Michael Moreland, JD, PhD

Professor of Law and Religion; Director, Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy | Charles Widger School of Law

Michael Moreland, JD, PhD, is an expert in the areas of law and religion, free speech, constitutional law and bioethics.

Spotlight

An Expert Guide to the Papacy and Pope Francis

4/24/2025

Media

Videos (2)

Addressing Justice Kennedy's Retirement (June 2018)

Michael Moreland joined NBC10 to discuss the impact of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement.

Possible SCOTUS nominees (July 2018)

Michael Moreland spoke with NBC10 about potential Supreme Court nominees.

Areas of Expertise (9)

Supreme Court
Free Speech
Supreme Court Nomination Process
Law and Religion
Constitutional Law
First Amendment
Separation of Powers
Gerrymandering
Bioethics

Biography

Professor Moreland is an expert on topics related to law and religion, free speech, constitutional law, tort law, and bioethics. Moreland previously served as Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House under President George W. Bush, where he worked on a range of legal policy issues, including criminal justice, immigration, civil rights and liability reform.

Education (4)

University of Michigan Law School: JD
Boston College: PhD
Boston College: MA
University of Notre Dame: BA

Links (1)

Villanova University's Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy

Affiliations (5)

AALS Law and Religion Section
Witherspoon Institute (Princeton, NJ) Task Force on Conscience Protection
Saint Thomas More Society of Philadelphia, Board of Governors
Federalist Society, Religious Liberties Practice Group Executive Committee
Peer Reviewer: Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, Journal of Law and Religion, Journal of Catholic Social Thought, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Theological Studies

Select Media Appearances (17)

Supreme Court Fight Over Catholic Charter School Could Clear the Way for Taxpayer-Funded Religious Schools

CNN

4/29/2025

The battle over St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School in Oklahoma has pit public school officials, traditional charter school advocates and the state's Republican attorney general against powerful religious groups... Michael Moreland, a law professor at Villanova University who specializes in religion, warned against "catastrophizing" the potential impact of a ruling for St. Isidore. Exactly how far the decision reaches will depend on how broadly the court rules and whether a state's charter school law is similar to Oklahoma's.

Supreme Court that Trump Helped Shape Could Have the Last Word on his Aggressive Executive Orders

Associated Press

2/10/2025

Trump’s now-paused effort to freeze federal spending and his call to shut down USAID also might meet resistance, even in front of the conservative court, though more modest reductions could fare better. “The court will be more skeptical, especially if the administration tries to completely unwind an agency that has been created by statute,” said Villanova University law professor Michael Moreland, who worked in the George W. Bush White House.

Pride Puppies and a Charter School: a Look at the Blockbuster Religion Cases at the Supreme Court

USA Today

2/2/2025

But Michael Moreland, professor of law and religion at Villanova University, said much of the court’s decision will turn on whether charter schools are considered public. The Catholic archdiocese that applied to open the St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Charter School argues that contracting with the state doesn’t make it part of the government. Moreland thinks the Supreme Court is likely to rule that once Oklahoma opened up charter schools to private operators, the state can’t bar religious groups from applying.

Could Donald Trump Just Ignore a TikTok Ban?

Newsweek

1/10/2025

Trump could order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to not enforce the ban when he takes office, Michael P. Moreland, professor of law at Villanova University, told Newsweek on Friday. "The tricky thing there is could then the operators of TikTok, could they rely on that to continue operating with the current ownership, given that a subsequent administration could sanction them or sue them for having operating in contravention of the statute?" he said.

The Sharpest Dissents from the Supreme Court Term

Law 360

7/8/2024

You're still getting a lot of dissents that are forcefully stated Moreland said, but some of this term's biggest cases were "on administrative law questions about the balance of power between administrative agencies, courts and Congress." "I'm not sure that this term's cases will have as much cultural cachet, even if they're legally very important," he added.

What Philly-area schools are saying about the SCOTUS ruling to end race-based admissions in colleges

The Philadelphia Inquirer

6/29/2023

Colleges locally and nationally have been bracing for the decision, fearing that if schools could no longer consider race as they historically have, it could reduce the number of Black and Latino students at many of the nation’s elite colleges and harm schools’ efforts to create diverse classes. “It’s a pretty forceful opinion in how widespread it is in the rejection of the use of race in admissions,” said Michael Moreland, a Villanova University law professor who has watched the case closely.

US Supreme Court sides with Pa. cheerleader punished for Snapchat post full of F-bombs

KYW Newsradio

6/23/2021

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-1 on Wednesday in favor of a Central Pennsylvania high school student who was thrown off the cheer squad for a profane social media post. Brandi Levy was a rising sophomore, age 14, in the Mahanoy Area School District in 2017 when she didn’t make the cheer squad. Levy posted a screed to Snapchat, flashing the middle finger and using the equivalent vulgar language to go with it.

Law professors weigh in on new Supreme Court nominee

KYW Newsradio

9/27/2020

Moreland described Barrett as thoughtful and generous. "She's the kind of nominee that any Republican president would be proud to offer," he said. "She's a protege of Justice Scalia and Judge Silberman on the D.C. circuit, so she's obviously been shaped and mentored by a lot of conservatives." But Moreland pointed out, given the divisive times in which we live, "Understandably, there's a lot of contention right now."

A new conservative Supreme Court justice could boost religious rights at the cost of LGBTQ protections

The Washington Post

9/22/2020

Overturning the 1990 Smith precedent could have implications for future cases, such as ones where wedding vendors cite their religious convictions as a reason to decline services to LGBTQ people, said Michael Moreland, a law professor at Villanova University. “It could breathe new life into free exercise claims,” Moreland said.

Did the RNC violate the Hatch Act last night?

NBC 10

8/26/2020

We spoke with Michael Moreland, a law professor at Villanova University who worked in the White House under president George W. Bush. He says senate-confirmed officials like Pompeo have less restrictions.

Religious Employers Get Boost in Wage Cases From Supreme Court

Bloomberg Law

7/8/2020

But the Supreme Court’s two rulings on the ministerial exception are animated by robust First Amendment protections over a religious organization’s hiring and firing decisions, said Michael Moreland, a law professor who directs Villanova University’s Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy.

Ruling on LGBTQ rights rattles religious conservatives

The Washington Post

6/15/2020

Monday’s decision did not settle religious liberty questions that are likely to come up in future employment discrimination cases, said Michael Moreland, a law professor at Villanova University. “Parallel to this case, there are a line of cases that are being decided about religious freedom,” Moreland said.

Abortion ban aims for high court, but won’t get there soon

The Associated Press

5/16/2019

“You do see consistently in the chief justice’s career a willingness to go incrementally and only decide what the court needs to resolve in the case before it,” said Michael Moreland, a Villanova University law professor. Roberts also is aware of the questions the court would face if a conservative majority of justices, all appointed by Republican presidents, were to reverse the abortion decisions, Moreland said.

Families can sue gun maker for Sandy Hook school massacre: court

Reuters

3/14/2019

Michael Moreland, a professor at Villanova Law School in Pennsylvania, said he expected gun victims to face a difficult legal battle given the broad federal protection for gun manufacturers. The U.S. Supreme Court has trended toward rejecting state law claims that are barred by federal law, he said.

What’s next after Catholic Church sexual abuse report? Advocates want stricter laws.

The Washington Post

8/15/2018

But legal experts say the grand jury report will lend new momentum to statute-reform efforts that have been percolating in Pennsylvania and beyond for years. “This will reignite these battles at the state level,” said Michael Moreland, a law professor at Villanova University, a Catholic school outside Philadelphia.

Supreme Court Upholds Trump Travel Ban, Strikes Down California Law Regulating Pregnancy Clinics

NPR's On Point

6/26/2018

The Supreme Court announced decisions in two major cases today, and each could have significant implications down the road. In Trump v. Hawaii, more commonly known as the Trump travel ban case, the court ruled 5-4 to uphold the travel ban. In a second 5-4 decision, the court found that California could not compel pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion. We talk with legal experts about how the court reached each decision, and what the future ramifications of those decisions might be. Guests include Michael Moreland, professor of law and religion at Villanova University.

Supreme Court Inaction Could Open New Front in Gerrymandering War

Bloomberg

2/6/2018

State courts could be a new battleground for groups challenging voter maps after the U.S. Supreme Court opted against intervening in a partisan gerrymandering fight in Pennsylvania … Decisions from state Supreme Courts based on state constitutions are typically insulated from U.S. Supreme Court review, Michael Moreland, a constitutional scholar at Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law in Villanova, Pa., told Bloomberg Law.