About
Professor Dwight G. Duncan is a native of Washington DC, where he was born, attended St. John's military high school and Georgetown law school and then practiced law for the telephone company (now Verizon} for a number of years. In Massachusetts he majored in Greek and Latin at Harvard College, picked up Biblical Hebrew in the interim and now teaches all three dead languages from time to time. As an attorney admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Massachusetts and before the U.S. Supreme Court and a number several federal appeals courts, he has briefed cases at SCOTUS and on appeal, having argued before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court. Most significantly, he wrote the prevailing briefs in the St. Patrick's Day case at the U.S. Supreme Court, winning a unanimous First Amendment landmark decision in 1995. Since then, he has filed amicus briefs on appeal or certiorari usually involving First Amendment freedom of religion or freedom of speech. His amicus brief was cited and also quoted by the Supreme Court's majority opinion a few years back in a freedom of religion case, and another amicus brief in a different religious freedom case was cited in a concurrence. He has also been cited in a dissenting opinion by Justice Scalia. As of July 2026 he is professor emeritus. His research interests are in First Amendment freedom of religion and free speech and of the press and association.