Burnette featured Constitution Day speaker
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – M. Malissa Burnette was the featured Constitution Day speaker at Presbyterian College.
Her lecture, titled “The U.S. Constitution and the Politics of Inclusion,” was open to the entire campus and community. Burnette discussed recent high-profile cases that challenge the public’s understanding of how the Constitution’s guarantee of religious freedom is tempered by the Establishment Clause. Burnette also was invited to teach a Women’s and Gender Studies class on the topic of marriage equality.
Burnette has fought for the inclusion of all individuals throughout her legal career. Most recently, she and colleague Nekki Shutt were involved in landmark litigation that brought marriage equality to South Carolina.
Burnette also represented Nancy Mellette in a ground-breaking case that cleared the way for women to attend the formerly all-male Citadel. Additionally, she helped South Carolina girls win the right to play contact sports in public schools.
Burnette, a certified employment and labor law specialist since 1993, focuses her practice on complex employment and discrimination cases that often involve civil and Constitutional rights. She also represents clients in family law, personal injury and academic tenure and promotion cases.