Religious Liberty Expert Kelly Shackelford's Statement Following Trump Meeting
NEW YORK, June 21, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Kelly Shackelford, regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal experts on religious freedom, was a member of a select group of conveners who organized a meeting between Donald Trump and national evangelical leaders in New York City.
At the meeting today, Shackelford was one of only six people selected to ask Mr. Trump questions. Due to his legal expertise, Shackelford was designated to ask Mr. Trump questions about his potential judicial appointments to the Supreme Court, as well as hundreds of judicial seats across America.
"For me, there are two ultimate issues in this election: religious freedom and the federal courts," Shackelford said following the meeting. "I was grateful that the number one topic of today's conversation was religious liberty, giving us a good starting point to understand where Mr. Trump stands on the issue."
"I appreciated how, very early in the meeting, Mr. Trump brought up First Liberty's client, Coach Joe Kennedy, and expressed his concern that a high school football coach would be fired for praying after a game. Mr. Trump said attacks on faith like this need to stop and I agree."
"During the conversation, I asked Mr. Trump to discuss his future judicial appointments and to explain what he would do to ensure that religious liberty is protected for people of faith, which includes people like Coach Kennedy. Mr. Trump noted that the courts will decide these types of cases and said he plans to release a list of four to five more judicial candidates he would consider appointing. I look forward to seeing his list and hope it will contain judicial nominees who would be devoted to protecting our constitutional right of religious liberty."
"Although there is still more to learn about where Mr. Trump stands on some of the top religious freedom cases in America, like the Little Sisters of the Poor and military chaplains, I think today was a good start and I look forward to continuing the conversation," said Shackelford. "I will do all I can to ensure that our next president, whoever it may be, will protect the rights of all Americans to practice their faith freely."
About Kelly Shackelford
Shackelford is President and CEO of First Liberty Institute, the largest law firm in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans. As a constitutional attorney who has argued before the Supreme Court and defended religious liberty for over twenty-five years, he is regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal experts on religious freedom. Read Kelly's bio
About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
SOURCE First Liberty Institute
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