Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.On March 16, she wrote an article titled Scandal at Notre Dame (Justia.com). The article was posted on a new blog, Hamilton and Griffin on Rights, launched recently by Professor Griffin and Marci Hamilton, the Paul R. Verkuil Chair in Public Law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University.
Filling a much needed gap in the coverage of constitutional law, the blog focuses on the intersection of religion, feminism, and reproductive rights.
In the Scandal at Notre Dame article, Professor Griffin wrote, "I am disappointed to see my alma mater, the University of Notre Dame, leading the litigation charge against the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The mandate requires employer health care plans to contain preventive care coverage that includes FDA-approved contraceptive methods and sterilization procedures. The ACA originally exempted purely religious employers like houses of worship from its requirements, but otherwise applied the contraceptive regulations to religious employers like Notre Dame."
Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.
The mission statement for the Hamilton and Griffin on Rights blog is: We are two constitutional law professors who want to bring women’s voices and issues to the forefront of constitutional law and law and religion debates. We celebrate the diversity of faith and non-faith in the United States and support laws that promote and protect such diversity. We challenge the accepted orthodoxy in constitutional law that too frequently keeps entrenched power structures in place at the expense of women, children and minorities. We seek to advance legal discourse that promotes religious toleration and brings the healthy separation of church and state back into the academic and political arena to ensure that the United States remains the peacefully diverse country it is. We recognize that the First Amendment protects beliefs absolutely, but subjects conduct to the rule of law.
