The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, one of Americas most prominent non-denominational religious freedom advocacy organizations, has announced that Robert P. George will be the recipient of its Canterbury Medal for the defense of conscience and religious liberty. The medal was awarded at the Becket Funds annual dinner which was held on June 18th in Washington, D.C.

Robert P. George is Herbert W. Vaughan Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute, and McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

A leading scholar of legal and political philosophy as well as a preeminent public intellectual, George has served on the Presidents Council on Bioethics, the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and as a Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States. He is a member of UNESCOs World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology.

The Becket Fund, a non-profit public interest advocacy organization, defends the rights of religious expression of people in all traditions in both domestic and international courts and before legislative bodies. Its clients have included Amish, Buddhists, Catholics, Christian Scientists, Hindus, Jews, Mormons, Muslims, members of Native American Indian traditions, Protestants of many different denominations, Sikhs, Unitarian-Universalists, and Zoroastrians.

Seamus Hasson, President of the Becket Fund, said: We are proud to be conferring our highest honor on Professor George. In his scholarly and popular writings as well as his public service he has been a brilliant and effective defender of the liberty and the rights of conscience of persons of every tradition of faith.

Previous Canterbury Medal laureates include human rights advocate Elie Wiesel, Harvard Law professor Mary Ann Glendon, Rabbi Ronald Sobel of Temple Emmanu-El in New York, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and Dr. John Templeton of the Templeton Foundation.

The Witherspoon Institute is an independent research center that works to enhance public understanding of the moral foundations of free and democratic societies. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, the Institute promotes the application of fundamental principles of republican government and ordered liberty to contemporary problems through a variety of research and educational ventures. To support the Witherspoon Institute, please follow the contribution instructions or donate online via PayPal.