Religious Liberty Law

Mission

Legal issues involving religious liberty are becoming more and more common, in both the public and private sectors, and the law relating to religious liberty is both complicated and fluid.  As a consequence, attorneys in many different fields of practice will be faced with religious liberty law-related issues and may not be armed with the professional knowledge necessary to competently address and handle these issues.  Therefore, the Religious Liberty Law Section of the State Bar of Arizona is formed to educate, to discuss, and to disseminate information regarding, as well as to advance and to protect, the basic human and constitutional right of religious liberty through law. To this end, the mission of the Religious Liberty Law Section is:

• To further the interest of the State Bar of Arizona and of the legal profession as a whole in all ways related to religious liberty law;
• To promote throughout the State of Arizona the education of members of the State Bar and the public about issues related to religious liberty law, by organizing presentations on various topics relating to religious liberty law, by sponsoring and by presenting lectures, workshops, and publications such as newsletters, on religious liberty topics, and by presenting continuing legal education programs on topics related to religious liberty law;
• To promote religious liberty law among Arizona attorneys as a specialized field of practice;
• To provide a forum for developing relations and exchanges of viewpoints with persons and organizations having related interests in the field of religious liberty law;
• To  encourage  and  facilitate  debate  within  the  legal  profession  on  religious liberty issues;
• To  cooperate  with  other  Sections  of  the  State  Bar  of  Arizona  in  matters concerning religious liberty law;
• To encourage and to support mutual respect for, and understanding of, differing religious belief systems and practices and how they relate to religious liberty law; and
• To inform the Board of Governors on matters appropriate for Board action.

Representative topics of interest to the Section include, but are not limited to: the legal and philosophical foundations of religious liberty; the history of religious liberty and religious liberty law; the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, including religion and public schools, religious expressions on government property, and religious exercises by government officials  and  bodies  in  public  venues;  the  Free  Exercise  Clause  of  the  U.S.  Constitution, including religious practice and conscience claims in the public and private sectors and the intersection   of   religious  liberty   claims  and   anti-discrimination   laws;   religious  liberty protections in the Arizona Constitution; statutory religious liberty protections, including Religious Freedom Restoration acts, federal and state Equal Access acts, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act; religious discrimination under Title VII, Title IX and other federal and state laws; international religious liberty protections; and current religious liberty violations at both the domestic and international levels. 

Interested in joining this section? Enroll now to start networking and collaborating with members in your practice area!

SBA Section Administrator

Mona Fontes
4201 N. 24th Street, Suite 100
Phoenix, AZ 85016-6266
602.340.7304