Judge, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
Anne Covey is a judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. She was elected to the court in 2011, and her term expires in January 2022.
University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Michael P. Moreland was appointed University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy at Villanova University in 2017. Professor Moreland joined the Villanova faculty in 2006 and served as Vice Dean from 2012 to 2015. His research is primarily in the areas of torts, law and religion, constitutional law, and Catholic social thought, and he regularly teaches Torts, First Amendment, seminars in law and religion, and undergraduate courses in ethics.
Professor Moreland is the co-editor of Christianity and Private Law (Routledge, 2021), and his most recent publications include: “The Authority of Tradition: John Henry Newman and Legal Theory” in Christianity and the Making of Irish Law (Routledge, 2025); “Christianity and Torts” in The Oxford Handbook on Christianity and Law, (Oxford University Press, 2023); “Germaneness and Religious Liberty” in the Notre Dame Law Review (2023); “Contingency and Contestation in Christianity and Liberalism” in the Notre Dame Law Review (2023); “Friendship as the Primary Purpose of Law” in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 279 (2022); and “The Moral of Torts” (with Jeffrey Pojanowski) in Christianity and Private Law (Routledge, 2021).
Professor Moreland was a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame and the Mary Ann Remick Senior Visiting Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture from 2015 to 2017. He was the Forbes Visiting Fellow at Princeton University in the James Madison Program during academic year 2010-11. He has served as the project leader for grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation. He serves as the Chair of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Practice Group Executive Committee and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.
Professor Moreland received his BA in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, his MA and PhD in theological ethics from Boston College, and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, Professor Moreland clerked for the Honorable Paul J. Kelly Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, where he represented clients in First Amendment, professional liability, and products liability matters. Before coming to Villanova, he served as Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House under President George W. Bush, where he worked on a range of legal policy issues, including criminal justice, immigration, civil rights, and liability reform.
President and General Counsel, The Fairness Center
David R. Osborne is President & General Counsel of the Fairness Center. David helped to launch the Fairness Center in 2014 and provides advice and counsel to clients, directs the Fairness Center’s legal strategy, and oversees all litigation efforts. Prior to joining the Fairness Center, David practiced law in Florida, where he had previously served as clerk to a Florida Supreme Court justice.
David received his Juris Doctorate from the Florida State University College of Law, graduating magna cum laude. He enrolled in law school after working as official staff for a Member of Congress from Orlando, Florida.
David is a member of the Pennsylvania and Florida state bars and has been admitted to the federal District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He is based in central Pennsylvania, where he is also president of the Harrisburg Chapter of the Federalist Society and a State Advisory Committee Member for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. David and his wife have been happily married for 11 years and have four children together.
Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
David N. Wecht is a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice. Wecht is one of three Democrats elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in November 2015. He was sworn in to office on January 7, 2016, for a term that expires on January 4, 2026.
Judge, Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
Anne Covey is a judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. She was elected to the court in 2011, and her term expires in January 2022.
University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy, Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law
Michael P. Moreland was appointed University Professor of Law and Religion and Director of the Eleanor H. McCullen Center for Law, Religion and Public Policy at Villanova University in 2017. Professor Moreland joined the Villanova faculty in 2006 and served as Vice Dean from 2012 to 2015. His research is primarily in the areas of torts, law and religion, constitutional law, and Catholic social thought, and he regularly teaches Torts, First Amendment, seminars in law and religion, and undergraduate courses in ethics.
Professor Moreland is the co-editor of Christianity and Private Law (Routledge, 2021), and his most recent publications include: “The Authority of Tradition: John Henry Newman and Legal Theory” in Christianity and the Making of Irish Law (Routledge, 2025); “Christianity and Torts” in The Oxford Handbook on Christianity and Law, (Oxford University Press, 2023); “Germaneness and Religious Liberty” in the Notre Dame Law Review (2023); “Contingency and Contestation in Christianity and Liberalism” in the Notre Dame Law Review (2023); “Friendship as the Primary Purpose of Law” in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 279 (2022); and “The Moral of Torts” (with Jeffrey Pojanowski) in Christianity and Private Law (Routledge, 2021).
Professor Moreland was a Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Notre Dame and the Mary Ann Remick Senior Visiting Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Ethics and Culture from 2015 to 2017. He was the Forbes Visiting Fellow at Princeton University in the James Madison Program during academic year 2010-11. He has served as the project leader for grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation. He serves as the Chair of the Federalist Society’s Religious Liberties Practice Group Executive Committee and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California.
Professor Moreland received his BA in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, his MA and PhD in theological ethics from Boston College, and his JD from the University of Michigan Law School. Following law school, Professor Moreland clerked for the Honorable Paul J. Kelly Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and was an associate at Williams & Connolly LLP in Washington, DC, where he represented clients in First Amendment, professional liability, and products liability matters. Before coming to Villanova, he served as Associate Director for Domestic Policy at the White House under President George W. Bush, where he worked on a range of legal policy issues, including criminal justice, immigration, civil rights, and liability reform.
President and General Counsel, The Fairness Center
David R. Osborne is President & General Counsel of the Fairness Center. David helped to launch the Fairness Center in 2014 and provides advice and counsel to clients, directs the Fairness Center’s legal strategy, and oversees all litigation efforts. Prior to joining the Fairness Center, David practiced law in Florida, where he had previously served as clerk to a Florida Supreme Court justice.
David received his Juris Doctorate from the Florida State University College of Law, graduating magna cum laude. He enrolled in law school after working as official staff for a Member of Congress from Orlando, Florida.
David is a member of the Pennsylvania and Florida state bars and has been admitted to the federal District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He is based in central Pennsylvania, where he is also president of the Harrisburg Chapter of the Federalist Society and a State Advisory Committee Member for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. David and his wife have been happily married for 11 years and have four children together.
Justice, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
David N. Wecht is a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice. Wecht is one of three Democrats elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in November 2015. He was sworn in to office on January 7, 2016, for a term that expires on January 4, 2026.
Panel 1: Approaches to Constitutional and Statutory Interpretation
Anne E. Covey, Michael P. Moreland, David R. Osborne, David N. Wecht
2018 Pennsylvania Chapters Conference
On October 19, 2018, the Federalist Society's Pennsylvania chapters hosted the 2018 Pennsylvania Chapters Conference...
Panel 1: Approaches to Constitutional and Statutory Interpretation
Anne E. Covey, Michael P. Moreland, David R. Osborne, David N. Wecht
2018 Pennsylvania Chapters Conference
On October 19, 2018, the Federalist Society's Pennsylvania chapters hosted the 2018 Pennsylvania Chapters Conference...