Mathew D. Staver
Mathew Staver speaking at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, DC.
Nationality	United States of America
Education	B.A. in Theology from Southern Missionary College [1] M.A. in Religion from Andrews University J.D. from the University of Kentucky
Occupation	Lawyer
Employer	Liberty Counsel
Known for	Litigating issues involving abortion and religious freedom. [2] Opposition to LGBTQ rights[3][4][2]
Title	Chairman of Liberty Counsel Action[2]
Spouse	Anita Staver
Website	https://www.lc.org/mat-staver

Mathew D. "Mat" Staver is an American lawyer and former Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) pastor who became a Southern Baptist.^[5][6] He is a former dean of Liberty University's law school. In 1989, he founded Liberty Counsel law firm, where he serves as chairman. ProPublica called him "a leading Christian legal theorist."^[7]

Personal life and career

Staver received a B.A. in theology from Southern Missionary College, an M.A. in religion from Andrews University, and a J.D. from the University of Kentucky. During college he began a process which led him to later leave the SDA church and eventually attend a Southern Baptist church.^[5]

As a Young Earth creationist who believes that intelligent design should be taught in public schools, Staver also denies Darwinian evolution.^[8]

He has argued before the Supreme Court of the United States twice, has argued before most of the federal courts of appeals,^[9] and testified before Congress.[1]

Staver served as Liberty University's law school dean from 2006 to 2014.

In 2011 he was added to the Commission on Accountability and Policy for Religious Organizations, which was started by Senator Grassley.^[10]

Staver has been a frequent guest speaker at the Values Voter Summit in Washington, D.C.^[11]

In October 2015, Staver stated that 100,000 people gathered in Peru to support his client Kim Davis, in support of her refusal to issue marriage licenses. The event was shown to have happened more than a year earlier and was unrelated to Davis.^[12] Liberty Counsel issued a press release afterwards stating that Staver had relied on a member of the Peruvian Congress for the information on the rally.^[13]

In late 2018 he voiced his opposition to LGTBQ rights by requesting that references to gender identity and sexual orientation be removed from a senate bill that would make lynching a federal crime.^[14] Staver "pushed back against mainstream media coverage, and explained that while no one can or should oppose a bill banning lynching, there were provisions in it that served an ill purpose."^[15]

In 2020, he represented a Tampa pastor who was arrested for holding church services when the county had mandated churches to close.^[16] Charges against the pastor were later dropped.[2]

Legal cases

In 1994 Staver argued the Madsen v. Women's Health Center, Inc. at the United States Supreme Court, representing individuals who fought a court order banning protesters from interfering with those entering or exiting the clinic within a 36-foot buffer zone. The Court ultimately ruled 6-3 striking down the 300-foot zone around people going in and out of the clinic and striking down the prohibition against images "observable" from inside the clinic.^[17] The court upheld the 36-foot buffer zone.^[18] An audio recording of the case was made by the Supreme Court.^[19]

In 2012 Staver unsuccessfully argued a case^[20] at the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia on behalf of Liberty University against the Affordable Care Act. On July 12, 2013, the Fourth Circuit upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act over Liberty's arguments against the "employer mandate."^[21]

Staver also represented former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis who has fought issuing any marriage licenses because she did not want to issue licenses to same-sex couples based on her religious objection.^{[22] [23]}The case was petitioned before the U.S. Supreme Court.

References

External links

• About Liberty Counsel - includes biography of Mathew Staver at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2008-11-07)
• Appearances on C-SPAN