The Rutherford Institute is one of the nation's leading advocates of civil liberties and human rights, litigating in the courts and educating the public on a wide spectrum of issues affecting individual freedom in the United States and around the world. They provide free legal services in the defense of religious and civil liberties and to educate the public on important issues affecting their constitutional freedoms. The organization is located in Charlottesville, Virginia and was founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead. In Whitehead's autobiography Slaying Dragons he writes," The enduring message of my life is not about human rights, religious freedoms, or the law. It is that there is a God who cares about people."