John Inazu
Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion and Professor of Political Science (by courtesy)
John Inazu’s scholarship focuses on the First Amendment freedoms of speech, assembly, and religion, and related questions of legal and political theory. His books include Liberty’s Refuge: The Forgotten Freedom of Assembly (Yale University Press, 2012) and Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (University of Chicago Press, 2016; paperback 2018). Inazu is the special editor of a volume on law and theology published in Law and Contemporary Problems and co-editor (with Tim Keller) of Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference (Thomas Nelson, 2020). His articles have appeared in a number of law reviews and specialty journals, and he has written broadly for mainstream audiences in publications including the Atlantic, USA Today, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Prior to law teaching, Inazu clerked for Judge Roger L. Wollman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and served for four years as an associate general counsel with the Department of the Air Force at the Pentagon.
- Education
- Ph.D. (Political Theory), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2009
- J.D., Duke University School of Law, 2000
- B.S.E. (Civil Engineering), Duke University, 1997
- Courses
- Criminal Law
- Religion and the Constitution
- Law, Religion, and Politics (Seminar)
- Advanced Topics in the First Amendment (Seminar)
- Law and Theology (Seminar)
- Areas of Expertise
- First Amendment
- Law and Religion
- Law and Theology
- Pluralism
- Protests
- Publications
Select Publications:
- Virtual Access: A New Framework for Disability Access and Human Flourishing in an Online World (with Johanna Smith) (Wisc. L. Rev., forthcoming 2021)
- COVID-19, Churches, and Culture Wars (St. Thomas L.Rev, forthcoming 2021)
- Beyond Unreasonable (forthcoming Nebraska L. Rev., 2020)
- Holmes, Humility, and How Not to Kill Each Other, 94 Notre Dame L. Rev. 1631 (2019)
- The Purpose (and Limits) of the University, 5 Utah L. Rev. 943 (2018)
- Unlawful Assembly as Social Control, 64 UCLA L. Rev. 2 (2017)
- Re-Assembling Labor, 2015 Ill. L. Rev. 1791 (2015) (with Marion Crain)
- The First Amendment’s Public Forum, 56 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 1159 (2015)
- More is More: Strengthening Free Exercise, Speech, and Association, 99 Minn. L. Rev. 485 (2014)
- The Four Freedoms and the Future of Religious Liberty, 92 N.C. L. Rev. 787 (2014)
- Virtual Assembly, 98 Cornell L. Rev. 1093 (2013)
- Activity and Affiliations
- John Burroughs School, Trustee (2021 – present)
- The Carver Project, Executive Director (2017 – present)
- InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Trustee (2015 – present)
- Missouri Advisory Committee, United States Commission on Civil Rights (2014-16)
- Honors and Awards
- David M. Becker Professor of the Year (2014)
- Meritorious Service Medal w/ oak leaf cluster (2003, 2004)
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