Rana Lehr-Lehnardt

Rana Lehr-Lehnardt is the former legal advisor for the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. In that capacity she reviewed various issues relating to the Establishment Clause, the Free Exercise Clause, and religious discrimination under Title VII. She was also involved in shaping policy and public opinion regarding freedom of religion and belief.

Before her time at the ACLU, she worked part time with Columbia Law School's Human Rights Institute where she worked on the issue of juveniles sentenced to prison without the possibility of parole and participated in the drafting of a petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights challenging this practice in the U.S. She also worked part time for the World Family Policy Center as the NYC Legal and Policy Coordinator where she attended and monitored UN Conferences and meetings, worked with other NGOs in lobbying efforts, and worked with country representatives toward hosting national and regional family conferences.

After obtaining her J.D. from BYU Law School, Rana did a very brief stint as a litigation associate at Ballard, Spahr, Andrews & Ingersoll before clerking on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals for Judge Terrence L. O'Brien.

Rana recently obtained an LL.M. in international human rights from Columbia University Law School. While at Columbia, she participated in the Human Rights, Law, and Development Workshop where she worked with a Serbian NGO to create a domestic violence prevention program for the city of Belgrade. She also participated in Columbia's Human Rights Clinic where she worked on poverty reduction strategies and their intersection with human rights issues in Bolivia.

Rana is married to Mark B. Lehnardt. They have two children: a two-and-a-half year old daughter, Celeste and a newborn (born in January 2006).