The College of Staten Island Legal
Studies Institute’s
Annual Lecture in Law, Philosophy, and
Public Policy
Richard A. Epstein
The Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law
Director of the Classical Liberal Institute
New York University School of Law
“The Classical Liberal Constitution and
Religious Liberty”
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
5:00 o’clock p.m.
Center for the Performing Arts (Building 1P)
Williamson Theater
Reception to Follow
Lecture Topic:
The past few years have marked a huge assault on religious
liberty, as embodied in the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and
the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. The modern progressive
view narrowly confines free exercise to religious worship and ritual, but it
also insists that free exercise should be overridden to prevent discrimination
on the grounds, most notably, of race and sexual orientation, even in
competitive markets. The classical liberal approach rejects the new wave
of human rights laws that forces religious people either abandon their trade or
engage in actions that violate their religious conscience.
Richard A. Epstein is the Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director of the Classical
Liberal Institute at the New York University School of Law. Considered one of the most influential thinkers
in legal academia, Epstein is known for his research and writings on a broad
range of constitutional, economic, historical, and philosophical subjects. His
many books include Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain
(1985), Simple Rules for a Complex World (1995), and most recently, The
Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government
(2013). Epstein received a BA from Columbia College in 1964 summa cum laude and
Phi Beta Kappa, a BA (Juris.) first class from Oxford University in 1966, and
his LLB cum laude in 1968 from Yale Law School, where he was elected to the
Order of the Coif. From 1972 until last
year, Epstein taught at the University of Chicago Law School. He recently became director of the Classical
Liberal Institute, newly formed at NYU Law School.
Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, the Dean of Humanities
and Social Sciences, the College of Staten Island Foundation, and the Legal
Studies Institute. Funded in part by the
Campus Activities Board with Student Activities Fees. This is a CC CLUE event.
