Hannah Clayson Smith

Hannah Clayson Smith is senior counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. She was part of the legal team for U.S. Supreme Court victories such as Little Sisters of the Poor in Zubik v. Burwell, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, Wheaton College v. Burwell, Holt v. Hobbs, and Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC.

Smith clerked twice at the U.S. Supreme Court, for both Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. She also clerked for Alito when he served on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2017, Smith testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Neil Gorsuch's nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. Her testimony reviewed his jurisprudence relating to religious liberty cases, including two of Becket's clients the Little Sisters of the Poor and Hobby Lobby.

Smith was raised in California. She has a bachelor's degree from Princeton University. She has a law degree from Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School. Smith is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a missionary in the church's Switzerland Geneva Mission, which covered parts of Switzerland and France.

Smith serves on the Deseret News editorial advisory board. Smith was on the inaugural panel of Stanford Law School's religious freedom clinic.

Smith is the sister of Jane Clayson Johnson.