Micah J. Schwartzman

  • Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law
  • Roy L. and Rosamond Woodruff Morgan Professor of Law
  • Director, Karsh Center for Law and Democracy

Micah Schwartzman is the director of the Karsh Center for Law and Democracy and the Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law. A scholar who focuses on law and religion, jurisprudence, political philosophy and constitutional law, Schwartzman joined the UVA Law faculty in 2007.

Schwartzman received his B.A. from the University of Virginia and his doctorate in politics from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. During law school, he served as articles development editor of the Virginia Law Review. Schwartzman then clerked for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Columbia University’s Society of Fellows in the Humanities.

Schwartzman’s work has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Supreme Court Review, Law & Philosophy, and Political Theory, among others. He has published opinion pieces in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Atlantic, Slate, The New Republic, and Vox. He co-edited The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty (Oxford University Press) and is co-authoring materials for a casebook on Constitutional Law and Religion.

A member of the American Law Institute, Schwartzman has chaired the AALS Section on Law and Religion and serves on the Board of Academic Advisors for the American Constitution Society.

Scholarship Profile: Public Reasoning in Law and Religion (Virginia Journal 2017)
 

Education

  • J.D.
    University of Virginia School of Law
    2005
  • D.Phil.
    University of Oxford
    2003
  • B.A.
    University of Virginia
    1998

Forthcoming

Religious Freedom and Abortion (with Richard C. Schragger), Iowa Law Review (2023).

Works in Progress

Slipping from Secularism (with Richard C. Schragger), Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper (2022).

Books

The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty (edited with Chad Flanders & Zoë Robinson), Oxford University Press (2016).

Book Chapters

Must Laws Be Motivated by Public Reason?, in Public Reason and Courts, Cambridge University Press, 45–65 (2020).
Official Intentions and Political Legitimacy: The Case of the Travel Ban, in Political Legitimacy, NYU Press, 201–230 (2019).
When Do Religious Accommodations Burden Others? (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), in The Conscience Wars: Rethinking the Balance between Religion, Identity, and Equality, Cambridge University Press, 328–346 (2018).
How Much May Religious Accommodations Burden Others (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), in Law, Religion, and Health in the United States, Cambridge University Press, 215–229 (2017).
Religion, Equality, and Anarchy, in Religion in Liberal Political Philosophy, Oxford University Press, 15–30 (2017).
Introduction (with Chad Flanders & Zoe Robinson), in The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty, Oxford University Press, xiii-xxvi (2016).
Some Realism about Corporate Rights (with Richard C. Schragger), in The Rise of Corporate Religious Liberty, Oxford University Press, 345–371 (2016).
Reasoning from Conjecture: A Reply to Three Objections, in Rawls and Religion, Columbia University Press, 152–169 (2015).

Articles & Reviews

Liberalism Without Theodicy, 26 Jerusalem Review of Legal Studies 189–201 (2022).
What Common Good? (with Richard C. Schragger) (reviewing Adrian Vermeule, Common Good Constitutionalism) The American Prospect (2022).
The Politics of Proportionality (with Nelson Tebbe), 120 Michigan Law Review 1307–1335 (2022).
Symposium introduction (with Naomi R. Cahn & Gregg Strauss), Family Court Review 1–3 (2021).
Professor Fish - Why Are You Still Picking on Liberalism?, 14 FIU Law Review 721–729 (2021).
Re-Upping Appeasement: Religious Freedom and Judicial Politics in the 2019 Term (with Nelson Tebbe), 2019-2020 ACS Supreme Court Review 115–141 (2020).
Establishment Clause Appeasement (with Nelson Tebbe), 2019 Supreme Court Review 271–311 (2020).
Religious Antiliberalism and the First Amendment (with Richard C. Schragger), 104 Minnesota Law Review 1341–1428 (2020).
Establishment Clause Inversion in the Bladensburg Cross Case (with Richard C. Schragger), 3 American Constitution Society Supreme Court Review 21–58 (2019).
Jews, not Pagans (with Richard C. Schragger), 56 San Diego Law Review 497–520 (2019).
Liberal Modesty and Political Appeasement (reviewing Cécile Laborde, Liberalism’s Religion) 81 Review of Politics 648–652 (2019).
Lying as a Political Wrong, 38 Law & Philosophy 507–515 (2019).
The Unreasonableness of Catholic Integralism (with Jocelyn Wilson), 56 San Diego Law Review 1039–1067 (2019).
The Costs of Conscience (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), 106 Kentucky Law Review 781–812 (2018).
The Etiquette of Animus (with Leslie Kendrick), 132 Harvard Law Review 133–170 (2018).
Morality, Ontology, and Corporate Rights (with Steven D. Walt), 11 Law & Ethics of Human Rights 1–29 (2017).
Religion as a Legal Proxy, 51 San Diego Law Review 1085–1104 (2014).
Religion, Equality, and Public Reason, 94 Boston University Law Review 1321–1337 (2014).
Obligation, Anarchy, and Exemption, 29 Constitutional Commentary 93–109 (2013).
Against Religious Institutionalism (with Richard C. Schragger), 99 Virginia Law Review 917–985 (2013).
Lost in Translation: A Dilemma for Freedom of the Church (with Richard C. Schragger), 21 Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues 15–30 (2013).
The Ethics of Reasoning from Conjecture, 9 Journal of Moral Philosophy 521–54 (2012).
What If Religion Is Not Special?, 79 University of Chicago Law Review 1351–1427 (2012).
Conscience, Speech, and Money, 97 Virginia Law Review 317–384 (2011).
The Sincerity of Public Reason, 19 Journal of Political Philosophy 375–398 (2011).
Judicial Sincerity, 94 Virginia Law Review 987–1027 (2008).
The Relevance of Locke's Religious Arguments for Toleration, 33 Political Theory 678–705 (2005).
The Completeness of Public Reason, 3 Politics, Philosophy, & Economics 191–220 (2004).

Op-Eds, Blogs, Shorter Works

Trump picked the youngest judges to sit on the federal bench. Your move, Biden. (with David Fontana), Washington Post (February 16, 2021).
Religious Privilege in Fulton and Beyond (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), SCOTUSblog (November 2, 2020).
Barrett Favors Religious Expression Over Other Speech. The Constitution Doesn’t. (with Nelson Tebbe), Washington Post (October 13, 2020).
The Separation of Church and State Is Breaking Down under Trump (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), The Atlantic (June 29, 2020).
The Quiet Demise of the Separation of Church and State (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), New York Times A23 (June 8, 2020).
Churches Have Been Hypocritical During the Pandemic (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Washington Post (May 13, 2020).
Against Establishment Clause Concession (with Nelson Tebbe), Take Care (February 28, 2019).
The Bladensburg Peace Cross Case Sends the Message That Some Citizens Are Less Valued Than Others (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Washington Post (February 26, 2019).
The Costs of Conscience and the Trump Contraception Rules (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Take Care (March 6, 2018).
Charlottesville’s Monuments Are Unconstitutional (with Nelson Tebbe), Slate (August 25, 2017).
Trump’s Latest Affront to Women, and to the Constitution (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Take Care (June 2, 2017).
Mitch Landrieu and the Anti-Denigration Constitution (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Take Care (May 25, 2017).
How Trump Will Transform the Federal Courts: One Young Judge at a Time (with Mark Joseph Stern), Slate (May 9, 2017).
Animus and the Travel Ban (with Corey Brettschneider & Nelson Tebbe), Take Care (May 8, 2017).
A Different View of Why the Muslim Ban Violates the Establishment Clause (with Corey Brettschneider, Joshua Matz & Nelson Tebbe), Take Care (April 20, 2017).
How Trump’s Executive Order on Immigration Violates Religious Freedom Laws (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Just Security (January 31, 2017).
Trump Wasn’t Elected as a Culture Warrior. He May Govern as One (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Vox (January 20, 2017).
Trump Wasn’t Elected as a Culture Warrior. He May Govern as One (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Vox (January 20, 2017).
Zubik and the Demands of Justice (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), SCOTUSblog (May 16, 2016).
The Contraception Compromise (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Slate (April 14, 2016).
Hobby Lobby’s Bitter Anniversary (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (June 30, 2015).
Obergefell and the End of Religious Reasons for Lawmaking (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Religion & Politics (June 29, 2015).
Indiana’s New Law Allows Discrimination. That Was the Point (with Nelson Tebbe & Robert Tuttle), Slate (March 30, 2015).
Utah “Compromise” to Protect LGBT Citizens from Discrimination Is No Model for the Nation (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Slate (March 18, 2015).
Holt v. Hobbs and Third Party Harms (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (January 22, 2015).
Update on the Establishment Clause and Third Party Harms: One Ongoing Violation and One Constitutional Accommodation (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (October 17, 2014).
The Evolution of Hobby Lobby: The Arguments that Matter and How They Were Developed (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Cornerstone (June 12, 2014).
A Prayer for Liberals (with Nelson Tebbe), Slate (May 8, 2014).
Town of Greece and the Demise of Religious Neutrality (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (May 6, 2014).
Reply to McConnell on Hobby Lobby and the Establishment Clause (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (March 30, 2014).
Hobby Lobby and the Establishment Clause: Amicus Brief (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (February 7, 2014).
Hobby Lobby and the Establishment Clause: Gedicks and the Government (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (January 21, 2014).
Hobby Lobby and the Establishment Clause, Part III: Reconciling Amos and Cutter (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (December 9, 2013).
Hobby Lobby and the Establishment Clause, Part II: What Counts As A Burden on Employees? (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (December 4, 2013).
The Establishment Clause and the Contraception Mandate (with Richard C. Schragger & Nelson Tebbe), Balkinization (November 27, 2013).
Obamacare and Religion and Arguing off the Wall (with Nelson Tebbe), Slate (November 26, 2013).
Symposium: The Puzzle of Town of Greece v. Galloway (with Nelson Tebbe), SCOTUSblog (September 24, 2013).

Current Courses

All Courses

Constitutional Law II: Church and State
Religion, Democracy and Law
Constitutional Law
Constitutional Theory
Advanced Topics in the First Amendment
Textualism and Its Critics
Seminar in Ethical Values
Legal Theory

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