Michael White

An essay by Michael White, Professor of Law and Philosophy, entitled, “The First Amendment’s Religion Clauses: ‘Freedom of Conscience’ Versus Institutional Accommodation,” was published in a special symposium issue of the San Diego Law Review.

In his essay, White argues against the tendency to view the First Amendment as protecting a generalized freedom of conscience. Instead, he argues for the “Institutional Accommodation” view, which focuses on the relative independence from secular control of religious institutions and a principal of government neutrality toward those institutions.

To read White’s entire essay, click here.

White’s interests include the history and theory of natural law and the interaction of this tradition with theology and with other jurisprudential traditions such as legal positivism. He teaches the course, Great Traditions in Jurisprudence, and seminars on the natural law tradition, legal positivism, and other topics in jurisprudence.