Joanne C. Brant

Professor of Law

Office: Tilton Hall #182
Tel: 419-772-2228
Fax: 419-772-3514
Email: j-brant@onu.edu

Biography:

Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Brant practiced law in Cleveland, Ohio, with the firms of Thompson, Hine & Flory and Squire, Sanders & Dempsey where she specialied in labor and employment litigation. From 1986-87 she clerked for Chief Justice Pierce Lively of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Professor Brant has served on the Attorney General's Ethics and Professional Responsibility Advisory Council, served on the ABA site inspection team in 2000, and served as Chair of the AALS Section on Law and Religion in 2001. She was a Visiting Professor at Ohio State University in 2000 and at the University of Alabama in 2003.

Publications:

2006 Pocket Part for Interstate and Foreign Support Practice, Ch. 23, in DOMESTIC RELATIONS LAW (Sowald and Morganstern, Eds.) (4th ed. West Group, 2002) (with Leonard) (updated annually).

THE CHURCH AND THE CONSTITUTION: Institutional Free Exercise in Theory and Practice (Working title) (Book in progress).

Ch. 23, Interstate and Foreign Support Practice, in OHIO DOMESTIC RELATIONS LAW (Sowald and Morganstern, Eds.) (Ohio Legal Practice Series, Banks-Baldwin) (2004) (with Leonard).

Religious Employers and Discrimination: Breaking Faith with the Faithful, The Writ, Ohio Northern University (2003).

The Half-Open Door: Article III, the Injury-in-Fact Rule and the Framers' Plan
for Federal Courts of Limited Jurisdiction, 54 Rutgers L. Rev. 1 (2002) (with Leonard)

Essays on: Evolution, the Public Schools and the Courts; Title VII Discrimination and Religion; Public School Curricula and Free Exercise Challenges and Board of Educ. v. Allen in RELIGION AND AMERICAN LAW: AN ENCYCLOPEDIA (Finkelman, ed. 2000)

The Ascent of Sovereign Immunity, 83 Iowa L. Rev. 767 (1998)

Seminole Tribe, Flores and State Employees: Reflections on a New Relationship, 2 Employee Rts. & Employment Pol. J. 175 (1998)

Essays on: Middlemarch, Silas Marner, The Mill on the Floss, Adam Bede, Felix Holt, Romola, Gaudy Night, Waiting for the Barbarians and The Last Billable Hour for AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ON LAW AND LITERATURE, (Gemmette, ed. 1998)

Taking the Supreme Court at its Word: The Implications for RFRA and Separation of Powers, 56 Mont. L. Rev. 5 (1995) (prepared by invitation for Symposium on RFRA)

Ethical Issues and Trouble Spots, 4 J. of Pharm. & L. 25 (1994) (prepared by invitation for Symposium on Pharmacy and Law)

"Our Shield Belongs to the Lord:" Religious Employers and a Constitutional Right to Discriminate, 21 Hastings Const. L. Q. 275 (1994)

Not a Prayer for Curricular Reform after Lee v. Weisman, 43 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 753 (1993) (prepared by invitation for Symposium on Lee v. Weisman)

Recent Developments in the Law on Sexual Harassment, ONU Monograph (1993)

Employment Discrimination in Religious Schools: A Constitutional Analysis, in PUBLIC VALUES, PRIVATE SCHOOLS (with Marshall) (Devins ed. 1989)

Professional Development:

Moderator, “Would You Be a Source?  Reporter Privilege in the post-9/11 World,” Ohio Northern University  Law Review Symposium,  March 24, 2006        

Presenter, “Obscenity Law: Constitutional Considerations”, for Ohio State Bar Association CLE Program, “Obscenity and Child Pornography Cases: Current Legal Issues and Trial Considerations,” Cleveland, Ohio, October 27, 2005.

Presenter, “A History of the Appointment Process,” Ohio Northern University, Constitution Day Program, September 19, 2005.

Presenter, “Discrimination and Religion: A Conflict in Constitutional Values,” for Wayne State Symposium on The Intersection of Law and Religion, Dayton, Ohio, April 28, 2005.

Bar Review Presenter, Ohio Northern University, Constitutional Law (2002- present).

Moderator, “Privacy and Surveillance: Emerging Legal Issues,” Ohio Northern University Law Review Symposium, March 19, 2004

Panelist, "Military Tribunals and the Afghanistan Detainees: The Geneva Convention and Terrorists," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, March, 2002

Panelist, "The USA Patriot Act and the Fourth Amendment: Civil Liberties vs. Civil Rights," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, February, 2002

Presenter, "Recent Developments in Eleventh Amendment Litigation," CLE program for attorneys in Ohio Attorney General's office, Columbus, Ohio, October, 2001

Judge, Louis Jackson Memorial Labor and Employment Law National Writing Competition, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 1998 - present

Moderator, "Sexual Harassment in the Workplace: Fifteen Years After Meritor Savings Bank," Ohio Northern University Law Review Symposium, Ada, Ohio, March, 2001

Presenter, "Handicapping the Court in Univ. of Alabama Board of Trustees v. Garrett: Observations and Predictions After the Oral Arguments," Faculty Development Program, Capital University School of Law, Columbus, Ohio, October, 2000

Principal Presenter, Two Cities Symposium, "Tort, Contract and Employment Litigation: The Case Against Church Autonomy," George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., March, 2000

Principal Presenter, AALS Annual Meeting: Section on Law and Religion, "Do Religious Employers Still Enjoy a Constitutional Right to Discriminate?", Washington, D.C., January, 2000

AALS Annual Meeting: Section on Law and Religion, Organized program on Children, Spiritual Treatment and Free Exercise, Washington, D.C., January, 2000

Presenter: CHILD, Inc, Annual Board of Directors Meeting, Discussed pending CHILD-sponsored litigation, and spoke on First Principles of Religion Clause Jurisprudence, Toledo, Ohio, July, 1999

Panelist, "The Impeachment Controversy," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, November, 1998

Presenter: "The New Importance of Sovereign Immunity", Faculty Development Colloquium, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, March, 1997

Moderator, "Supreme Court Symposium: City of Boerne v. Flores", Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, September, 1997

Panelist: "The Full Faith and Credit Implications of Same-Sex Marriage," Federalist Society, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, November, 1996

Panelist: "Attorney Advertising: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, November, 1996

Moderator: "The Future of Affirmative Action," Law Review Symposium, Ohio Northern University, Columbus, Ohio, March, 1996

Moderator: "Leading Cases of the 1996 Term," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, March, 1996

Moderator: "Racial Gerrymandering," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, February, 1996

Panelist: "Theory of Law and Literature;" Law and Literature Symposium, U.C., Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley, California, September, 1995

Panelist and Paper Presenter: "Taking the Supreme Court at Its Word," The James R. Browning Symposium for 1994: The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, University of Montana School of Law, Missoula, Montana, September, 1994

Panelist and Paper Presenter: "Ethical Issues and Trouble Spots," Pharmacy and Law Symposium, Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, July, 1994

Ohio Attorney General's Ethics and Professional Responsibility Advisory Council

Ohio CLE Institute: Professional Curriculum Committee; Presenter on "Developments in Ethics" at annual "General Practice Update" program, Columbus, Ohio, 1994

Presenter: "Supreme Court Seminar on the Religion Clauses," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, October, 1993

Panelist and Paper Presenter: "Not a Prayer for Curricular Reform," Symposium on Religion and the Public Schools After Lee v. Weisman, Case Western Reserve University College of Law, Cleveland, Ohio, November, 1992

Presenter: "Diversity and Ideological Perspectives," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, September, 1992

Presenter: "Leading Cases of the 1992 Term," Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio, September, 1992

Moderator: "Privacy & Surveillance: Emerging Legal Issues," Ohio Northern University Law Review Symposium, Ada, Ohio, March, 2004

Pro Bono Legal Representation:

General Dynamics Land Systems, Inc. v. Cline, 540 U.S. 581 (2004)

Counsel for Dennis Cline, et al.  Principal author of Respondents’ Brief in “reverse” age discrimination case.

Schwartz v. Citibank, 50 Fed. Appx. 832, 2002 WL 31269818 (9th Cir. 2002).

Counsel for C. Yeomans, Intervenor. Filed petition for certiorari in nationwide class action challenging payment-crediting policies of credit card issuer.

CHILD v. DeParle, 212 F.3d 1084 (8th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 532 U.S. 957 (2001)

Counsel for Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, et al. Filed amicus curiae brief before Eighth Circuit. (Establishment clause challenge to Medicare and Medicaid statutes authorizing federal reimbursement for nursing services provided in Christian Science sanatoria. Eighth Circuit upheld federal statutes; U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari.)

CHILD v. Deters, 92 F.3d 1412 (6th Cir. 1996), cert. denied sub nom., CHILD v. Montgomery, 519 U.S. 1149 (1997)

Assisted with petition for certiorari before the United States Supreme Court. (Establishment clause and equal protection challenges to Ohio child welfare statutes exempting parents who treat children with prayer from civil and criminal liability. Sixth Circuit upheld statutes on eleventh amendment grounds, U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari.)

Education:

• J.D., Case Western Reserve University
  
• A.B., Cornell University

Bar Admissions:

• Ohio
  
• United States Court of Appeals (Sixth and Eighth Circuit)
  
• United States Supreme Court

Teaching Interests:

• Constitutional Law
  
• Law and Religion
  
• Federal Courts
  
• Corporations
  
• Law and Literature
  
• Employment Discrimination
  
• Legal Ethics

Course Materials:

• Old Exams

Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law 525 S. Main Street, Ada, OH 45810 Phone: 419.772.3051 (Dean's Office)   Admissions: 419.772.2211