Florida Times-Union: Ex-religious rights lawyer, appeals judge now Jacksonville federal trial judge
This excerpt is from a piece that originally ran on November 20, 2025.
Before becoming an appellate judge, Pratt was senior counsel at the First Liberty Institute, a legal advocacy group listed alongside the conservative Heritage Foundation on the advisory board for the controversial Project 2025 initiative.
First Liberty focuses on issues involving religious rights and has been criticized by a progressive group, the Alliance for Justice, as “devoted to expanding religious entitlements at the expense of equality, education, and public accountability.” That group opposed Pratt becoming a federal judge.
During his confirmation hearing in June, Pratt was asked by U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, about First Liberty CEO Kelly Shackelford signing a letter Whitehouse described as urging senators to try to overturn results of the 2020 election. Pratt said he knew Shackelford signed a letter on “the general subject matter of the election” but the two had never talked about it.