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.