Matters of Conscience

Current Transcripts

Matters of Conscience
When Moral Precepts Collide with Public Policy

Russell Pearce(moderator)

Russell Pearce holds the Bellet Chair in Legal Ethics, Morality, and Religion, Fordham University School of Law. A graduate of Yale Law School, his publications include Religious Lawyering in a Liberal Democracy: A Challenge and An Invitation, 55 Case Western Reserve Law Review 127 (2004) (with Amy Uelmen); and The Jewish Lawyer's Question, 27 Texas Tech L. Rev. 1259 (1996).

Nadine Strossen (panelist)

Nadine Strossen is a professor of law at New York Law School, was president of the American Civil Liberties Union (1991-2008). She has written, lectured, and practiced extensively in the areas of constitutional law, civil liberties, and international human rights. She is author of Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex and the Fight for Women's Rights and Speaking of Race, Speaking of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Marc D. Stern (panelist)

Marc D. Stern is the acting co-executive director of the American Jewish Congress, has long served as a leading expert on church-state issues. He is the author of Religion and the Public Schools: A Summary of the Law, co-author of Your Right to Religious Liberty: A Basic Guide to Religious Rights, and contributor to the book Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty.

Douglas Kmiec (panelist)

Douglas Kmiec is a professor of constitutional law and Caruso Family Chair in Constitutional Law at Pepperdine University. He also served as dean and St. Thomas More Professor of Law at The Catholic University of America. He is co-author of three books on the Constitution -- The American Constitutional Order, Individual Rights and the American Constitution and The History, Philosophy, and Structure of the American Constitution.

Robert Vischer (panelist)

Robert Vischer is an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas Law School, has written extensively on law, religion, and public policy, focusing in particular on the religious and moral dimensions of professional identity. His forthcoming book, Conscience and the Common Good: Reclaiming the Space Between Person and State, addresses the communal dimensions in which the dictates of conscience are shaped, articulated and lived out.