The Truths and Myths About Church, State, and the American Constitution

Join us on Wednesday, February 5 as Notre Dame's Rick Garnett dispels myth and clarifies truth around the U.S. Constitution and separation of church and state.

Date & Time
February 5, 2025, 4:30 pm
Location
WLH 207
100 Wall Street
New Haven, CT
Details
What does Jefferson's "wall of separation" between church and state really mean? Does it actually attempt to keep religion out of government and public spheres? Join Rick Garnett as he dispels myths around this "separation" and explores why religion is not a threat, but rather a critical force, for the health of our democracy.

Richard W. Garnett is Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corp. Professor of Law, Concurrent Professor of Political Science, and Director, Program on Church, State & Society at Notre Dame University. He teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law, the First Amendment, and law and religion. He is a leading authority on questions and debates regarding religious freedom and church-state relations, and is the founding director of Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State, and Society. Garnett clerked for the late Chief Justice of the United States, William H. Rehnquist, and also for the late Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Richard S. Arnold. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995 and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Duke University in 1990. He joined the faculty in 1999 after practicing law in Washington, D.C. with Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin. He is author of numerous articles and has co-edited multiple volumes including Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment (5th ed. 2022).

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