Education

• Ohio State University B.A. 1976
• Ohio State University J.D. 1979

Courses

• Constitutional Law I (B513)
• Constitutional Law II (B668)
• Law and Religion (B730)

Background

• Earned his J.D. from The Ohio State University; elected to Order of the Coif; served as research editor for the Ohio State Law Journal
• Two-time winner of the Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award, the highest teaching award the school can bestow
• Recipient of six faculty fellowships for outstanding scholarship in constitutional law and theory and religion and the law
• Author of Religion, Law, and the Constitution, Second Edition (Foundation Press, 2022)

Biography

A member of the faculty since 1983, Professor Conkle teaches Constitutional Law, the First Amendment, and Law and Religion. His research addresses constitutional law and theory, religious liberty, and the role of religion in American law, politics, and public life. His most recent book is Religion, Law, and the Constitution, Second Edition (Foundation Press, 2022).

Conkle has been honored for his achievements both within and beyond the classroom. He is a two-time recipient of the Leon H. Wallace Teaching Award and has twice won the Gavel Award for outstanding contribution to the graduating class. He has received six faculty fellowships for outstanding scholarship, and in 1999 he was named the Robert H. McKinney Professor of Law. He retired from full-time teaching in December 2017 but continues to be involved in the Law School community.

In the Media

• Appeared at "Are we in a Constitutional Crisis?," Indiana Public Media (4/18/2025)
• Quoted in "Could the state withhold funding from IU over the IDS? Experts say it’s not that simple," Indiana Daily Student (12/3/2024)
• Presented at "Legal scholars, BOT member question expressive activity policy’s legality," Indiana Daily Student (11/25/2024)
• Quoted in "Shreve raises First Amendment questions with social media posts about protest," Indianapolis Business Journal (10/13/2023)
• Quoted in "Intimidation convictions of Amish bishops who banned woman upheld," Herald Bulletin (8/3/2023)
• Quoted in "Intimidation convictions of Amish bishops who banned woman upheld," Herald Bulletin (8/3/2023)
• Quoted in "School library book banning has First Amendment implications, but law 'ambiguous'," The Republic (2/12/2023)
• Quoted in "Can Indiana’s religious freedom law strike down the state’s abortion ban?," The Indiana Lawyer (10/3/2022)
• Wrote "A Grand Compromise on Abortion," Politico (6/30/2022)
• Quoted in "Courts asked to reinstate blocked Indiana anti-abortion laws," Associated Press (6/28/2022)

Selected works

• RELIGION, LAW, AND THE CONSTITUTION, SECOND EDITION  (Foundation Press, Concepts and Insights Series, 2022)
• Human Rights, Constitutional Rights, and Judicial Review: Comparing and Assessing Michael Perry's Early and Contemporary Arguments, 71 EMORY L.J. 1365 (2022)
• Animus and Its Alternatives: Constitutional Principle and Judicial Prudence, 48 STETSON L. REV. 195 (2019)
• Evolving Values, Animus, and Same-Sex Marriage, 89 IND. L.J. 27 (2014)
• Religion, Government, and Law in the Contemporary United States, in THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IN AMERICA, Vol. III, at 648 (Stephen J. Stein, ed.; Cambridge University Press, 2012)
• Religious Truth, Pluralism, and Secularization: The Shaking Foundations of American Religious Liberty, 32 CARDOZO L. REV. 1755 (2011)
• CONSTITUTIONAL LAW: THE RELIGION CLAUSES, SECOND EDITION (Foundation Press, Turning Point Series, 2009)
• Three Theories of Substantive Due Process, 85 N.C. L. REV. 63 (2006)
• The Path of American Religious Liberty: From the Original Theology to Formal Neutrality and an Uncertain Future, 75 IND. L.J. 1 (2000)
• Secular Fundamentalism, Religious Fundamentalism, and the Search for Truth in Contemporary America, 12 J.L. & RELIG. 337 (1995-96), republished in LAW AND RELIGION: A CRITICAL ANTHOLOGY (Stephen M. Feldman, ed.; New York University Press, 2000)
• Toward a General Theory of the Establishment Clause, 82 NW. U.L. REV. 1113 (1988)

Related links

• Social Science Research Network
• Publications

Areas of expertise

• Constitutional law
• First Amendment