4/18/01--The Boston College Law Review and Dean John H. Garvey are sponsoring a symposium titled "The Conflicted First Amendment: Tax Exemptions, Religious Groups, and Political Activity." The symposium will take place at Boston College Law School in East Wing room 200, on April 20, 2001. It will run from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Members of the panel will present papers on the nature of tax exemptions for religious organizations and the implications that restrictions on political activity have for those organizations.

"Some [presenters] will argue that the restrictions are unconstitutional, at least one will argue that the exemptions themselves are unconstitutional and that the restrictions are therefore valid," said BCLS student Christopher Morrison, who helped organize the event. "Others will examine the statutory and regulatory scheme to try to better identify what the restrictions do and do not cover."

The topic has been in the news lately, with President Bush in favor of the participation of religious groups in the political process. These tax exemptions and restrictions may hinder that participation. "The restrictions may unfairly target the more "organized" churches in ways that I hope our presenters will touch on," said Morrison.

The speakers at the event include: Rev. Brian Hehir, Dean of The Harvard Divinity School Professor Alan Feld, Boston University School of Law Professor Edward Zelinsky, Cardozo School of Law Deirdre Dessingue, Associate General Council, National Council of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference Patrick O'Daniel, Jenkens & Gilchrist, Austin, Texas Professor Ellen Aprill, Loyola Marymount School of Law Assistant Professor Richard Garnett, University of Notre Dame School of Law Professor Marci Hamilton, Cardozo School of Law Steffen Johnson, Mayer Brown & Platt, Chicago, IL The Boston College Law School is located at 885 Centre Street, Newton, Massachusetts. For more information or directions, email bclawrev@bc.edu or call (617) 552-8557.