Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Back to all writers

Patheos Featured Writers

Marci Hamilton

Columnist

MARCI A. HAMILTON is one of the United States' leading scholars and public intellectuals on religion and the law. She holds the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. She is the author of Justice Denied: What America Must Do to Protect Its Children (Cambridge University Press 2008) and God vs. the Gavel: Religion and the Rule of Law (Cambridge University Press 2005, 2007). She is also a columnist on constitutional issues forwww.findlaw.com, where her column appears every other Thursday. She has been a visiting professor at Princeton University, New York University School of Law, Emory University School of Law, and the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Professor Hamilton is frequently asked to advise Congress and state legislatures on the constitutionality of pending legislation and to consult in cases involving important constitutional issues. She was lead counsel for the City of Boerne, Texas, in Boerne v. Flores, 521 U.S. 507 (1997), before the Supreme Court in its seminal federalism and church/state case holding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act unconstitutional. She has served as constitutional law counsel in many important clergy sex abuse and religious land use cases, and has testified before numerous state legislatures regarding elimination of the statutes of limitations for childhood sex abuse.

Professor Hamilton clerked for Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court and Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review. She also received her M.A. in Philosophy and M.A., high honors, in English from Pennsylvania State University, and her B.A., summa cum laude, from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Order of the Coif.

Professor Hamilton has published many op-eds in leading publications and has appeared frequently in the media, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Good Morning America, the Today Show, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Lou Dobbs Show, O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes; CNN Headline News; Fox News; The Anderson Cooper Show; NPR; C-Span2 BookTV, washingtonpost.com, among many others.

Works by Marci Hamilton

Challenging the John Jay Report

Marci Hamilton | May 26, 2011

A law professor and victim advocate on blaming the Sixties for child sex abuse....

Eliminate Statutes of Limitation in Childhood Sexual Abuse...

Marci Hamilton | May 12, 2011

If the Pope believes in truth and protection for the vulnerable, his letter to the......

Isolationist Religious Communities and Liberty

Marci Hamilton | May 09, 2011

When authorities cannot envision their obligations under the law as distinct from their......

Seeking Damages: "Sossamon v. Texas"

Marci Hamilton | April 27, 2011

The Supreme Court narrows the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act....

The Truth vs. Public Relations

Marci Hamilton | April 14, 2011

Children will be protected when Americans insist on the truth, even when it is difficult......

The Criminal Legacy of American Catholic Bishops

Marci Hamilton | April 06, 2011

The basic problem here is that the Philadelphia Archdiocese cannot work itself out of......

The Ministerial Exception Makes It to the Supreme Court

Marci Hamilton | March 31, 2011

Congress and the state legislatures owe it to potential employees of religious......

Philadelphia Is the Ireland of America

Marci Hamilton | March 19, 2011

Waves of betrayal rock the Church in Philadelphia; one Catholic family after another has......

Philadelphia Dysfunction and Guam Success

Marci Hamilton | March 09, 2011

The Archdiocese's apparent release of all the files pertinent to the Grand Jury Report......

The Court, the Preacher, and the Military

Marci Hamilton | March 04, 2011

The cure for the ugly talk coming from the Westboro Baptist Church is more speech, not......

Philadelphia: Ground Zero for Catholic Bishops

Marci Hamilton | February 25, 2011

Survivors can now see that the tide is turning and many rank and file Catholics now......

The Bad Guys and the Good Guys

Marci Hamilton | February 17, 2011

What we have here is an old-boys network, with all of its sins and shortcomings. Instead......

Egypt Can Learn from Survivors

Marci Hamilton | February 09, 2011

The clergy sex abuse movement can teach the Egyptian movement for democracy something......

Egypt Explained

Marci Hamilton | February 02, 2011

Where will Egypt find the stability needed in order to plant some seeds of an open and......

The Conservative Media: Unfair and Unbalanced toward...

Marci Hamilton | January 26, 2011

The conservative pantheon believes their audience does not want to hear negative news......

The Tangled Web Tightens for the Vatican

Marci Hamilton | January 19, 2011

This letter is the latest proof that the leadership of the Catholic Church is......

A Suicide at Princeton Is a Warning Bell for All of...

Marci Hamilton | January 12, 2011

We must find the means to offer hope to victims; we need to shift the balance from a......

Muslims vs. Christians vs. Women

Marci Hamilton | January 05, 2011

We must loudly denounce al-Qaeda's use of violence to secure even basic human rights,......

Pakistani Blasphemy Laws: Learning from Roger Williams

Marci Hamilton | December 29, 2010

The story of a Pakistani Christian reminds us of our own battles over religious freedom....

The Catholic League, the Smithsonian, and Wikileaks

Marci Hamilton | December 22, 2010

Image cannot be all that religious groups care about, but these three events remind us......

The War on Diversity

Marci Hamilton | December 08, 2010

The "war on Christmas" rhetoric is in reality a barely cloaked war on diversity....

Religion Neutrality: The Path of Peace

Marci Hamilton | December 07, 2010

Should religious displays be permitted on public property? Only if diverse!...

Adding Insult

Marci Hamilton | December 01, 2010

The tone-deaf Catholic hierarchy inflicts fresh insults on its clergy abuse victims....

The New Jihadists, the TSA, and Holiday Travelers

Marci Hamilton | November 24, 2010

Americans are living in a dream world if they think these stepped-up procedures are......

Time to End Government Handouts Based on Religion

Marci Hamilton | November 16, 2010

President Obama needs to make vital changes to end discrimination by social service......

The Roman Catholic Bishops' Shell Game with Child Sex...

Marci Hamilton | November 09, 2010

United States bishops and their lobbyists spend tremendous resources fighting......

View all featured writers

Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos