US federal judges reflect on faith, law and civic life

Campion College welcomed two senior United States federal judges to campus on 9 September for an evening of conversation exploring faith, law, education and the foundations of civic life.

Judge Amul R. Thapar of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Andrew Oldham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit joined Campion College President Dr Paul Morrissey for a wide-ranging discussion with students, staff and guests.

Before his appointment to the federal appellate bench, Judge Thapar served as a federal district judge and United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Judge Oldham previously served as General Counsel to the Governor of Texas and Deputy Solicitor General of Texas, and earlier clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Yet the evening quickly moved beyond questions of professional experience. After arriving on campus, Judge Thapar said he had been struck by the College’s Catholic character and reflected on the place of faith in a life that might otherwise be measured by professional achievement.

Addressing the students present, he said that career success and recognition ultimately meant little without something deeper at the centre of life.

“None of it matters without faith,” Judge Thapar said. “Faith is such a central and integral component of my life.”

He spoke candidly about beginning and ending his days in prayer and the peace he had found through doing so.

Judge Oldham similarly reflected on the importance of faith, history and tradition. His children attend a classical Christian school, he explained, where they study Latin and the great works of Western civilisation alongside their other subjects.

For Judge Oldham, such an education is valuable not simply because it preserves the past, but because it asks enduring questions about truth and human flourishing. Speaking of his own interests in faith, education and law, he told the audience: “In my view, they’re all deeply interconnected.”

That connection became a central theme as Dr Morrissey invited the judges to consider how religious faith informs their work without determining the legal conclusions they reach.

Judge Thapar drew on the example of the late US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, whom he greatly admired. Recalling Scalia’s observation that there is no distinctly Catholic way of reading a legal text except to do so honestly and faithfully, Judge Thapar said his responsibility was to approach the law with integrity and to honour the oath he had taken.

Judge Oldham approached the same question through the idea of humility. He spoke about the importance of recognising the limits of human knowledge, both in matters of faith and in the work of judging, where courts are often required to make decisions on the basis of an incomplete record and within defined legal constraints.

One of the evening’s most personal reflections came when Judge Thapar discussed his decade as a federal trial judge. Sentencing, he said, was among the most difficult responsibilities he had faced, because it required decisions with profound consequences for another person’s life.

He recalled spending weekends poring over pre-sentence reports and struggling with the weight of those decisions. Over time, prayer helped him distinguish between judging a person and judging the actions before the court, a distinction he said changed the way he approached sentencing and made the responsibility easier to bear.

Judge Oldham offered an equally personal account of the oath he took on becoming a federal judge. He placed his hand on a King James Bible carried by his grandfather, who served in the US military during the Second World War, Korea and Vietnam. His grandfather had travelled with three books: the Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress and the United States Constitution.

The well-worn Bible now sits in Judge Oldham’s chambers as a continuing reminder of both faith and public duty. He described it as a link between the freedoms his grandfather had defended and his own responsibility to uphold the oath he had taken.

Questions from the audience broadened the discussion to judicial impartiality, religious life in the United States, constitutional rights, natural law and civic engagement. Both judges expressed optimism about renewed interest in faith among younger Americans, while Judge Oldham also spoke about the importance of civic literacy.

He argued that citizens need to understand the institutions that govern in their name: where public authority comes from, how it is exercised and how it can be changed. For him, that understanding is part of the responsibility of living in a democracy, rather than something reserved for lawyers or political specialists.

The evening concluded on a quieter note. After thanking the judges for the generosity with which they had spoken about their work, their countries and their faith, Dr Morrissey suggested that, alongside the gifts being presented to them, those gathered could offer something else: their prayers.

The room then joined together in the Lord’s Prayer. It was a simple gesture, but one that felt entirely at home after a conversation in which questions of law, judgement, service and responsibility had so often returned to faith.

A recording of event is available to view the form below.