Justice Story and Religious Freedom Jurisprudence

Brent J. Nymeyer*

Justice Joseph Story was guided by a hatred of religious persecution and a love of freedom of religious belief. Both through the opinions that he authored during his time as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, as well as the treatises that he authored as a law professor at Harvard Law School, his work has influenced religious freedom jurisprudence in American law. This Essay explores the contours of his impact on American religious liberty jurisprudence. It proceeds as follows.

Part I provides a background to this discussion, presenting Justice Story’s life and legacy as well as his personality and judicial philosophy. Next, Part II proposes the channels through which Justice Story has influenced religious liberty jurisprudence, discussing relevant opinions he wrote as a Supreme Court Justice as well as provisions of his Commentaries on the Constitution that touch on the religion clauses of the First Amendment specifically. Part III evaluates Supreme Court opinions that have used Justice Story’s Commentaries as support in developing First Amendment jurisprudence and assesses how each respective judicial opinion evaluated has used Justice Story’s Commentaries in its development of First Amendment jurisprudence. The Essay concludes with a summary of the effect that Justice Story, through his sources of influence, has had and likely will continue to have on American jurisprudence.

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*J.D., University of Notre Dame Law School, 2025; B.S., Liberty University, 2020. Thank you to my friends and fellow editors of the Notre Dame Law Review—particularly those on the Reflection team—for their unwavering support and tireless edits. All errors are my own. All glory belongs to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.