| Kristen Waggoner | |
| Birth Name: | Kristen Kellie Behrends |
| Birth Place: | Longview, Washington, U.S. |
| Education: | Northwest University (BA) Regent University (JD) |
| Employer: | Alliance Defending Freedom |
| Spouse: | Benjamin Waggoner |
| Children: | 3 |
Kristen Kellie Waggoner (born 1972) is an American attorney. She has been president and CEO of Alliance Defending Freedom, a right-wing Christian legal advocacy group, since 2022.
In 2018, Waggoner was the lead counsel defending a baker who had discriminated against a gay couple on religious freedom grounds in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.
Waggoner was born in 1972 in Longview, Washington, about an hour outside of Portland, as the eldest of four children. Her father was a school superintendent and a licensed Assemblies of God minister. Her mother was a stay-at-home mom who worked part-time in the accounting industry.[1]
Waggoner attended Christian schools from primary school through law school. Her father was the principal during her 1st through 12th grades. In high school she played volleyball and basketball. She graduated high school as valedictorian.[2]
She attended Northwest University, affiliated with the Assemblies of God, on a drama scholarship. After graduating magna cum laude from Northwest, she attended Regent University School of Law. At Regent she won "best oralist" at the Whittier Moot Court Competition, a national contest. She graduated cum laude in 1997 with a Juris Doctor.[3]
After law school, Waggoner was a law clerk to Justice Richard B. Sanders of the Washington Supreme Court. She also interned with U.S. Representative Linda Smith. In 1998, she entered private practice with Ellis, Li & McKinstry, a Seattle law firm. Waggoner was elevated to partner in 2004.
Waggoner joined ADF in 2013 and moved to the firm's Scottsdale headquarters in 2014. During her tenure, ADF has been victorious as lead counsel in nine Supreme Court cases, including Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission.[4]
On October 1, 2022, Waggoner succeeded Michael Farris as CEO and president of ADF, retaining her role as General Counsel.[5]
Waggoner represented the florist in the Arlene's Flowers Lawsuit when it was heard in the Washington State Supreme Court, arguing the case on First Amendment grounds. The court ruled against her.[6]
On June 25, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari, vacated the judgment, and remanded the case to the Supreme Court of Washington for further consideration in light of the Masterpiece Cakeshop decision.[7] [8] On June 6, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Stutzman again, finding no evidence of religious animus.[9] [10] Stutzman's attorneys once again requested the U.S. Supreme Court to take her case,[11] [12] but certiorari was denied in July 2021.[13] Stutzman opted to settle with Ingersoll in November 2021, paying him .[14]
The case Masterpiece Cakeshop arose from a dispute between Jack Phillips, a baker, and a gay couple after Phillips refused to bake a cake for the couple. The case made its way to the Supreme Court which took oral arguments on December 5, 2017.[15] [16] Regarding her presentation, David A. French of National Review wrote: "[Waggoner] strongly and clearly made the most vital point — the issue was the artistic message, not the identity of the customer."[17] In 2018, Phillips prevailed in a 7–2 ruling.[18]
Waggoner is married to Benjamin Waggoner, who also graduated from Regent Law School in 1997. The couple has three children. She is Pentecostal.[19]