are largely to blame, according to a study published Wednesday by the Association of American Law Schools. … While 65.9% of…
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Libby: Theories of University Endowment Taxation
Lauren Libby (Ph.D. Candidate, Yale), Theories of University Endowment Taxation, 103 Wash. U. L. Rev. 991 (2026) (reviewed by Mirit Eyal (Alabama) here) University endowment taxation is now one of the most significant issues in U.S. federal tax policy, and it only promises to grow in prominence over the next four years. Yet while growing…
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High Point Law School Dean Mark Martin to Receive ABA Civility Award
ABA Press Release: The American Bar Association Judicial Division will present its William D. Missouri Civility Award to Mark Martin, former chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court, ,,, on Thursday, July 30, during the 2026 ABA Annual Conference. Martin will receive the Missouri Civility Award, which is named in honor of Judge William D.…
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Choi & Connell: AI Deceleration (or Acceleration) by Taxation
Jonathan H. Choi (Washington University) & Paul Connell (Wisconsin), AI Deceleration (or Acceleration) by Taxation: Even the chief executives of America’s leading AI companies cannot agree on whether their products will substitute for or complement human labor. Yet most policy proposals, from data center bans to bonus depreciation for AI hardware, commit policymakers ex ante to just…
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When Faith Is Just an App
The Free Press: When Faith Is Just an App, by Freya India: Much has been said about a Christian revival among Gen Z. Some statistics are disputed, but there does seem to be something happening. I am curious about Christianity myself, and have noticed changes lately, conversations with young people who were raised as atheists and…
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Is God Punishing Me?
Christianity Today: Is God Punishing Me?, by Kristen Wetherell & Sarah Walton (Co-Authors, Jesus Will Meet You There (2026)): Suffering. Nobody wants it. And rarely can we make sense of it. That’s why, when life hurts, we often look for someone or something to blame. Something is awry, and our pain needs somewhere to go.…
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Highlights: Harvard Faith & Veritas 2026
Following up on my previous post, Harvard Faith & Veritas 2026: Standing in the Gap:
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Fagan: The Coming Law Review Shortage
Frank Fagan (South Texas), The Coming Law Review Shortage, 2025 U. Ill. L. Rev. Online 187: Today, law reviews sit near equilibrium: roughly 5,000 annual submissions for about 5,600 placements. Tomorrow, large language models are likely to drive output toward 8,000. The result is a systemic shortage of publication placements. Peer review will not emerge;…
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Pittsburgh Tax Review Symposium: AI in Tax Practice and Law School Education
The Pittsburgh Tax Review has published Symposium, AI in Tax Practice and Law School Education, 23 Pitt, Tax Rev. 283- 353 (2026) : Sarah B. Lawsky (Illinois), Direct File as Formalization, 23 Pitt. Tax Rev. 283 (2026) (reviewed by Jeff Gordon (Vanderbilt) here): Direct File was a program created by the United States government that…
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Bellin: The High Cost of Law School Casebooks
Jeffrey Bellin (Vanderbilt), The High Cost of Law School Casebooks, 34 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 503 (2025): Commentators have forecasted the demise of high-priced commercial casebooks for two decades. Yet little has changed. This Symposium Essay explores the headwinds facing free and low-cost books in the law school casebook market. It suggests that…
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Saito: Granting Tax
Blaine G. Saito (Ohio State), Granting Tax, 63 Hous. L. Rev. 629 (2026): The U.S. federal tax system is failing to promote the values of democracy and egalitarianism. Powerful interests like the wealthy and multinational entities have bent the tax system to their whim. Meanwhile, disadvantaged groups and the working class have little voice or…
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JD Vance & Barak Obama: Community, Heritage & Faith
Washington Post Op-Ed: JD Vance Makes the Case for a More Christian America, by Matthew Schmitz (Religion Editor, Washington Post) In a divided America, JD Vance sees Christianity as a unifying force. His new memoir, “Communion,” blames secularism for social strife and proposes faith as the solution. The book is not just a conversion narrative;…
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A Christian Vision for the Future of AI
Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: A Christian Vision for the Future of AI, by Walter Kim (President, National Association of Evangelicals): Transformational opportunities for improvement are before us, thanks to AI. But a pro-human worldview—the philosophical grounding to aim those opportunities at the moral end of human flourishing—won’t emerge spontaneously. We must shape AI before it…
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Blessed Are the Trillionaires . . .
Christianity Today: Love Thy Trillionaires, by Luke Simon: Last month, Elon Musk became the first trillionaire in recorded history. A trillion requires imagination. It approaches a quarter of total US federal tax revenue. It exceeds the combined net worth of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos. According to Oxfam, it surpasses the total wealth of…
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Projected 2027-28 U.S. News Law School Rankings: Overall
In this post, I project next year’s 2027-28 U.S. News law school rankings using the current 2026-27 methodology. This projection uses ABA data for student outcomes, which account for 58% of the rankings (First-Time Bar Passage (18%), Ultimate Bar Passage (7%), and Employment (33%)) and uses data from the current 2026-27 U.S. News Rankings for…