Join us for a conversation with Founder and Chairman
of Liberty Counsel, Mat Staver.
Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 12 p.m. (ET)
Dial 667-776-9181 (no code needed)
The 2023 Supreme Court session ended with a series of significant decisions. Among them was the Affirmative Action decision. The court ruled that race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard, a private institution, and the University of North Carolina, a public one, were unlawful. The decision stated that race could not be the deciding factor in admissions policies.
Another decision that has a great impact is the Student Loan decision. The court ruled that the Biden administration’s plan to wipe out more than $400 billion in student debt was not authorized by Congress. In other words, the Executive branch does not have the right to legislate, bypassing the Legislative branch, affirming the separation of powers.
In the religious freedom category, the court ruled that a web designer has a First Amendment right to refuse to create sites for same-sex weddings despite a state law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. It’s great to see the Court begin to recognize the priority of the First Amendment over current cultural trends!
And in a surprise 9-0 decision, the court broadened accommodations that employers must make for workers’ religious practices, siding with a postal worker who was disciplined for refusing to work on Sundays for religious reasons. The decision simply stated that it takes more than an inconvenience to the employer for an employee to be forced to violate his/her religious practice.
Mat Staver serves as Senior Pastor, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel; Chairman of Liberty Counsel Action, Faith and Liberty, National Pro-life Center, Freedom Federation, Salt & Light Council, and National House of Hope; Founder and Chairman of Liberty Relief International; Vice President and Chief Counsel of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (which includes over 42,000 Evangelical Hispanic churches); former Vice President of Liberty University; former dean and tenured professor of law at Liberty University School of Law; Trustee of Timothy Plan, a New York and Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange-traded family of mutual funds; Trustee of the Supreme Court Historical Society; Member of the Board of Reference of the Christian Film and Television Commission; Member of the Board of Advisors of Care for Pastors; Founder and former President of Staver & Associates; and Founder and former President of The Staver Group.
Mat has over 300 published legal opinions. He authored eight scholarly law review publications, many booklets and brochures, hundreds of articles, and numerous books, including Why Israel Matters, Faith & Freedom: A Complete Handbook for Defending Your Religious Rights, Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk, and Eternal Vigilance: Knowing and Protecting Your Religious Freedom.
Mat is the host and producer of Faith and Freedom podcast/radio program and Freedom’s Call radio program. He also produces a Bible study podcast. He is a frequent guest on many international and national network and cable television and radio programs, and has been interviewed for thousands of print and electronic media sources.
Mat has filed numerous briefs and argued in many federal and state courts, including three landmark cases before the U.S. Supreme Court: Shurtleff v. City of Boston, Madsen v. Women’s Health Center and McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky.
Prior to law school, Mat pastored several churches. He reads Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Syriac. He graduated first in his seminary class and wrote the longest Master’s thesis in the history of the school at that time, entitled: Quest for the Historical Jesus: An Inquiry into the Historicity of the Passion Predictions. Using historical research methods, he defended the historicity of the passion statements of Jesus. While in seminary, he was invited to present his research to biblical scholars from around the world at an American Society of Oriental Research annual conference. Mat continues to preach, baptize, and perform other sacerdotal functions.
Mat has the highest AV rating given to attorneys by Martindale-Hubble. He is licensed as an attorney in Florida and the District of Columbia, and is board certified in Appellate Practice by the Florida Bar.
Mat has a B.A., Theology, cum laude, Southern Missionary College; M.A., Religion, summa cum laude, Andrews University; J.D., University of Kentucky; LL.D., honoris causa, Liberty University; D.D., honoris causa, South Florida Bible College.
He is married to Anita, who is also an attorney, as well as President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel.
Please join us for this stimulating and informative conversation.
