John Inazu
Sally D. Danforth Distinguished Professor of Law & Religion and Professor of Political Science (by courtesy)
Office
Anheuser-Busch Hall
Room 547
Faculty Links
Featured Scholarship
-
John Inazu, Assembling the Past: History, Tradition, and the Future of the Right of Assembly, Notre Dame L. Rev. (forthcoming 2026)
-
John Inazu, Incitement, Enthusiasm, and the Dangers of Negligent Protest, J. Free Speech L. (forthcoming 2025)
-
John Inazu, Learning to Disagree: The Suprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect (Zondervan 2024)
About John Inazu
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.
Inazu’s latest book, Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect, was published by Zondervan in Spring 2024. He also has a weekly Substack, Some Assembly Required.
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
Scholarship
BOOKS
- Learning to Disagree: The Surprising Path to Navigating Differences with Empathy and Respect (Zondervan, 2024)
- Confident Pluralism: Surviving and Thriving Through Deep Difference (University of Chicago Press, 2016)
- reviewed in the Washington Post, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Commentary, Chicago Law Review and others
- paperback edition with new preface (University of Chicago Press, 2018)
- Liberty’s Refuge: The Forgotten Freedom of Assembly (Yale University Press, 2012)
- reviewed in Texas Law Review, The New Republic, First Things, Journal of Legal Education, and others
EDITED VOLUMES
- Uncommon Ground: Living Faithfully in a World of Difference (with Timothy Keller) (Thomas Nelson, 2020)
- The Religion Clauses, 97 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1631 (2020)
- Theological Argument in Law: Engaging with Stanley Hauerwas, 75 Law & Contemp. Probs., no. 4 (2012)
ARTICLES AND BOOK CHAPTERS
- “The Right of Assembly Revisited,” in Ashutosh Bhagwat & Alan K. Chen, eds., The Elgar Companion to Freedom of Speech and Expression (forthcoming 2025)
- “Assembly, Pluralism, and Identity,” in Tabatha Abu El-Haj, Michael Hamilton, Thomas Probert, and Sharath Srinivasan, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Assembly (Oxford University Press, 2024)
- First Amendment Scrutiny: Realigning First Amendment Doctrine Around Government Interests, 89 Brooklyn L. Rev. 1 (2023)
- COVID-19, Churches, and Culture Wars, 18 U. St. Thomas L. J. 207 (2022)
- Virtual Access: A New Framework for Disability Access and Human Flourishing in an Online World, 2021 Wisc. L. Rev. 719 (2021) (with Johanna Smith)
- Beyond Unreasonable, 99 Neb. L. Rev. 375 (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)
- “Hope without a Common Good,” in Eboo Patel, Out of Many Faiths: Religious Diversity and the American Promise (Princeton University Press, 2018)
- Peyote and Ghouls in the Night: Justice Scalia’s Religion Clause Minimalism, 15 First Amend. L. Rev. 239 (2017)
- Unlawful Assembly as Social Control, 64 UCLA L. Rev. 2 (2017)
- Re-Assembling Labor, 2015 Ill. L. Rev. 1791 (2015) (with Marion Crain)
- A Confident Pluralism, 88 S. Cal. L. Rev. 587 (2015)
- 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)
- selected for reprint in 2014-15 First Amendment Handbook
- The Four Freedoms and the Future of Religious Liberty, 92 N.C. L. Rev. 787 (2014)
- response by Nelson Tebbe, 92 N.C. L. Rev. 917 (2014)
- The Freedom of the Church (New Revised Standard Version), 21 J. Contemp. Legal Issues 335 (2013)
- Virtual Assembly, 98 Cornell L. Rev. 1093 (2013)
- The Limits of Integrity, 75 Law & Contemp. Probs., no. 4, 181 (2012)
- Factions for the Rest of Us, 89 Wash. U. L. Rev. 1435 (2012)
- Justice Ginsburg and Religious Liberty, 63 Hastings L.J. 1213 (2012)
- Between Liberalism and Theocracy, 33 Camp. L. Rev. 591 (2011)
- The Unsettling “Well-Settled” Law of Freedom of Association, 43 Conn. L. Rev. 149 (2010)
- The Forgotten Freedom of Assembly, 84 Tul. L. Rev. 565 (2010)
- The Strange Origins of the Constitutional Right of Association, 77 Tenn. L. Rev. 485 (2010)
- Making Sense of Schaumburg: Seeking Coherence in First Amendment Charitable Solicitation Law, 92 Marq. L. Rev. 551 (2009)
- No Future Without (Personal) Forgiveness: Reexamining the Role of Forgiveness in Transitional Justice, 10 Hum. Rts. Rev. 309 (2009)
- Boeing v. Roche and the Benefit Theory of Allocability: Unlocking Lockheed or Ignoring Northrop?, 32 Pub. Cont. L.J. 39 (2002)
Media
Activity & Affiliations
- Interfaith America, Senior Fellow (2022-present)
- John Burroughs School, Trustee (2021 – present)
- The Carver Project, Executive Director (2017 – 2022); Trustee (2022-2023)
- InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Trustee (2015 – present)
- Missouri Advisory Committee, United States Commission on Civil Rights (2014-16)
Honors & Awards
- David M. Becker Professor of the Year (2014)
- Meritorious Service Medal w/ oak leaf cluster (2003, 2004)