Overview

Throughout American history, legal battles concerning the First Amendment’s protection of religious liberty have been among the most contentious issue of the rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution. Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court: The Essential Cases and Documents, second edition, represents the most authoritative and up-to-date overview of the landmark cases that have defined religious freedom in America. Noted religious liberty expert Vincent Philip Muñoz provides carefully edited excerpts from 77 of the most important Supreme Court religious liberty cases. In addition, Muñoz’s substantive introduction offers an overview on the constitutional history of religious liberty in America. Introductory headnotes to each case provide the constitutional and historical context. Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court is an indispensable resource for anyone interested matters of religious freedom from the Republic’s earliest days to current debates.

Full Product Details

9798216374862

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Vincent Phillip Muñoz’s Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court is by far the best single collection of Supreme Court cases on the religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Muñoz’s editorial work on abridging the opinions, as well as his brief introductory comments for each case, are masterfully done. I have used this book as a required text since the first edition appeared in 2011. Unlike traditional case law books—which are dominated by commentary and black-letter law—Muñoz’s text consists almost entirely of just the cases themselves. This allows students to explore the Court’s many opinions unburdened by some overarching theory or point of view that the editor or author thinks they should embrace. This also permits instructors a lot of leeway in crafting their syllabi and introducing students to secondary sources.” * Francis J. Beckwith, Professor Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Baylor University; Member, Advisory Board of Legal Experts for the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission (2025-2026), USA * “Interpretations of the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment continue to evolve and elicit great interest, and few scholars are better situated to trace them than Professor Muñoz, with his deep knowledge of the American founding fathers and his expertise in both law and political science. Although Muñoz arranges this thorough and well-edited casebook chronologically, he also lists cases by subject matter, allowing professors the option of taking either approach in their teaching. In addition to key Supreme Court decisions, the book includes other important documents, which cast additional light on the origin and meaning of the two clauses.” * John R. Vile, Dean and Professor of Political Science, Middle State Tennessee University, USA * ""The earlier edition of this book has long been required reading for anyone interested in the long (and often complicated) debate over religious liberty in the United States. This updated version, which adds more recent decisions from the Roberts Court, makes it indispensable for understanding both the evolution of the Court's thinking and the jurisprudence guiding Church-State relations today. I could not recommend it highly enough."" * A. Edward Siecienski, Professor of Religion, Stockton University, USA * “Religious liberty is one of the hallmarks of the American political order, and for anyone who wants to better understand how the Supreme Court has understood it, Munoz’s deftly chosen and edited collection of cases is unmatched.” * Bryan T. McGraw, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Wheaton College, USA *

""Vincent Phillip Muñoz’s Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court is by far the best single collection of Supreme Court cases on the religion clauses of the U.S. Constitution. Muñoz’s editorial work on abridging the opinions, as well as his brief introductory comments for each case, are masterfully done. I have used this book as a required text since the first edition appeared in 2011. Unlike traditional case law books—which are dominated by commentary and black-letter law—Muñoz’s text consists almost entirely of just the cases themselves. This allows students to explore the Court’s many opinions unburdened by some overarching theory or point of view that the editor or author thinks they should embrace. This also permits instructors a lot of leeway in crafting their syllabi and introducing students to secondary sources.” * Francis J. Beckwith, Professor Philosophy & Church-State Studies, Baylor University; Member, Advisory Board of Legal Experts for the Presidential Religious Liberty Commission (2025-2026), USA * “Interpretations of the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment continue to evolve and elicit great interest, and few scholars are better situated to trace them than Professor Muñoz, with his deep knowledge of the American founding fathers and his expertise in both law and political science. Although Muñoz arranges this thorough and well-edited casebook chronologically, he also lists cases by subject matter, allowing professors the option of taking either approach in their teaching. In addition to key Supreme Court decisions, the book includes other important documents, which cast additional light on the origin and meaning of the two clauses.” * John R. Vile, Dean and Professor of Political Science, Middle State Tennessee University, USA * ""The earlier edition of this book has long been required reading for anyone interested in the long (and often complicated) debate over religious liberty in the United States. This updated version, which adds more recent decisions from the Roberts Court, makes it indispensable for understanding both the evolution of the Court's thinking and the jurisprudence guiding Church-State relations today. I could not recommend it highly enough."" * A. Edward Siecienski, Professor of Religion, Stockton University, USA * “Religious liberty is one of the hallmarks of the American political order, and for anyone who wants to better understand how the Supreme Court has understood it, Munoz’s deftly chosen and edited collection of cases is unmatched.” * Bryan T. McGraw, Professor of Politics and International Relations, Wheaton College, USA * “Philip Muñoz’s Religious Liberty and the American Supreme Court is an excellent compilation of the most essential cases on religion in American constitutional law, supplemented with some valuable historical documents. It was the perfect resource for my seminar on Religion and the Supreme Court. This is just what one would expect of a book produced by one of the outstanding contemporary scholars on religious liberty.” * Christopher Wolfe, Distinguished Research Scholar, University of Dallas, USA * “Prof. Munoz has expertly curated the founding documents and Supreme Court decisions that explain America’s distinctive commitment to religious liberty. He presents the well-edited cases and historical documents in chronological order and, refreshingly, allows them to speak for themselves without distracting commentary. The Supreme Court has recently issued several landmark decisions in this area, and I am happy to see a new edition that includes these important developments.” * Ken Miller, Rose Professor of State and Local Government & Director of the Rose Institute, Claremont McKenna College, USA *

Author Information

Vincent Phillip Munoz is the Tocqueville Professor of Political Science and Concurrent Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Munoz writes and teaches across the fields of constitutional law, American politics, and political philosophy.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available