Mr. Shackelford is a constitutional scholar who has argued before the United States Supreme Court, testified before the U.S. House and Senate on constitutional issues, and has won three state landmark First Amendment and religious liberty cases in the past few years alone. He was recently named one of the 25 greatest Texas lawyers of the past quarter-century by Texas Lawyer, and is the recipient of the prestigious William Bentley Ball Award for Life and Religious Freedom Defense for his leadership and pioneering work protecting religious freedom.

Jeff Mateer is the Chief Legal Officer of First Liberty Institute, where he serves as a member of the executive leadership team and oversees and directs First Liberty’s legal operations, including its litigation, media/communications, and external affairs teams. He rejoined First Liberty Institute in October 2020 after serving as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas from March 2016 through October 2020.

Jeff has served in the legal field for over 30 years, and in addition to having received an A-V rating by Martindale-Hubbell, Jeff has been honored as a Texas Rising Star and Texas Super Lawyer. He received his undergraduate education at Dickinson College, where he graduated with honors in 1987, and his legal education at Southern Methodist University, where he graduated with honors in 1990. While in law school, he served as an editor of the law review. He is licensed to practice law by the state of Texas and is admitted to practice before all Texas State and Federal District Courts, the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

WASHINGTON – A federal court today blocked a new Washington state law that would have forced Catholic priests to face jail time unless they broke the sacred seal of confession. The law at issue in ...

The Orthodox Jewish community has faced relentless vandalism, discrimination, and unlawful treatment from their HOA and surrounding homeowners. Boca Raton, FL

Florida Leads the Nation in Religious Liberty Protections, Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Today, First Liberty Institute’s Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy (CRCD) revealed the results of its fourth annual Religious Liberty in the States ...

More than 20 Friend-of-the-Court Briefs Urge Supreme Court to Overturn Santa Fe v. Doe In a show of overwhelming support at the Supreme Court of the United States, First Liberty Institute’s petition in Cambridge Christian ...

First Liberty Institute filed a federal lawsuit and motion for preliminary injunction against the Town of Chapin, South Carolina on behalf of local resident Ernest Giardino after he was told a permit was required to ...

President Trump has tamed Congress and largely defanged the federal bureaucracy as he pursues his vigorous second-term agenda, but federal district judges have rushed to the battlements to take him on...

By: Moira Gleason - nationalreview.com - July 23, 2025 The elite school retains control over its academic and operational decisions but agrees to follow existing laws banning the consideration of race in admissions. Columbia University ...

Early in her tenure as U.S. Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon began working herself out of a job. Last week she got a boost from the Supreme Court.

For the first time since the war began, there are credible concerns of hunger in Gaza. The main indicator, as expressed both by Gazans and economists, is the price of food in the enclave, a ...

By: Bret Stephens - nytimes.com - July 22, 2025 The charge isn’t only obscene. It’s also absurd. It may seem harsh to say, but there is a glaring dissonance to the charge that Israel is ...

Between fiscal years 2019 and 2023, more than 448,000 unaccompanied alien children were transferred from ICE custody to HHS.