St. John's Law Review is a
student-run organization that publishes scholarly articles of legal
significance. First published in 1926, the Law
Review publishes four issues each year as well as two issues
of The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies.
The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies is a scholarly
journal devoted to the study of law and religion in general, and
law and Catholicism in particular. Known for fifty years as The
Catholic Lawyer, the journal was rechristened the Journal
of Catholic Legal Studies in the spring of 2005, beginning
with Issue 44, Volume 1.
The intent of the name change was not to alter the character of
the journal, but rather to reflect what it had become—and to
reflect our aspiration that it continue to be a home for high-level
scholarship that will be of interest not just to Catholic lawyers,
but to all who care about those areas where the law impacts
Catholicism and, just as importantly, those areas where Catholicism
may have something to say to legal thinkers. Such scholarship
will often be interdisciplinary; it will also often be explicitly
ecumenical, drawing on insights from scholars working from other
religious perspectives.
Although the Journal of Catholic Legal Studies is
primarily comprised of outside articles solicited by, and submitted
to, the Journal of Catholic Legal Studies, the expansion
of student contributions to the periodical remains an important
objective. Accordingly, student contributions to the
Journal of Catholic Legal Studies require adherence to the
same strict standards of excellence with respect to analysis,
research, Bluebooking accuracy, and writing style.
The Journal of Catholic Legal Studies is run under the
rubric of the St. John’s Law Review, whose members and
editors are responsible for verifying sources, checking citations,
proofreading, and critically analyzing the works set for
publication. The Executive Publications Editor of the Law
Review has primary responsibility for the Journal of
Catholic Legal Studies, including overseeing the editorial
process and preparing manuscripts for publication.