Aug. 11, 2025

Professor Emeritus Esbeck publishes article on Notre Dame School of Law blog

Professor Emeritus Carl Esbeck, published a new article on the University of Notre Dame School of Law blog Mirror of Justice. In his article, Professor Esbeck discusses the Louisiana Ten Commandments law and potential litigation surrounding it. To read the full blog, click here.

July 25, 2025

Professor Emeritus Esbeck quoted in USA Today

Professor Emeritus Carl Esbeck quoted in USA Today regarding the US Supreme Court’s decision regarding the Obergefell case. Carl Esbeck, an expert on religious liberty at the University of Missouri School of Law, said there’s “not a chance” the court is going to overturn Obergefell. That’s in part because Congress passed a law in 2022 guaranteeing federal recognition of same-sex marriage rights, he said. “It would be a useless act to overturn Obergefell,” Esbeck said. “The politics…

July 24, 2025

Professor Emeritus Esbeck Presents on Church Autonomy Doctrine

Carl Esbeck, the R.B. Price Professor and Isabella Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor Emeritus of Law, presented on Church Autonomy Doctrine on a webinar sponsored by The Federalist Society. The presentation, “Current Issues in Church Autonomy Doctrine: Categorical Immunity, Collateral Order Doctrine, and Neutral Principles of Law,” discussed constitutional issues as they relate to freedom of religion and religious liberty and stemmed from his recently publication in the Marquette Law Review, “Church Autonomy, Textualism, and Originalism: SCOTUS’s Use of History to Give Definition to Church Autonomy Doctrine.” To read that paper, click here.

May 7, 2025

Professor Emeritus Esbeck publishes blog on First Amendment church autonomy

Carl Esbeck, the R.B. Price Professor Emeritus and the Isabella Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor Emeritus at Mizzou Law, published a new blog post regarding the First Amendment and church autonomy. The piece, titled “The Ministerial Exception’s Unrealized Promise of Early and Straightforward Resolution of Church Autonomy Matters” was posted on The Federalist Society’s website. To read the full piece, visit: https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/the-ministerial-exception-s-unrealized-promise-of-early-and-straightforward-resolution-of-church-autonomy-matters.

March 5, 2025

Professor Emeritus Esbeck published blog post on church autonomy

Carl Esbeck, the R.B. Price Professor Emeritus of Law, recently published a blog post on the Federalist Society’s website, “Huntsman v. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Church Autonomy is “a Threshold Structural Bar that Must be Reckoned With.” To read the full post, visit: https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/huntsman-v-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints-church-autonomy-is-a-threshold-structural-bar-that-must-be-reckoned-with…

Feb. 10, 2025

Emeritus Professor Esbeck publishes blog post on law of church autonomy

Carl Esbeck, the Isabella Wade and Paul Lyda Professor Emeritus and R.B. Price Professor Emeritus, recently published a blog post on the Federal Society website discussing the recent ruling of Markel v. Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and its impact on the law of church autonomy.

July 2, 2024

Professor Emeritus Carl Esbeck publishes blog for Federalist Society on Louisiana’s Ten Commandments Statute

This summer, the governor of Louisiana signed into law House Bill No. 71, requiring all Louisiana K-12 public schools, charter schools, and state post-secondary institutions place in their classrooms a poster-size copy of the Ten Commandments (“10Cs”). Carl Esbeck, the R.B. Price Professor Emeritus and the Isabelle Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor Emeritus, wrote a blog post about the new statute on the Federalist Society’s website. You can read his full article here: https://fedsoc.org/commentary/fedsoc-blog/louisiana-s-ten-commandments-statute-and-the-establishment-clause.

March 22, 2024

Professor Emeritus Carl Esbeck publishes Op-Ed on new federal regulations governing social service grants

Carl Esbeck, the R.B. Price Professor Emeritus and the Isabelle Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor Emeritus, wrote an op-ed in Christianity Today examining new federal regulations on social service grants. In his article, Professor Esbeck argues against new Biden Administration regulations that demand the secularization of faith-based social service providers such as drug treatment centers. He argues that such regulations are contrary to the Establishment Cause of the First Amendment. I also provide suggested alternatives to the regulations that go into effect on April 4. Read the full article here: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2024/march-web-only/biden-administration-social-services-faith-based-rule-regul.html.