Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Tyson Langhofer was on Fox & Friends this weekend discussing a Mississippi public school that prohibited a 3rd-grade student from wearing a ‘Jesus Loves Me’ face mask. YouTube Tips ⓘ
Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance.
Tyson C. Langhofer serves as senior counsel and director of the Center for Academic Freedom with Alliance Defending Freedom.
Langhofer represents students and faculty at public high schools and colleges in defending their First Amendment rights. For example, in Denton v. Hecht, he successfully defended a Florida State University student after he was removed as Student Senate President simply for sharing his Catholic views in a private group chat. In Cross v. Loudoun County Public Schools, he successfully defended an elementary school gym teacher after the school suspended him for peacefully sharing his views on a proposed policy at a public school board meeting.
Langhofer has extensive experience in civil litigation and constitutional law. Before joining ADF, Langhofer was a partner with Stinson LLP, where he worked as a commercial litigation attorney from 2000 until he joined ADF in 2015.
Langhofer is Peer Review Rated AV® Preeminent in Martindale-Hubbell. He is a sought-after speaker on legal and cultural issues. He regularly comments on free speech issues in television, radio, and print media. Llanghofer has appeared as a guest and written pieces for numerous major media outlets, including The Washington Post, The Washington Times, USA Today, Townhall, The Federalist, and The Daily Wire.
Langhofer earned his Juris Doctor from Regent University School of Law in 1999, graduating cum laude. Langhofer is admitted to practice in multiple states, the Supreme Court, and numerous federal district and appellate courts.
Freedom from Religion works in the opposite direction. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) is an American nonprofit organization, which advocates for atheists, agnostics, and nontheists. Formed in 1976, FFRF promotes the separation of church and state, and challenges the legitimacy of many federal and state programs that are faith-based. FFRF supports groups such as nonreligious students and clergy who want to leave their faith.
FFRF seeks to prevent prevent state or federal funds from being used to support religion in education. For example, in March 2005, the FFRF filed suit against the University of Minnesota because of the school’s involvement with the Minnesota Faith Health Consortium, a partnership with Luther Seminary, which is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, and Fairview Health Services. The lawsuit stated that state taxpayer funds were wrongly helping to fund a faith-based organization. In September 2005, the University agreed to end the partnership and to cease teaching “courses on the intersection of faith and health”, with the FFRF agreeing to drop its lawsuit.