NEWS RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA

October 9, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LOCAL CONSTITUTIONAL SCHOLAR TO SPEAK AT NEW ORLEANS SECULAR HUMANIST ASSOCIATION MEETING AT EAST BANK REGIONAL LIBRARY

JEFFERSON, LA – Andrew L. Seidel, a constitutional attorney and author, will speak on the topic of “American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom,” at 2:30 p.m., Saturday, October 21, 2023 at the East Bank Regional Library (4747 W. Napoleon Ave., Metairie, LA 70001).

This event occurs as part of the regularly scheduled meeting of the New Orleans Secular Humanist Association that meets at the library monthly. This presentation is free of charge and open to the public. There is no registration.

In this presentation, Seidel discusses some of the key Supreme Court cases in the last decade to show “how freedom of religion has been turned into a tool to advance privilege and impose conservative Christianity on others.” Seidel, who works at Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has been in this fight for more than a decade.

Andrew is a constitutional and civil rights attorney and the author of two books:  (which he’ll discuss at this event).

Seidel is the vice president of strategic communications at Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He is also a senior correspondent at Religion Dispatches. He is the author of two books: The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American and American Crusade: How the Supreme Court is Weaponizing Religious Freedom. He is also co-editor of an academic text, Law and Religion: Cases and Materials 5th Edition.

Seidel graduated cum laude from Tulane University with a B.S. in neuroscience and environmental science and magna cum laude from Tulane University Law School, where he was awarded the Haber J. McCarthy Award for excellence in environmental law. He studied human rights and international law at the University of Amsterdam and traveled the world on Semester at Sea. He completed his Master of Laws degree at Denver University Sturm College of Law with a perfect GPA and was awarded the Outstanding L.L.M. Award for his work as the Erik Bluemel International Environmental Law Fellow.  

The New Orleans Secular Humanist Association is dedicated to raising the awareness of people of the Gulf Coast region to the ideals and values of secular humanism. It is an affiliate of the Council for Secular Humanism, an associate of the American Humanist Association, an affiliate of American Atheists, and a member of the Atheist Alliance International.

For more information regarding this event, contact Chris Smith, Manager of Adult Programming for the library, at 504-889-8143 or wcsmith@jefferson.lib.la.us.

The Jefferson Parish Library system consists of 16 locations that stretch from the Lakeshore Branch on the edge of Lake Pontchartrain to the Grand Isle Branch just steps away from the Gulf of Mexico. The library system consists of two large regional libraries and seven branches on each side of the Mississippi River. The East Bank Regional Library (4747 West Napoleon Ave., Metairie, LA 70001) serves as library headquarters. The Jefferson Parish Library is the second largest system in the state of Louisiana. More than 200 employees work for the Jefferson Parish Library including librarians, administration and support staff. For more information, contact the library at (504) 838-1100 or www.jefferson.lib.la.us.

For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net. Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on social media (@JeffParishGov) or by texting JPALERT or JPNOTICIAS to 888-777.

###

Jefferson Parish Public Information Office 1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Suite 1002 Jefferson, LA 70123

JPALERT – SIGN UP TO RECEIVE EMERGENCY ALERTS

Gretchen Hirt Gendron, PIO