Hiram Sasser is Executive General Counsel for First Liberty Institute, where he oversees First Liberty’s litigation and media efforts. Sasser’s practice focuses on First Amendment and other constitutional and civil rights issues relating to religious liberty.
Sasser served as co-counsel in eight victories before the United States Supreme Court, including Groff v. DeJoy (landmark case overturning the “de minimis cost” test for Title VII in place almost 50 years), Kennedy v. Bremerton (landmark case overturning 50 years of Establishment Clause precedent), Carson v. Makin (overturning 40 years of Maine’s discrimination against parents choosing faith-based schools), Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Acevedo Feliciano (summary reversal finding a jurisdictional defect in church autonomy dispute), American Legion v. American Humanist Association (landmark case ending Establishment Clause attacks on veterans’ memorials with religious imagery), Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (granted, vacated, and remanded (twice) in religious wedding service case), and Sause v. Bauer (summary reversal revoking qualified immunity for police who ordered a citizen not to pray in her own home).
In addition to his legal duties, Sasser develops, coordinates, and implements successful media strategies on behalf of his clients. This includes numerous appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, and the BBC as well as being heard on various radio stations throughout the United States, Asia, Africa, and Europe.
In 2016, Sasser took a leave of absence to serve a temporary assignment as the Chief of Staff for the Attorney General of Texas.
He currently serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at both The University of Texas at Austin School of Law (teaching Religious Liberty) and Oklahoma City University School of Law (teaching Civil Rights Procedure).
Publications
News
Parents and some elected officials currently fighting against what some say are controversial far-Left ideology received a boost this week—on Bill of Rights Day no less. In a 10-7 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit voting en banc issued its opinion in Arnold v. Oliver. The Court refused to overturn a panel decision that denied qualified immunity to a teacher who forced a high school senior in a sociology class to write the Pledge of Allegiance over her religious objections to the Pledge under the auspices of an “assignment.”
October 23 will mark 33 years since the U.S. Senate—led, in part, by then-Senator Joe Biden—defeated the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court of the United States. That same day in 2020, the U.S. Senate will likely have before it the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
By Hiram Sasser, First Liberty Institute General Counsel. Originally published in the Washington Examiner July 24, 2018. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will be an ardent defender of religious liberty, all experience shows. As general counsel of a law firm devoted to religious liberty cases, I normally would evaluate a judicial nominee by searching throughRead full article »
By: Hiram Sasser, First Liberty Institute Senior Counsel. Originally published on the Washington Examiner on May 18, 2018. The Bladensburg World War I veterans memorial is more than a monument. It’s a gravestone for 49 men and boys who died in defense of our freedom on European soil. The mothers whose sons never returned fromRead full article »
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