ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the efforts of religio-political forces to affect legal outcomes. It considers some of the reasons for these efforts and the specific resources that help to make groups effective in the legal arena. The chapter introduces some of the most significant organizations involved in the legal struggle over religion and politics. After reflecting on the implications of this struggle, it considers broader theories of how organized religion ought to relate to government. These theories are important because they have often shaped the legal arguments of the courts and various advocacy groups. A large variety of religious legal organizations help to shepherd disputes through the courts, often by recruiting aggrieved parties and providing lawyers and funding in a case. Another common approach that religious groups use in judicial politics today is the filing of amicus curiae briefs, which are opinions filed with a court that allow third parties to register their views on pending cases.
