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The Nootbaar Institute Hosts Panel Debate on Religious Freedom in America

Pepperdine University’s Herbert and Elinor Nootbaar Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics will host a panel discussion titled, "The Mosque Next Door: A Debate on Religious Freedom in America," on Friday, Sept. 10 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. in the Mendenhall Appellate Courtroom at the School of Law. 

Formatted as a discussion between professors Shelley Ross Saxer and Robert J. Pushaw, this event will cover the legal issues found in the controversy over the proposed Muslim community center and prayer hall located close to Ground Zero in New York City. Professor Robert F. Cochran, Jr., director of the Nootbaar Institute, will moderate the discussion.

At the core of the controversy is the ever-present religious tension between the principles and practices of freedom of religion in America, which is particularly relevant with the approaching anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade buildings in New York City.

Shelley Ross Saxer, professor of law and director of the Wm. Matthew Byrne, Jr., Judicial Clerkship Institute, has published multiple articles on the intersection of land use issues and constitutional concerns. She has taught courses in real property, community property, remedies, environmental law, water law, and land use since joining the Pepperdine faculty in 1991.

Robert J. Pushaw, James Wilson Endowed Professor of Law, has a scholarly interest in the Constitution. His widely published scholarship studies the influence of 18th-century Anglo-American political and legal theory on the development of the modern law governing the Constitution (especially the Commerce Clause) and the federal courts (particularly the justiciability doctrines and inherent judicial powers). He joined the law faculty in 2001.

For more information, contact Lauren Hartley at (310) 506-4734, or visit the Nootbaar Institute Web site.