Professor, anti-death penalty legal advocate, and author Bruce Ledewitz stopped by the Jam Bunker for a very sobering conversation about his latest book, The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life. Bruce and Brad sit down to discuss whether the United States can build a humane society without religion at the center of life, and the similarities between religion and secularism.
You know: just a nice holiday dinner conversation!
About Bruce Ledewitz
Bruce Ledewitz is a professor of law at Duquesne University School of law. He teaches in the areas of state and federal constitutional law and jurisprudence, specializing in law and religion and law and the secular. Ledewitz is co-director of the Duquesne University School of Law’s Pennsylvania Constitution website. In 1981, Ledewitz founded the Allegheny County Death Penalty Project, which he directed for 13 years.
He co-founded the Western Pennsylvania Coalition Against the Death Penalty and served from 1985-1990 as secretary of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. He is past winner of the Allegheny County Bar Association Pro Bono Service Award, the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Liberty Award, the Marjorie Matson Civil Liberties Award and the Inaugural Dr. John & Liz Murray Award for Excellence in Faculty Scholarship in 2012.
Ledewitz writes a biweekly column on public affairs for the Pennsylvania Capital Star. He is the author of four books, including a forthcoming book from Oxford Univ. Press: The Universe Is on Our Side: Restoring Faith in American Public Life. Ledewitz received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and his J.D. from Yale Law School.
