Evan Young Appointed to the Texas Supreme Court
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With so much focus on controversial matters now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, it is easy to forget that state supreme courts also decide countless cases of great consequence both for the parties and the public more broadly. A vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court arose earlier this year when Justice Eva Guzman announced her candidacy for Attorney General, joining a crowded field of Republicans and Democrats. With big shoes to fill, Governor Greg Abbott turned to a supremely qualified legal mind. Based in Houston, Evan Young is Chair of Baker Botts’ Supreme Court and Constitutional Law Practice, a Federalist Society leader, and former law clerk to the Justice Antonin Scalia. That clerkship followed his 4th Circuit Court clerkship with another admired jurist, J. Harvie Wilkinson.
Young, who also served in the Justice Department in the administration of President George W. Bush and was elected a member of the American Law Institute, brings exceptional legal acumen and experience at the highest levels of our judicial system to this important role. His advocacy has led to landmark victories, such as a Supreme Court decision siding with Young’s client in favor of greater freedom of information. In another case, Young co-authored a brief on behalf of a four-year old girl who was strip searched by a state caseworker that provided a roadmap for a more balanced qualified immunity jurisprudence.
Reflecting his impeccable credentials as an appellate lawyer, Young was tapped in 2015 to teach a class on federal courts as an adjunct professor at the University of Texas Law School. He has also served on the Texas Judicial Council chaired by Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht. This Council has been instrumental in developing consensus solutions to challenges such as improving data on court activities, enhancing due process in the state’s guardianship proceedings, bolstering indigent defense, and reducing the burden of government fines and fees. This means Young not only brings vast experience as an outstanding appellate litigator, but also will be ideally prepared to help carry out the Supreme Court’s role in providing oversight for the legal system.
Young’s passion for the law and remarkable intellect were evident at an early age. He even wrote a biography of a Supreme Court Justice while still in high school before earning history degrees from both Duke and Oxford to complement his law degree from Yale. Former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips summed up Young’s qualifications, noting: “He may not be in a class by himself. But it wouldn’t take long to call the roll.”
Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice and Senior Advisor, Right on Crime
Marc A. Levin is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice (counciloncj.org) and Senior Advisor for Right on Crime.
An attorney and accomplished author on legal and public policy issues, Marc began the Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005. This work contributed to nationally praised policy changes that have been followed by dramatic declines in crime and incarceration in Texas. Building on this success, in 2010, Levin developed the concept for the Right on Crime initiative, a TPPF project in partnership with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation. Right on Crime has become the national clearinghouse for conservative criminal justice reforms and has contributed to the adoption of policies in dozens of states that fight crime, support victims, and protect taxpayers.
In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Marc has testified on criminal justice policy on four occasions before Congress and has testified before legislatures in states including Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Wisconsin, and California. He also has met personally with leaders such as U.S. Presidents, Speakers of the House, and the Justice Commtitee of the United Kingdom Parliament to share his ideas on criminal justice reform. In 2007, he was honored in a resolution unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives that stated, “Mr. Levin’s intellect is unparalleled and his research is impeccable.”
Since 2005, Marc has published dozens of policy papers on topics such as sentencing, probation, parole, reentry, and overcriminalization which are available on the TPPF website. Levin’s articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
In 1999, Marc graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Marc received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. He served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.