Edward Barocas marked the conclusion of a rich and influential legal career last year when he retired as legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s New Jersey chapter after 17 years in that role. But for Barocas, 2018 was about more than just looking back over prior work.

He was involved in two cases raising important questions of constitutional law that made their way to the New Jersey Supreme Court: One as direct counsel to litigants challenging government grants to religious educational institutions, and another as amicus in a case concerning government grants to Morris County churches for rehabilitation.