“The Meaning of Free Exercise: Historical Complexity and Nuance” by Kathleen A. Brady

Senate Revisions to House Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, National Archives (US-PD) On October 15, Canopy Forum, hosted by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, held an online book symposium regarding Donald L. Drakeman’s upcoming book, to be published November 2026, titled The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2026). The…

“Was “Free Exercise of Religion” Originally A Term of Art?” by Nathan S. Chapman

Senate Revisions to House Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, National Archives (US-PD) On October 15, Canopy Forum, hosted by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, held an online book symposium regarding Donald L. Drakeman’s upcoming book, to be published November 2026, titled The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2026). The…

“Building a Mountain Too Steep to Climb” by Steven T. Collis

Senate Revisions to House Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, National Archives (US-PD) On October 15, Canopy Forum, hosted by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, held an online book symposium regarding Donald L. Drakeman’s upcoming book, to be published November 2026, titled The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (Harvard University Press, 2026). The…

“Religious Freedom in Public Funding Requires a Four-Part Test” by Amy Stambach

U.S. Department of Justice Headquarters by Sebmol (CC-BY-3.0) Disputes over religion and public funding require careful consideration of the rights of religious grantees, the religious freedom of others affected by public programs, and the consequences of proposed remedies. Those considerations came into sharper focus on August 25, 2026, when the Justice Department opened a new…

“Christianity and Constitutionalism at the American Founding: An Introduction” by Nathan S. Chapman

Declaration of Independence by John Trumbull, Wikimedia Commons (PD-US). This article is part of our series on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Americans approaching the religiosity of the founding must begin by resisting the temptation to read our present cultural and political disputes, so often draped in claims about national identity, onto…

“Does the Free Exercise Clause Protect Only Public Worship? Book Review” by Eric Wang

Senate Revisions to House Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, National Archives (US-PD) On October 15, Canopy Forum, hosted by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, will be organizing an online book symposium regarding Donald L. Drakeman’s upcoming book, to be published November 2026, titled The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (Harvard University Press,…

“Does the “Exercise of Religion” Equal Public Worship?” by Steven D. Smith

Senate Revisions to House Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, National Archives (US-PD) On October 15, Canopy Forum, hosted by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, will be organizing an online book symposium regarding Donald L. Drakeman’s upcoming book, to be published November 2026, titled The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (Harvard University Press,…

“Law, Religion, and Attention: Protecting the Dignity of Worship Online” by Ramazan Özgü

A computer at the Science Museum by Robert Brook (CC BY 1.0). Imagine a member of a congregation who wakes on Sunday morning too ill to attend church. She is particularly reluctant to miss the sermon. Fortunately, a local service is being broadcast live on television. She follows it from the opening hymn to the…

“The Free Exercise Cat is Out of the Bag: Can History and Tradition Lure It Back In?” by Whittney Barth

Senate Revisions to House Proposed Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, National Archives (US-PD) On October 15, Canopy Forum, hosted by the Center for the Study of Law and Religion, will be organizing an online book symposium regarding Donald L. Drakeman’s upcoming book, to be published November 2026, titled The Free Exercise Clause and the Rights of Conscience (Harvard University Press,…

“Law and Religion in Revolutionary Pennsylvania” by Aaron J. Walayat

Crowds outside of Independence Hall in Pennsylvania by Ferdinand Richardt (US-PD-Art) The thirteen colonies,” wrote Alexis de Tocqueville, “that simultaneously threw off the yoke of England at the end of the last century had, as I have already said, the same religion, the same language, the same mores, nearly the same laws; they struggled against…