Professor Richard Garnett receives Pope Pius XI Award from Society of Catholic Social Scientists

Richard W. Garnett, the Paul J. Schierl/Fort Howard Corporation Professor of Law and director of Notre Dame Law School's Program on Church, State & Society, has received the "Pope Pius XI Award for Contributions toward the Building Up of a True Catholic Social Science" from the Society of Catholic Social Scientists. The award was presented at the annual Society of Catholic Social Scientists conference at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio on Friday, October 27.

The Society of Catholic Social Scientists is a scholarly, interdisciplinary organization dedicated to promoting and conducting rigorous social scientific research within the parameters of orthodox Catholic doctrine. Since 1995, they have awarded the Pope Pius XI Award to scholars whose efforts have contributed to building up a true Catholic social science.

Garnett teaches and writes about freedoms of speech, association, religion, and constitutional law. He is a leading authority on questions and debates regarding the role of religious believers and beliefs in politics and society.

He is the founding director of Notre Dame Law School's Program on Church, State, and Society, an interdisciplinary project that focuses on the role of religious institutions, communities, and authorities in the social order. Garnett also serves as a faculty fellow for the Law School's Religious Liberty Initiative and has filed several amicus briefs in cases on behalf of the Religious Liberty Clinic.

Garnett is the co-author (with John Witte Jr. and Joel A. Nichols) of the fifth edition of "Religion and the American Constitutional Experiment," published by Oxford University Press. The book tells the story of religious liberty in America from its colonial beginnings to the latest Supreme Court cases. He recently co-edited (with Nicole Stelle Garnett and Ernest Morrell) a collection of essays by John Coons, "The Case for Parental Choice," published by Notre Dame Press.