The University of Detroit Mercy School of Law will present the 26th Annual McElroy Lecture on Thursday, October 23, from 5 to 6 p.m. in room 226 on campus, 651 East Jefferson Avenue Detroit. Reception immediately following the lecture will take place in the atrium.
This year’s lecture, titled “Next Steps for Church Autonomy” will be presented by Professor Stephanie Barclay. She will examine emerging frontiers in church autonomy jurisprudence across several critical contexts: the doctrine’s application as a defense to defamation suits arising from religious discipline, tensions between ministerial exception principles and employment protections, the use of collateral appeals to prevent process as punishment in autonomy disputes, and proper judicial deference to internal religious governance. The lecture explores potential doctrinal developments that would be important to both religious liberty and individual rights while avoiding the constitutional hazards of excessive entanglement with religious affairs.
Barclay is a professor of law at Georgetown Law School, and the faculty co-director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Her research focuses on the role our different democratic institutions play in protecting minority rights, particularly at the intersection of free speech and religious exercise. Barclay’s work is published or is forthcoming in leading journals such as the Harvard Law Review, the Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal Forum.
The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion. The annual McElroy Lecture is made possible through a bequest from Detroit Mercy Law alumnus Philip J. McElroy.
To register for the 26th Annual McElroy Lecture, visit https://law.udmercy.edu and scroll down to “Upcoming Events.”
This year’s lecture, titled “Next Steps for Church Autonomy” will be presented by Professor Stephanie Barclay. She will examine emerging frontiers in church autonomy jurisprudence across several critical contexts: the doctrine’s application as a defense to defamation suits arising from religious discipline, tensions between ministerial exception principles and employment protections, the use of collateral appeals to prevent process as punishment in autonomy disputes, and proper judicial deference to internal religious governance. The lecture explores potential doctrinal developments that would be important to both religious liberty and individual rights while avoiding the constitutional hazards of excessive entanglement with religious affairs.
Barclay is a professor of law at Georgetown Law School, and the faculty co-director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution. Her research focuses on the role our different democratic institutions play in protecting minority rights, particularly at the intersection of free speech and religious exercise. Barclay’s work is published or is forthcoming in leading journals such as the Harvard Law Review, the Chicago Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and the Yale Law Journal Forum.
The McElroy Lecture on Law and Religion provides a forum for prominent thinkers to address fundamental issues of law and religion. The annual McElroy Lecture is made possible through a bequest from Detroit Mercy Law alumnus Philip J. McElroy.
To register for the 26th Annual McElroy Lecture, visit https://law.udmercy.edu and scroll down to “Upcoming Events.”
