Religious faith as evidence of honesty or future dangerousnes s .:.

[Taylor, Gregory]

-----Original Message-----
From: religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu
[mailto:religionlaw-bounces at lists.ucla.edu]On Behalf Of Volokh, Eugene
Sent: Friday, November 12, 2004 9:06 AM
To: religionlaw at lists.ucla.edu
Subject: Religious faith as evidence of honesty or future dangerousness
.:.


Let me suggest an analogy, one that is hardly on all fours but that I
thought might be relevant:  As I understand it, rules of evidence generally
bar the factfinder from considering a person's religiosity as evidence of
honesty (setting aside the question whether membership in a particular group
may show bias in particular cases).  Would the Establishment Clause likewise
prohibit such consideration?  If so, wouldn't the same apply to considering
a person's religiosity as evidence of other character traits, such as future
dangerousness?  Or would it actually be fine for a jury to consider a
person's being a devout churchgoer, alongside other factors, as evidence of
his credibility?
 
Eugene

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