New Year, New Name: The Public Rights/Private Conscience Project is now the Law, Rights, and Religion Project

January 24, 2019

After nearly five years of fighting for religious equality and civil rights, the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project (PRPCP) is proud to announce our new name. Effective today, Thursday, January 24th, 2019, the Public Rights/Private Conscience Project will be the Law, Rights, and Religion Project. This name change comes as we seek to more clearly represent our mission to the wider public.

“We believe that the ‘Law, Rights, and Religion Project’ more directly and clearly reflects our identity as a cutting-edge legal think tank working at the intersection of civil rights, social justice, and freedom of religion,” said the Project’s Director, Elizabeth Reiner Platt.

“We’ve got a new name and a new look, and we’ll continue to be a leader in developing strategic leadership and thinking on the role of religious liberty in protecting the rights of religious minorities, the rights of LGBTQ people and reproductive justice, and as part of the toolkit of progressive social movements such as the immigration and environmental justice movements,” said Professor Katherine Franke, Faculty Director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project.

The Law, Rights, and Religion Project is a law and policy think tank based at Columbia Law School that promotes social justice, freedom of religion, and religious plurality. We analyze and develop strategies to address the complex ways in which religious liberty rights interact with other fundamental rights.

Our mission is to ensure that laws and policies reflect the understanding that the right to free exercise of religion protects all religious beliefs and communities, including non-believers; requires respect for religious plurality and equality principles; and must be balanced against other liberty and equality rights where they are in conflict.