Julie Nice on CLS v. Martinez, the First Amendment, and Equality

The intersections of constitutional protections for liberty, equality, free speech, and free exercise of religion can make for convoluted and contentious cases.  Christian Legal Society (CLS) v. Martinez, decided by the Court in 2010, is a prime example, with the additional factual setting at a law school heightening the interest for legal scholars.

In How Equality Constitutes Liberty: The Alignment of CLS v. Martinez, 38 Hastings Const. L.Q. 631 (2011), Professor Julie Nice, University of San Francisco School of Law, pictured left, argues that the case illuminates several different doctrinal and theoretical controversies, ultimately making liberty more robust because it refuses the conflation of identity and ideology.  

The article is further discussed as my selection for the Jotwell Equality section; it's the best essay I've read on constitutional equality in the last year.  It's essential reading for every ConLawProf.

RR