Two Conversations on Religious Freedom This Fall

Next month, LRRP Director Liz Reiner Platt is speaking at two events on the state of religious freedom in America: an online conversation on pluralism and democratic institutions on September 28, and a day-long First Amendment colloquium at Fordham Law on October 16. Details and registration for both are below.

The Fight for America’s Future

Monday, September 28, 2026 | 7:30 p.m. ET
Online, hosted by American Atheists

What kind of nation are we, and what kind do we want to be? “America Beyond 250: Reclaiming the Promise of Pluralism” took up that question in Philadelphia earlier this year, at a one-day gathering on threats to democratic pluralism. This fall, the series moves online.

Liz will join a panel on the growing threats to religious freedom and democratic institutions, and where coalitions in defense of pluralism, equal treatment, and secular government are being built. She will be joined by Maggie Siddiqi, Senior Advisor at Interfaith Alliance, whose work centers on coalition-building across lines of difference and countering hate, and Geoffrey T. Blackwell, Legal Director at American Atheists, who leads their litigation and policy work on the separation of religion and government.

Protest, Press, and the Pews: First Amendment Rights in Contemporary America

Friday, October 16, 2026 | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET
Fordham Law School, Lincoln Center campus, 150 West 62nd Street, NYC
Hybrid event: attend in person or online

Whose speech, whose press, and whose faith does the First Amendment protect in 2026? The Fordham Urban Law Journal’s annual Cooper-Walsh Colloquium takes up that question this fall, bringing together scholars, advocates, and practitioners to examine the state of First Amendment rights in contemporary America.

Liz will join a panel on the Supreme Court’s expanding religious liberty jurisprudence: how a body of doctrine once invoked mainly to protect minority faiths has grown into one of the most powerful tools in constitutional law, and what that expansion means for everyone else’s rights. She will be joined by Bradley Girard, Senior Counsel at Democracy Forward, and Alex Luchenitser, Associate Vice President & Associate Legal Director at Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The Law, Rights & Religion Project at Union Theological Seminary works to advance a vision of religious liberty that protects everyone, not just those with the most political power. If this newsletter was forwarded to you, you can subscribe here.