Marci Hamilton
Marci Ann Hamilton (born July 22, 1957) is the chief executive officer and academic director at Child USA, an interdisciplinary think tank to prevent child abuse and neglect. She is also a scholar of constitutional law and a Fox Family Pavilion Distinguished Scholar in the Fox Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is an expert on and advocate for the enforcement of the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. Hamilton promotes adequate protection for minors, individuals and landowners who suffer as a result of actions which are claimed to be constitutionally protected on religious grounds. Hamilton is critical of provisions within Federal and State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts. Background and ideas Hamilton received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1979. She then earned a master's degree at Pennsylvania State University and a juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she was editor-in-chief of the Law Review. Hamilton served as a law clerk for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the Supreme Court of the United States and Chief Judge Edward R. Becker of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She was the lead counsel for the city of Boerne, Texas, in Boerne v. Flores before the U.S. Supreme Court. Hamilton is a critic of the Utah Attorney General's office for not vigorously prosecuting polygamists in the state. She indicated that arguments against prosecution based on due process violations and alleged violations of religious freedom had no merit. However, this position has been criticized as one based on legal theory that ignores the reality of limited amounts of evidence and limited government resources. Hamilton is vocal about her standing as a religious believer and cites examples where religion is a significant benefit to human society. She further asserts that religious liberty deserves accommodation as long as such accommodation complies with the "no harm principle". Hamilton argues that state and church separation are vital to religious liberty. She bases this contention on the record of religious diversity among the framers of the constitution and their distrust of government sanctioned religion in the "old world". Hamilton is critical of legislation that is passed under the guise of protecting religious liberty while, in her opinion, create unintended and unreasonable consequences. In 2016, Hamilton founded Child USA, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit think tank that provides scholarship on issues of child abuse and medical neglect. Child USA brings together educators and students to uncover the hidden and false assumptions that are endangering children. The think tank works to study the issues, track societal and legislative responses and trends, provide expert testimony to explain the issues to legislators and policymakers, and to educate the public. Hamilton currently serves as the chief executive officer and Academic Director. Advocacy Hamilton advocates limiting legal exemptions on religious grounds, with the intended purpose of creating greater protection for individuals who may face: Clergy abuse from within the Roman Catholic Church, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Fundamental Church of Jesus Christ of