Religious freedom attorney to lecture at La Sierra University

Attorney Walter E. Carson in 1986 represented Paula Hobbie before the Supreme Court in Hobbie vs. Florida Bureau of Unemployment Compensation. Hobbie, who converted to Seventh-day Adventism in 1984, was fired from her job at a jewelry store when she refused to work the 24-hour period from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown in keeping with the Adventist Sabbath. She was subsequently denied unemployment benefits by the compensation bureau and an appeals court. The Supreme Court reversed the appeals court’s ruling and decided in Hobbie’s favor citing the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

Carson, currently vice president and general counsel for the Columbia Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in Columbia, Md., will discuss this case and share his views on religious liberty developments during the 2016 Isaac Backus American Freedoms Lecture on Tues., Feb. 23 at 6 p.m. The talk is titled “The Least Dangerous Branch: A Personal Perspective on the U.S. Supreme Court and a Predicted Demise of Religious Freedom.” It will be held in La Sierra University’s Cossentine Hall Room 100.

“Religious freedom is a precious gift,” said Carson in describing the lessons he hopes audience members will glean from his presentation. “The United States legal system has been remarkably accessible to persons whose religious freedom is placed in jeopardy, [however] some believe there will come a time when the U.S. government will greatly restrict religious freedom.”

He cited as particularly troubling “the politicization of religious freedom all in the context of homeland security, providing an excuse for the narrowing of religious freedom. I am also troubled with the brutal extermination of Christianity in the Middle East by ISIS,” Carson said.

He noted the predictions put forth by Ellen G. White, one of Adventism’s key founders, concerning the future demise of religious liberty in the United States and subsequent hardships for Sabbath-keeping Adventists. “Thus for selfish reasons alone, Adventists should be advocates for religious freedom. Even without a selfish interest, philosophically, everyone recognizes the great value to a society that promotes religious freedom, especially in one as diverse religiously as the United States,” said Carson.

Carson is a 1965 graduate of Washington Adventist University and obtained a law degree from Catholic University in 1968. Carson’s professional experience includes public service as the assistant law director of Cleveland, and as the assistant attorney general of Ohio. He also served as a congressional liaison for the U.S. Postal Service, representing that organization’s legislative program on Capitol Hill.

Carson’s service to the Seventh-day Adventist Church includes a stint in the General Counsel’s office at the church’s worldwide headquarters where his duties included intellectual property and general corporate matters. In 2006 Carson was elected to serve the Columbia Union Conference as vice president and general counsel. In that capacity, he has provided general legal counsel to the church’s leaders in that region.

Carson has appeared in state and federal courts as an advocate for religious freedom and the separation of church and state. He is a member of the American Bar Association and is a credentialed parliamentarian with the National Association of Parliamentarians.

Established in 1986, the Isaac Backus American Freedoms Endowment was founded with a gift from the estate of sisters Florence and Eleanor Backus, longtime residents of Riverside.  The founders’ interests in the endowment sprang from the example of their colonial ancestor, Isaac Backus (1724-1806), a leading Baptist preacher and a dissenter who fought the imposition of religious taxes and generally championed the cause of religious freedom. The endowment funds an annual lecture delivered on the campus of La Sierra University.

Admission to the Backus lecture is free. For further information call 951-785-2341. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.