Berkley Center

Deborah O’Malley is a Ph.D. candidate in political science at Baylor University and a summer 2016 doctoral fellow with the Religious Freedom Project. Her dissertation explores the freedom of religious institutions under the U.S. Constitution. She examines how the principles of freedom of association and religious free exercise embedded in the Anglo-American legal tradition should inform the Supreme Court’s treatment of houses of worship as well as schools, businesses, and non-profits with religious missions. Prior to studying at Baylor, she spent several years providing research for various non-profit organizations in Washington, D.C., including the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. She has participated in fellowships with the Claremont Institute, the John Jay Institute, and the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Tertio Millennio Seminar on the Free Society in Krakow, Poland. O’Malley holds a B.A. in philosophy and political science from Ashland University and an M.A. in political science from Baylor University.