William Pew Religious Freedom Scholarship Winners

Listed below are the winners of the seventh annual William Pew Religious Freedom Scholarship Competition for full-time law students.


First Place - Michael E. Lechliter

Paper
"The Fundamental Right of Parents to Direct the Religious Upbringing of Their Children: An Examination of Free Exercise and Parental Rights Under Justice Scalia's theory of Hybrid Rights"

Biography
Mike recently entered his third year at the University of Michigan Law School, where he is a Notes Editor of the Law Review, a winner of the Law School’s Bodman-Longley Award, and a Dean’s Scholarship recipient.

Mike received his undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond in 2001. He is a resident of Bethesda, MD and worked this past summer at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C.

Paper
"Can Independent Religious Organizations Hire and Fire on the Basis of Religion?"

Biography
Tom Messner plans to receive his J.D. in Law from Notre Dame Law School in May 2005. President of Federalist Societ at Notre Dame, Tom is also a 2004-2006 White Scholar in the Thomas J. White Center for Law & Government, and serves as an Article Editor on the White Center's law journal, the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy. In addition, Tom is also the Executive Editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy's 2004 National Symposium Issue.

After his second year, Tom successfully completed the Summer Associate program at Shaw Pittman LLP in Washington, DC.

Tom graduated from Grove City College in 2000 with a B.A. in Christian Thought. In college, Tom was nominated for the Rhodes Scholarship, served as Chaplain in his social fraternity, and was selected for membership in the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society. His junior year, Tom was a visiting student at Oxford University in Oxford, England, where he studied theology and philosophy and played rugby. In 1999, Tom ran the Honolulu Marathon.

Between college and law school, Tom substitute taught in Ohio public schools; volunteered in a homeless shelter in Memphis, Tennessee; worked in an adult degree completion program serving Brooklyn, New York; and developed real estate with a rural land developer back in Ohio. Tom has published a critique of the popular apocalyptic novels, the Left Behind series. Tom hopes eventually to be a real estate mogul while writing insightful, influential articles in law, culture, and public policy.

Tom is the firstborn of five children.

Paper
"Landmark Decision or Limited Precedent: Does Lawrence v. Texas Require Recognition of a Fundamental Right to Same-Sex Marriage?"

Biography
Charles is a Blackstone Fellow (2003) and a third-year law student at Samford University, Cumberland School of Law, located in Birmingham, Alabama, where he serves as Editor in Chief for Volume 35 of the CUMBERLAND LAW REVIEW. Charles’ Pew Foundation Scholarship Competition paper, which argues that Lawrence v. Texas does not establish a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, will be published later this year in the CUMBERLAND LAW REVIEW.

Mr. Mauney attended the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and graduated first in his class. He also studied music and theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. After graduating from law school, Mr. Mauney plans to join the Birmingham law firm Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt, L.L.C., as an associate.

Mr. Mauney and his wife, Jaime, have been married for six years and have one daughter, Mary Elisabeth. They reside in Gardendale, Alabama.

Related information

Topic and rules for the 2005 Pew Scholarship Competition