Church-state issues are among the most contentious and emotional issues in American life. Dozens are currently testing the bounds of the First Amendment’s Establishment and Free Exercise clauses: school vouchers; government funding of faith-based social services; the role of faith in the public lives of judges, elected officials, legislators, pharmacists, doctors and lawyers; and the role of religion in public life, from Ten Commandments postings and the Pledge of Allegiance to religious groups’ role in politics and prayers at public meetings. ReligionLink offers a diverse and extensive guide to individuals and organizations expert in these issues.
How to use this guide
This guide divides sources into two categories – organizations and individuals.
Organizations are divided into:
• University-based research centers
• Advocacy organizations
• Legal organizations
• Denominational organizations
Individuals are divided into:
• National sources
• Regional sources
There is overlap among the categories. Many individual sources are part of groups listed under organizations, for example. And many advocacy organizations file lawsuits.
Organizations and experts involved with church-state issues generally define themselves as separationist (supporting a strong separation of church and state) or accommodationist (believing that the government should accommodate religion to some extent). Each category includes a range of opinions. ReligionLink asked the organizations to define their own stances or used wording from the groups’ web sites.
Web sites of organizations often include helpful resource pages on specific issues, contact information for chapters around the country and links to like-minded organizations.
ReligionLink asked each organization to provide the best contact information for journalists.
Jump to background
Organizations
University-based research centers
• The Center for Church-State Studies at DePaul University School of Law is a nondenominational entity that promotes debate and discussion about the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause. It is in Chicago. Contact the center at 312-362-6598, mconley1@depaul.edu.
• The Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in Atlanta focuses on religion and the law worldwide. It is headed by John Witte Jr., a professor of law and ethics and an expert on religious liberty. Contact Witte at 404-727-6980 or at john.witte@emory.edu.
• The First Amendment Center works to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education. A range of scholars and experts are affiliated with the Center. Its offices are in Nashville, Tenn. and at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. It is affiliated with Vanderbilt University through the Vanderbilt Institute for Public Policy Studies and is an operating program of the Freedom Forum. Experts may be contacted through information on the experts page or through press contact Gene Policinski, 615-727-1600, gpolicinski@fac.org.
• The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, promotes religious liberty and studies the relationships between governments and religious institutions. W. Cole Durham Jr. is a law professor and the center’s director. Contact 801-422-2281, durhamc@lawgate.byu.edu.
• The J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, works to advance religious liberty in the United States and around the world. Contact 254-710-1510, suzanne_sellers@baylor.edu.
Advocacy organizations
ACCOMMODATIONIST
• The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty promotes a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles. The institute is ecumenical and defines itself as conservative. It is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. Contact John Couretas, director of communications, 616-454-3080 or 616-813-8941 (cell), jcouretas@acton.org.
• The Alliance for the Separation of School and State is a nonprofit working to remove government involvement in public school education. It is based in Clovis, Calif. Alan Schaeffer is its president. Contact 888-325-1776, Bea@SchoolandState.org.
• The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is a Catholic civil rights advocacy group that responds to religious discrimination issues concerning Catholics and other Americans. It has chapters throughout the United States. Bill Donohue is its president. Contact 212-371-3191.
• Faith and Action is a nonprofit that advocates for Christian values in Washington, D.C., by meeting with policy-makers and politicians. One of its major projects is presenting politicians with Ten Commandments plaques and displays. Its founders are Paul and Rob Schenck. Schenck is also its president. Contact 202-546-8329, info@faithandaction.org.
• The Heritage Foundation is a nonprofit think tank devoted to conservative public policies. Stuart Butler is director of its DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society. Contact 202-546-4400.
• The Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., works to “clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy issues.” M. Edward Whelan III is its president. Contact 202-682-1200, Ethics@eppc.org.
SEPARATIONIST
• Americans for Religious Liberty is a separationist organization based in Silver Spring, Md. Its president is Edd Doerr, and Al Menendez is the research director. Contact Doerr at 301-260-2988, arlinc@erols.com, and Menendez at 301-926-4337, amenendez@erols.com.
• The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee promotes the civil and religious rights of Arab-Americans. It has regional offices across the United States. Contact Laila Al-Qatami, communications director, laila@adc.org.
• The Coalition for the Separation of Church and State is a separationist umbrella organization of five groups. Their web site contains links to member organizations, with contact information for each.
• The Freedom From Religion Foundation, in Madison, Wis., is a separationist watchdog group that works to educate people about the separation of church and state. Freedom From Religion Foundation v. McCallum was the first direct challenge to government funding of a faith-based social service. Co-president Annie Laurie Gaylor says she expects to see challenges to faith-based initiatives in the near future, due to what she describes as “an avalanche” of federal aid going to proselytizing groups. Contact Gaylor at 608-256-5800, algaylor@ffrf.org.
• The Interfaith Working Group works to “inform the public of the diversity of religious opinion on social issues where it is not widely recognized” by providing a forum for religious organizations, congregations and clergy who support, among other things, the separation of church and state. It is based in Philadelphia. Contact info@iwgonline.org.
• People for the American Way, based in Washington, D.C., is a nonprofit organization that works to strengthen the separation between church and state. Contact 202-467-4999, media@pfaw.org.
• The Institute for Democracy Studies is a nonprofit research and educational center devoted to the study of anti-democratic religious and political movements and organizations in the U.S. and internationally. It is based in New York City. Alfred Ross is its president. Contact 212-423-9237, alfredross@idsonline.org.
• The North American Religious Liberty Association advocates a “broad interpretation” of the Free Exercise Clause and supports religious freedom. It is based in Silver Spring, Md. Dr. Halvard Thomsen is its President. Contact 301-680-6683, narla@religiousliberty.info.
Legal organizations
Law firms and nonprofit organizations that litigate church-state cases:
• Rothgerber Johnson and Lyons is a for-profit law firm whose specialties include religious issues, including religious liberty and church-state issues. It is based in Denver. Its web site includes a religious liberty archive with court cases and many relevant documents. Contact Julie Rado, director of marketing, 303-623-9000.
ACCOMMODATIONIST
• The Alliance Defense Fund is a legal alliance based in Scottsdale, Ariz., whose focus is defending religious liberty. Contact president Alan Sears through media relations, 480-444-0020. See contacts for the fund’s six regional offices.
• The American Center for Law and Justice is a nonprofit that specializes in cases involving constitutional liberties. It is based in Washington, D.C. Contact chief counsel Jay Sekulow, 757-575-9520.
• The nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, based in Washington, D.C., represents clients in religious liberty suits. Kevin J. Hasson, Esq. is the Chairman and President. Contact khasson@becketfund.org.
• The Christian Law Association defines itself as a “ministry of legal helps” to “Bible-believing churches” and Christians who are experiencing legal difficulty in practicing their religious faith because of governmental regulation, intrusion or prohibition. It is based in Seminole, Fla., and headed by David Gibbs Jr. Contact 727-399-8300.
• The Christian Legal Society is an organization of Christian lawyers and law students committed to furthering Christianity and religious liberty. They litigate and file amicus briefs in religious liberty cases. The society is based in Springfield, Va. Contact 703-642-1070, clshq@clsnet.org.
• Concerned Women for America tries to bring biblical principles into public policy. The organization is active in “conscience clause” cases, in which it argues that pharmacists and other medical professionals should be excused from having to fill prescriptions or give care that violates their religious principles. Contact 202-498-488-7000
• The Liberty Counsel is a nonprofit litigation and educational organization based in Orlando, Fla. It is dedicated to advancing religious liberty, “the sanctity of human life and the traditional family.” Mathew Staver is its president and general counsel. Contact media director Karen Aytes-Rochester, 407-875-2100, krochester@lc.org.
• Liberty Legal Institute in Plano, Texas, is a nonprofit law firm that defends religious freedoms and First Amendment rights. It consists of 120 lawyers across the state of Texas. Contact Jennifer Grisham at 972-941-4453.
• The Pacific Justice Institute is a nonprofit legal defense organization that specializes in religious and civil liberties cases. Its president is Brad Dacus. The institute is based in Sacramento, Calif. Contact 916-857-6900, pji@pacificjustice.org.
• The Rutherford Institute is an international, nonprofit civil liberties organization based in Charlottesville, Va. It represents clients in religious liberty issues. Contact media liaison Nisha N. Mohammed, 434-978-3888 ext. 604, nisha@rutherford.org.
• The Southeastern Legal Foundation is a legal advocacy group based in Atlanta. Its lawyers have argued in support of prayer in public places and for the public display of the Ten Commandments. Contact 770-977-2131, jayers@southeasternlegal.org.
• The Thomas More Law Center is a public-interest law firm dedicated to the defense and promotion of the religious freedom of Christians. Contact chief counsel Richard Thompson in Ann Arbor, Mich., at 734-827-2001.
SEPARATIONIST
• The American Civil Liberties Union litigates on behalf of civil liberties, including religious liberties. It is based in Washington, D.C., and has many chapters throughout the United States. Anthony D. Romero is its executive director, and T. Jeremy Gunn is director of the ACLU’s Religious Liberty Project. Contact media@aclu.org.
• Americans United for Separation of Church and State is a separationist watchdog, nonprofit organization that works to protect and enforce the Establishment Cause. Rob Boston, assistant director of communications, says the group expects to see more cases involving faith-based initiatives, intelligent design and the role of religion in public education. Barry Lynn, an attorney and United Church of Christ minister, heads the organization, which is based in Washington, D.C. Ayesha Khan is the legal director. Contact via Joe Conn, director of communications, 202-466-3234, conn@au.org.
Denominational organizations
BAPTIST
• Richard Land is president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention in Nashville, Tenn. Contact through Jill Martin at 615-782-8417, jmartin@erlc.com.
• The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is an umbrella organization of 14 Baptist bodies that work to promote religious liberty. They advise member denominations on religious liberties issues. It is based in Washington, D.C. Its executive director is J. Brent Walker, and K. Hollyn Hollman is general counsel. Contact via Jeff Huett, director of communications, 202-544-4226, jhuett@bjconline.org.
INTERFAITH
• The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an umbrella organization of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and Living Peace denominations. The NCCC frequently files amicus briefs in religious and civil liberties cases. Contact Wesley M. “Pat” Pattillo, associate general secretary for communication, 212-870-2048, wpattillo@ncccusa.org.
MAINLINE PROTESTANT
• Brenda Girton-Mitchell is associate general secretary for public policy for the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, an ecumenical organization that represents three dozen member communions from Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, historic African American and Living Peace church traditions. Contact 202-544-2350, bgirtonm@ncccusa.org.
JEWISH
• The American Jewish Committee is a secular Jewish organization that, in part, advocates for religious liberty for Jews in the United States and abroad. It has filed amicus briefs opposing the public display of the Ten Commandments and in support of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Contact Kenneth Bandler, director of communications, at 212-891-6771, bandlerk@ajc.org.
• The Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism is the advocacy arm of the Union for Reform Judaism. Rabbi David Saperstein is its director and counsel. Contact 202-387-2800 or email rac@uahc.org.
• The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America’s Institute for Public Affairs advocates for the rights and interests of Orthodox Judaism. The director is Nathan Diament. Contact 202-513-6484.
• The American Jewish Congress’ partial mission is to promote civil and religious rights of Jews in the United States and abroad. The organization litigates First Amendment issues. Marc Stern and Lois Waldman are the co-chairs on the Commission on Law and Social Action. Contact Stern at 212-360-1545, mstern@ajcongress.org; Waldman at 212-360-1548, lwaldman@ajcongress.org.
MUSLIM
• The Council on American-Islamic Relations is a nonprofit that works to protect the civil rights of Muslims in the United States. It has chapters across the nation. Its government affairs director is Corey Saylor, and its director of communications is Ibrahim Hooper. Contact Saylor at 202-646-6039 or 571-278-4658, csaylor@cair-net.org; contact Hooper at 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair-net.org.
• The Muslim Public Affairs Council is an advocacy group that works to promote and protect the civil rights of American Muslims. Salam Al-Marayati is its executive director. Contact 202-547-7701 or 213-383-3443, salam@mpac.org.
SIKH
• The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund is a civil and religious rights advocacy group for Sikhs. Tejpal Singh Chawla is its civil rights counsel. Contact 202-744-0618, tejpal@sikhmediawatch.org.
• The Sikh Coalition is a community-based advocacy group that seeks to promote and protect the civil and religious liberties of Sikhs in the United States. Contact media@sikhcoalition.org.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST
• The Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church supports religious liberty internationally and employs legal experts. It is based in Silver Spring, Md. Contact Viola Hughes, 301.680.6683, HughesV@gc.adventist.org.
BAHA’I
• Baha’is in the United States consider religious liberty a basic human right. Contact Kit Bigelow or Mandy Morgan in media communications, 202-833-8990.
AMISH
• The National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom advocates for the religious rights of the Amish and Mennonites in America. Contact 734- 464-3908, amish@holycrosslivonia.org.
ATHEIST
• American Atheists is an organization of people who profess that there is no deity. The organization advocates for their civil rights and promotes the separation of church and state. There are chapters and affiliates around the country. Dave Silverman is its president. Contact 732-648-9333, info@atheists.org.
PAGAN
• The Lady Liberty League is a nonprofit group that advocates for religious freedom and freedom from religious discrimination for pagans. Its executive director is Selena Fox, and it is located in Barneveld, Wis. Contact 608-924-2216, liberty@mhtc.net.
Individuals
National sources
• Michael Cromartie is vice president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where he heads its Evangelicals in Civic Life program. He is also an expert on religious liberty and Christianity and politics. Contact 202-682-1200, crom@eppc.org.
• Edd Doerr is president of Americans for Religious Liberty, a separationist organization based in Silver Spring, Md. He is not a lawyer but has been involved in developing lawsuits for 40 years. In 2005, his group filed amicus briefs in Scheidler v. NOW, Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao do Vegetal and Aylotte v. Planned Parenthood. Contact 301-260-2988, arlinc@erols.com.
• Richard Foltin is the legislative director and counsel to the American Jewish Committee’s Office of Government and International Affairs in Washington, D.C. Contact via public relations, 212-751-4000, PR@ajc.org.
• Steven Green is associate professor of law at Willamette University in Salem, Ore., and special counsel to Americans United for Separation of Church and State, where he was formerly general counsel. He has litigated cases involving school prayer, religious school funding, religious displays and religious discrimination. He was co-counsel on two Supreme Court cases, Mitchell v. Helms and Zelman v. Simmons-Harris. He describes himself as a separationist. He says future cases will likely involve the limits on legislative accommodation of religious practices and its “tension” with non-establishment of religion. He expects other cases will involve questions about faith-based initiatives, such as whether faith-based organizations can discriminate in their hiring for government-funded programs. Contact 503-370-6732, sgreen@willamette.edu.
• T. Jeremy Gunn is director of the American Civil Liberty Union’s Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief in Washington, D.C. Contact media@aclu.org.
• Philip Hamburger is the author of Separation of Church and State (Harvard University Press, 2002) and a professor of law at the Columbia Law School. Contact 212-854-6001, hamburger@law.columbia.edu.
• Charles Haynes is a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va., and an expert on the First Amendment and religious liberty. He expects a test case in the near future involving faith-based initiatives that could significantly change how the Establishment Clause is applied, and says future cases could determine a limit on student religious expression and free exercise in school. He defines himself as a separationist on some issues, but when free speech and free exercise are involved, he often considers himself an accommodationist. Contact 703-528-0800, Chaynes@freedomforum.org.
• James Henderson Sr. is senior counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice in Washington, D.C. He specializes in First Amendment law involving the free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. Contact via Todd Shearer, DeMoss Group, 770-813-0000 ext. 239, tshearer@demossgroup.com.
• Ted Jelen is a professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and author of To Serve God and Mammon: Church-State Relations in American Politics (Westview Press, 2000). Contact 702-895-3355, jelent@unlv.edu.
• David Koepsell is executive director of the Council for Secular Humanism, a lawyer and an adjunct assistant professor of philosophy at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. He considers himself a strict separationist and frequently speaks on church-state issues on behalf of the Center for Inquiry on Campus. He thinks there will be more cases challenging or proposing the teaching of intelligent design in public school curricula and a number of challenges to state faith-based initiatives. He helped draft the Council for Secular Humanism’s amicus briefs in both Newdow v. U.S. Congress and Van Orden v. Perry on the side of the parties opposing the Pledge of Allegiance’s inclusion of “under God” and the display of the Ten Commandments. Contact 716-645-2444, koepsell@acsu.buffalo.edu or dkoepsell@centerforinquiry.net.
• Joe Loconte is a fellow in religion and a free society at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. Contact 202-546-4400, joe.loconte@heritage.org.
• Colby May is senior counsel and director of the Washington, D.C., office of the American Center for Law and Justice. Contact 202-564-8890, cmmay@aclj-dc.org.
• Michael Schutt is director of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. The center is a project of the university and the Christian Legal Society. Its mission is, in part, “to train and encourage Christian law students, law professors and practicing lawyers to seek and study biblical truth, including the natural law tradition, as it relates to law and legal institutions.” Schutt lives in Mount Pleasant, Texas. Contact via the Christian Legal Society, 703-642-1070, clshq@clsnet.org.
Background
GENERAL
• The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life maintains a collection of resources on Religion & the Law.
• The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division maintains a site on religious discrimination issues, which includes information on religious liberty issues.
• The web site The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State is dedicated to combating “history by sound bite.” It provides audio links to Supreme Court oral arguments and speeches by civil rights/constitutional lawyer and others. It was created and is maintained by Jim Allison, a paralegal and historical-legal researcher and writer, and Susan Batte, a lawyer and a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar who practices in Virginia. Both have been involved in the debate on separation of church and state, researching and writing extensively on the subject.
LEGAL
• The Legal Information Institute at Cornell University maintains a searchable online database of Supreme Court decisions involving religion. It maintains a similar searchable database for federal appeals courts decisions involving religion.
• Read the text of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (1993) as posted on the Rainbow Family of Living Light’s web site.
• The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty maintains a site on the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA).
• The J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies maintain a vast list of primary sources on church-state issues available on the Internet. The list ranges from ancient sources on religious liberty to contemporary Supreme Court rulings.
• The web site maintained by the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., is a lengthy and comprehensive source on First Amendment issues, cases and history.
RELIGION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
• Read Finding Common Ground: A Guide to Religious Liberty in Public Schools, a publication of the Freedom Forum, posted on its web site.
• In 1995, Richard W. Riley, secretary of education under the Clinton administration, set guidelines on religious liberty in the public schools for American educators.
• The First Amendment Center publishes a guide for parents about religion in public schools.
IN THE NORTHEAST
• Hadley Arkes is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., where he co-directs its program on the Constitution, the Courts and the Culture. He is also a professor of political science at Amherst College in Amherst, Mass. Contact 413-542-2293, hparkes@amherst.edu.
• John H. Mansfield is a professor at Harvard University Law School who teaches about issues arising under the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment. Contact Mansfield at 617-495-3141 or his assistant, Susan Norton, at 617-496-2609.
• John H. Garvey is the dean of Boston College Law School and an authority on legal issues regarding church and state. He expects school vouchers and charitable choice issues to dominate the church-state debate in the near future and says he believes the government should provide maximum protection to religious liberty, while remaining neutral in its speech and aid regarding religion. He is a co-author of Religion and the Constitution (Aspen, 2002), the leading casebook on law and religion. He wrote an amicus brief for the United States in Mueller v. Allen. Contact 617-552-4340, garvey@bc.edu.
• Jay D. Wexler is an associate professor of law at Boston University School of Law, where he teaches law and religion. Contact 617-353-2789.
IN THE EAST
• Robert Destro is professor of law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and co-director and founder of the Interdisciplinary Program in Law and Religion. He co-authored, with Michael S. Ariens, Religious Liberty in a Pluralistic Society (Carolina Academic Press, 2002), the nation’s leading law school textbook on religious liberty. Contact 202-319-5202, destro@law.edu.
• Daniel Dreisbach is a nonpracticing lawyer and the author of Thomas Jefferson and the Wall of Separation Between Church and State (New York University Press, 2003). He is also a professor in the department of justice, law and society at American University in Washington, D.C. He expects a rise in cases challenging the public display of religious symbols, such as crosses and the Ten Commandments, in the public arena, and perhaps an increasing number of cases challenging “arguably religious imagery” in public seals and in the public calendar. He also expects cases that will test the limits of religiously motivated speech that is deemed offensive to a protected group, such as a religiously themed denunciation of homosexuals. Will such speech be ruled freedom of expression and of religion, or will it be considered hate speech and render the speaker civilly or criminally liable? He considers himself a “free speech and free exercise libertarian” in that he sides with maximizing free speech and exercise rights. Contact 202-885-2380, ddreisb@american.edu.
• Francis Manion is senior counsel with the American Center for Law and Justice who specializes in First Amendment law and pro-life legal matters. He has argued before state and federal courts. He specializes in defending public displays of the Ten Commandments and the rights of medical personnel required to participate in pregnancy-ending procedures. Contact 502-549-7020, fmanion@aol.com.
• Marci A. Hamilton is professor of law and director of the Intellectual Property Law Program at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York, N.Y. She is a nationally recognized expert on the religion clauses of the First Amendment. Establishment Clause cases she has worked on include City of Boerne v. Flores and several cases challenging RLUIPA and RFRA, including the UDV case pending before the Supreme Court. Contact 212-790-0215, Hamilton02@aol.com.
IN THE SOUTHEAST
• Jim Allison is a paralegal and historical-legal researcher and writer, and Susan Batte is a lawyer and a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar who practices in Virginia. Both have been involved in the debate on separation of church and state, researching and writing extensively on the subject. Together, they maintain The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State, a web site dedicated to combating “history by sound bite” that provides audio links to Supreme Court oral arguments and speeches by civil rights/constitutional lawyers and others. Contact both at shangrila38@hotmail.com.
• Robert Ash is senior associate counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice, where he specializes in First Amendment law. He is also a professor of law at the law school and the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., where he teaches First Amendment law. Contact via Sherry-Ann Morris, director of marketing and communications, Regent University School of Law, 757-226-4647.
• Erwin Chemerinsky is the founding dean at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. As a professor at Duke University, he specialized in constitutional law and civil rights issues. He argued Van Orden v. Perry before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the plaintiff. Contact 949-824-7722, chemerinsky@law.duke.edu.
• Isabelle Kinnard is the education director of the Council for American’s First Freedom in Richmond, Va. It is raising money to build the First Freedom Center, a national educational center devoted to the protection and expansion of religious freedom worldwide. Contact 804-643-1786, ikinnard@firstfreedom.org.
• Melissa Rogers is a lawyer and a visiting professor of religion and public policy at Wake Forest University Divinity School. She expects church-state cases in the near future to involve school vouchers and state constitutional provisions, RLUIPA cases and the question of whether pharmacists can be compelled to dispense medication when they claim that doing so would conflict with their religious convictions. She says she supports broad interpretations of both the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses. She believes that people ought to be able to express their religious beliefs on government property and in public discourse and that religious groups ought to be able to participate in the delivery of government-funded social services. But she also believes the government should not promote or subsidize religion. She served as a counsel on amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the prevailing party in Santa Fe ISD v. Doe and on behalf of the losing side in Mitchell v. Helms. Contact 202-904-4936, rogersm@wfu.edu.
• John Tuskey is an associate professor at Regent University’s School of Law in Virginia Beach, Va., who specializes in constitutional law. Contact 757-226-4584.
IN THE SOUTH
• Chris Doss is director of the Center for the Study of Law and the Church at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Contact 205-726-2409.
• Bryan K. Fair is a professor at the University of Alabama School of Law, where his specialties include the First Amendment. He expects the number of church-state conflicts to increase because the Supreme Court has “been so pliant” in efforts to “accommodate religious fundamentalism.” He thinks Oregon v. Smith could be overruled and says Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey could be vulnerable. He defines himself as a separationist. Contact 205-886-9156, bfair@law.ua.edu.
• Thomas R. McCoy is a professor of law at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., who specializes in freedom of speech, press and religion as well as church-state issues. Contact 615-322-2615, thomas.mccoy@vanderbilt.edu.
• In 2011, Susan McPherson rejoined Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff and Brandt as an associate in Birmingham, Ala., where she specializes, in part, in constitutional law. She is also president of the Birmingham chapter of the Christian Legal Society. Contact 205- 870-0555, sm@wallacejordan.com.
IN THE MIDWEST
• Carl Esbeck is a professor of law at the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he specializes in First Amendment issues, especially the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses. Contact 573-882-6543, EsbeckC@missouri.edu.
• Howard Friedman is a professor emeritus of law at the University of Toledo in Ohio who maintains a blog called Religion Clause on freedom of religion. Contact religionclause@sev.org.
• Richard Garnett is a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Ind. One of his areas of expertise is church-state relations. Contact 574-631-6981, Rick.Garnett.4@nd.edu.
• Frank Lambert is a history professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., and author of The Founding Fathers and the Place of Religion in America (Princeton University Press, 2003). Contact 765-494-6784, falamber@purdue.edu.
• Frank Ravitch is a professor of law at Michigan State University in East Lansing and a scholar of constitutional law and of law and religion. He is author of School Prayer and Discrimination: The Civil Rights of Religious Minorities and Dissenters (Northeastern University, 2001) and Law and Religion, A Reader: Cases, Concepts and Theory (Thomson/West, 2004). He expects the lower courts to hear more cases on intelligent design and evolution and on religious monument cases. He also expects funding cases dealing with whether the federal government must include religious bodies in generally available funding programs. He describes himself as neither a separationist nor an accommodationist, but says he favors accommodation of free exercise and generally favors separation in the establishment context. He wrote an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in Chandler v. Siegelman, a school prayer case from Alabama, in support of those opposing school prayer practices. Contact 517-432-6973, fravitch@law.msu.edu.
IN THE SOUTHWEST
• John Attanasio is dean of the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a professor of constitutional law. He teaches a class on First Amendment issues, including the separation of church and state. Contact jba@mail.smu.edu.
• W. Cole Durham Jr. is a law professor and director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Contact 801-422-2281, durhamc@lawgate.byu.edu.
• L. Martin Nussbaum is a partner in Rothgerber, Johnson & Lyons who represents religious institutions and schools in legal cases, including First Amendment cases. He works in Colorado Springs, Colo. Contact 719-386-3004.
• Mark Weldon Whitten is the author of The Myth of Christian America: What You Need to Know About the Separation of Church and State (Smith and Helwys, 1999). He teaches religion and philosophy at Montgomery College and is president of the Greater Houston Area Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. Contact 936-273-7492, Mark.W.Whitten@nhmccd.edu.
• Alan E. Brownstein teaches law at the University of California, Davis. He specializes in constitutional law. He has given testimony before legislatures and courts in church-state issues. Contact 530-752-2586 or 530-752-0243, aebrownstein@ucdavis.edu.
• Mark David Hall is a professor of political science at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore. Publications include The Forgotten Founders on Religion and Public Life (2009); and The Sacred Rights of Conscience: Selected Readings on Religious Liberty and Church-State Relations in the American Founding (2009). Contact 503-554-2674, mhall@georgefox.edu.
• Edward Tabash is a civil rights attorney and chairman of the National Legal Committee for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He is also honorary chairman of the Center for Inquiry West and chairman of the First Amendment Task Force of the Council for Secular Humanism. He lives in Los Angeles, Calif. Contact via his web site.
