Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law and Director, Classical Liberal Institute, New York University School of Law; Senior Fellow, The Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin
Richard A. Epstein is the inaugural Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law at NYU School of Law. Prior to his joining the faculty, he was a visiting law professor at NYU from 2007 through 2009. He served as the Peter and Kirstin Bedford Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution from 2000 to 2024. Since 2024 to the present he is a senior lecturer at the Civitas Institute at the University of Texas—Austin. Epstein is also the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law Emeritus and a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago. His initial law school appointment was at the University of Southern California from 1968 to 1972. Epstein received an LL.D., h.c. from the University of Ghent, 2003. He has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1985 and was a Senior Fellow of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago Division of Biological Sciences, also from 1983. to 2022 He served as editor of the Journal of Legal Studies from 1981 to 1991, and of the Journal of Law and Economics from 1991-2001. From 2001 to 2010 he was a director of the John M. Olin Program in Law and Economics at the University of Chicago.
His newest book, The Myth of Birthright Citizenship: What the Fourteenth Amendment Really Says was published in 2026 (Encounter Books). Prior to that he has published many books including, The Dubious Morality of the Modern Administrative State (Roman & Littlefield 2020).Earlier he published th Classical Liberal Constitution: The Uncertain Quest for Limited Government (Harvard 2014) iHis previous books include Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration and the Rule of Law (Harvard 2011); The Case Against the Employee Free Choice Act (Hoover 2009); Supreme Neglect: How to Revive the Constitutional Protection of Property Rights (Oxford 2008); Antitrust Decrees in Theory and Practice: Why Less is More (AEI 2007); Overdose: How Excessive Government Regulation Stifles Pharmaceutical Innovation (Yale University Press. 2006); How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution (Cato 2006); Cases and Materials on Torts (Aspen Law & Business; 8th ed. 2004); Skepticism and Freedom: A Modern Case for Classical Liberalism (University of Chicago, 2003); Torts (Aspen Law & Business 1999); Principles for a Free Society: Reconciling Individual Liberty with the Common Good (Perseus Books, 1998): Mortal Peril: Our Inalienable Rights to Health Care (Addison-Wesley, 1997); Simple Rules for a Complex World (Harvard, 1995); Bargaining With the State (Princeton, 1993); Forbidden Grounds: The Case Against Employment Discrimination Laws (Harvard , 1992); Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain (Harvard, 1985); and Modern Products Liability Law (Greenwood Press, 1980). He has also edited(with Catherine M. Sharkey) Cases and Materials on the Law of Torts (10th edition 2012).
Professor Epstein has written numerous articles on a wide range of legal and interdisciplinary subjects. He has taught courses in administrative law, antitrust law, civil procedure, communications, constitutional law, contracts, corporations, criminal law, employment discrimination law, environmental law, food and drug law health law and policy, legal history, labor law, property, real estate development and finance, jurisprudence, labor law; land use planning, patents, individual, estate and corporate taxation, Roman Law; torts, and workers' compensation.
Professor Epstein also writes a regular column for Civitas Institute, which also sponsors his podcast, The Libertarian with Charles C.W. Cooke, and Law Talk, with Cooke and John Yoo. He also does a podcast with John Batchelor. And appears regularly on the Freedom File with Judge Andrew Napolitano.
Assistant City Attorney, City of Arlington City Attorney's Office
Joshua Skinner is an assistant city attorney with the City of Arlington, Texas, with almost two decades of experience in civil rights, employment litigation, local government defense, and appellate advocacy.
Senior Counsel, Schaerr Jaffe LLP
Ken Klukowski is senior counsel at the law firm Schaerr Jaffe, focusing on constitutional, administrative, and election law, and the federal courts. He has served in politically appointed positions in the U.S. government, including senior counsel in the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and prior to that in the White House as special counsel in the Office of Management and Budget. He was also the constitutional rights advisor on the Presidential Transition Team of President Donald J. Trump. In the private sector, he has worked as a senior fellow of the American Constitutional Rights Union, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute, and a legal journalist. He litigates constitutional cases in the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts, and contributes to media coverage of the nation’s highest court and legal issues. Earlier in his career, Klukowski served as special deputy attorney general of Indiana, and worked on faculty at Liberty University School of Law. His academic works have been published by journals such as the Federalist Society’s Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, and his columns have appeared in the Wall Street Journal and other national publications. His amicus briefs and nine law review articles have been cited by various federal courts and top legal journals. He has participated in numerous Supreme Court cases, and lectured and debated at 100 law school events nationwide. Klukowski received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, studied history at Arizona State University, earned his law degree from Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Alice Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Senior Fellow, Arthur F. Burns Fellow in Financial Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
Peter J. Wallison holds the Arthur F. Burns Chair in Financial Policy Studies and is co-director of AEI’s program on Financial Policy Studies. Prior to joining AEI, he practiced banking, corporate and financial law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Washington, D.C., and New York. Mr. Wallison has held a number of government positions. From June 1981 to January 1985, he was General Counsel of the United States Treasury Department, where he had a significant role in the development of the Reagan Administration's proposals for deregulation in the financial services industry. During 1986 and 1987, Mr. Wallison was White House counsel to President Ronald Reagan, and between 1972 and 1976, he served first as Special Assistant to New York's Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and, subsequently, as counsel to Mr. Rockefeller as vice president of the United States.
Mr. Wallison was admitted to practice before the courts of New York and the District of Columbia, and is retired from practice in New York. He continues to be a member of the District of Columbia Bar Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard College in 1963 and law degree from Harvard Law School in 1966.
Mr. Wallison is the author of Ronald Reagan: The Power of Conviction and the Success of His Presidency, published in December 2002 by Westview Press. On campaign finance, he is the author (with Joel Gora) of Better Parties, Better Government, (AEI Press 2009). On financial or regulatory matters, he is the author of Back From the Brink, a proposal for a private deposit insurance system, and co-author of Nationalizing Mortgage Risk: The Growth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac; The GAAP Gap: Corporate Disclosure in the Internet Age; Competitive Equity: A Better Way to Organize Mutual Funds; Bad History, Worse Policy: How a False Narrative about the Financial Crisis Led to the Dodd-Frank Act (AEI Press 2013); and Hidden In Plain Sight: What Caused the World’s Worst Financial Crisis and Why it Could Happen Again (Encounter Books 2015). His most recent book is Judicial Fortitude: The Last Chance to Rein in the Administrative State, published by Encounter Books in October 2018.
He testifies frequently before committees of Congress, and is a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal and other print and online journals. He has also been a speaker at many conferences on financial services, housing, the causes of the financial crisis, the Dodd-Frank Act, accounting, and corporate governance, and was a member of the Shadow Financial Regulatory Committee between 1995 and 2015. He was a member of the SEC Advisory Committee on Improvements to Financial Reporting (2008), co-Chair of the Pew Financial Reform Task Force (2009), and a member of the congressionally- appointed Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (2009-2011). In May 2011, for his work in financial policy, Mr. Wallison received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from the University of Colorado.
Wayne A. Abernathy, Wild Bells
Wayne A. Abernathy is a former U.S. Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions under President George W. Bush, receiving the Alexander Hamilton Award in recognition of his service. In that office he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Prior to his work at the Treasury, Mr. Abernathy served as Staff Director of the Senate Banking Committee, under Chairman Phil Gramm.
Following his service at the Treasury, Mr. Abernathy worked for 15 years on the staff of the American Bankers Association, as Executive Vice President for Financial Institutions Policy and Regulatory Affairs.
Previous experience with the Senate Banking Committee includes serving as Staff Director of the Subcommittee on Securities during 1995-1998. From 1989 until 1994, Mr. Abernathy was a Republican economist for the committee. He previously worked as a senior legislative assistant for Senator Gramm during 1987-1989 and as an economist for the Banking Committee’s Subcommittee on International Finance and Monetary Policy during 1981-1986, under Chairman Jake Garn.
Mr. Abernathy earned his bachelor’s degree in International Studies from The Johns Hopkins University in 1978. In 1980, he received a master’s degree in International Studies from the School of Advanced International Studies of The Johns Hopkins University.
Journalist/Author
Trevor W. Coleman is a national award-winning journalist and author who served s Chief Speechwriter to Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and as Director of Communications for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the Governor’s Southeast Michigan office. Coleman was also a long time member of the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press where he won numerous awards for editorial and column writing prior to his appointment to the Granholm administration. He is currently working fulltime on the authorized biography of legendary federal Judge Damon J. Keith. Its working title is “Crusader for Justice: The Life and Amazing Times of Federal Judge Damon J. Keith.”
As the Director of Communications for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, he was responsible for crafting a global communications strategy which included developing all internal and external communications policies, managing media relations and executive speechwriting responsibilities. Because of his unique joint appointment, he was also required to establish an effective external communications strategy for the Governor’s Office for SE Michigan. In that position he also served as the official liaison to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Arab and Chaldean Affairs and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
As Chief Speechwriter for Governor Granholm, Coleman wrote or contributed to all major public policy speeches including in the areas of international relations, automotive industry, education, economics, budgetary, race relations, and health, poverty and gender issues. He wrote major commencement addresses and contributed to State of the State address. Coleman also wrote the Governor’s guest OPEDS for state and regional newspapers as well as articles for public policy and other niche magazines. This included the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Crain’s Business, Detroit Magazine, the Michigan Chronicle and others. He also helped develop the Governor’s communication strategy for her “One Michigan” tour and campaign to unite citizens.
As a member of the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press, Coleman specialized in writing on education, health care and urban policy. He also frequently wrote on civil rights, civil liberties and the U.S. criminal justice system. He was the editorial board’s senior foreign affairs writer for three years. Prior to joining the Free Press, Coleman was an urban affairs and civil rights reporter for The Detroit News, an editorial writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, reporter and columnist for the Hartford Courant and city desk reporter for the Times-Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was also a contributing editor and writer for Emerge Magazine, Black Enterprise and the NAACP Crisis Magazine. Coleman also wrote a Sunday column for several years for his hometown newspaper, The Hudson Register Star.
Among his many journalism awards are a 2001 American Diabetes Association Award of Merit for a series of editorials urging the state to expand medical coverage for diabetics; a 1999 Michigan Press Association Award for column writing; a 1999 National Association of Black Journalist Award for Commentary; the 1998 Detroit Press Foundation Michigan Journalism Award for Commentary; the 1993 Detroit Press Foundation Journalism Award for News Reporting, 1993 Best of Gannett Award for News Reporting and the 1993 and 1999 Lincoln University Unity Awards for coverage of minority and social issues. Coleman is listed in “Who’s Who among African-Americans,” and in 2010 was listed in the “Who’s Who of Black Detroiters.”
Among his many honors have been a 2009 Michigan Department of Civil Rights Dedicated Service Award, 2008 Brown Chapel AME Church Civil Rights Leadership Award, 2004 Macomb County NAACP Freedom Fund Leadership Award, 2004 Over Comers Ministries Inc. Leadership Award, 2002 Wayne Community College District Award for Community Service and the 1993 Distinguished Alumni Award, from the Kappa Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at The Ohio State University.
He has been a guest speaker at many colleges and universities across the nation; among them Harvard Law School, The Ohio State University, the University of Michigan and University of Michigan School of Law, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, The University of Toledo Law School, Delaware State University, Schoolcraft College, Wayne Community College and many others. He has also appeared on numerous television and radio talk and public affairs programs.
A native of New York, he received his undergraduate degree in communications from The Ohio State University and is a fellow at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. He is also is a graduate of the American Press Institute in Reston, VA and Poynter Institute in Fla. Coleman resides in Bloomfield Hills and is the divorced father of two children Sydnie, a college junior and TJ, a high school junior.
Attorney (of counsel), Witte Law Offices
Matthew G. Davis practices in the areas of appellate law, civil rights (including alleged violations of the First and Second Amendments), election law, campaign finance, and defamation. Mr. Davis is also experienced in general civil litigation.
Mr. Davis graduated from the The Ohio State University with a bachelors of arts in journalism in 1990 and earned his juris doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2005. He started his legal career in the pre-hearing division of the Michigan Court of Appeals before becoming law clerk for Judge Brian K. Zahra. Following his clerkship, Mr. Davis joined Witte Law Offices as an associate.
Prior to his legal career, Mr. Davis spent approximately twelve years as a reporter for various daily newspapers, including the Columbus ( Ohio ) Dispatch, the St. Paul (Minn. ) Pioneer Press, and the Detroit Free Press, where he covered the state Legislature in Lansing. Mr. Davis left newspapers to attend the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and, concomitantly, serve as director of communications for the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Michigan Department of Attorney General. Mr. Davis led the creation and development of the Offender Tracking Information System at the MDOC, which allows Internet access of offender information.
Racial Justice Staff Attorney, ACLU of Michigan
Through his work as the attorney for the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU of Michigan, Mark P. Fancher addresses: racially disproportionate rates of incarceration; racial discrimination against public school students of color, racial profiling, public defender system reform, attacks on affirmative action and juvenile sentencing issues.
Fancher was formerly the Senior Staff Attorney for the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice where he specialized in workers' rights. He served on the staff of the State Bar of Michigan from 1998 to 2000 where he coordinated projects to encourage greater pro bono participation by Michigan's lawyers. He was a visiting assistant clinical professor at the University of Michigan Law School from 1996 through 1998.
Before moving to Michigan, Fancher was the Director of Litigation for Camden Regional Legal Services in New Jersey. He has also been in private practice where he specialized in employment discrimination and community economic development. Fancher is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law - Camden. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Tennessee.
Fancher has played a leadership role in the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) for numerous years. He is a past chair of the organization’s International Affairs Section, and he served as NCBL’s national co-chair from 1995-1998. He is also a member of the State Bar of Michigan Pro Bono Initiative.
Fancher has lectured across the country and written extensively on issues that include: self-determination for Africa and the African Diaspora; indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights; and political repression in the U.S.
Co-Founder, XIV Foundation
Jennifer Gratz is a modern-day civil rights leader. In 1997 she challenged race preferences (also known as affirmative action) at the University of Michigan and was victorious at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Gratz was the lead plaintiff in the landmark case Gratz v. Bollinger which challenged affirmative action at the University of Michigan. On June 23, 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ms. Gratz was discriminated against and U-M’s admission policy was unconstitutional. However, in a companion case decided the same day (Grutter v. Bollinger), the Supreme Court allowed race preferences to continue at U-M’s law school. Ms. Gratz called the split decision flawed and continued the fight for equality in her home state. She spearheaded the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), a state constitutional amendment that made race and gender preferences unconstitutional in public education, employment and contracting. In Nov 2006 Michigan voters approved MCRI by a 16-point landslide.
At CPAC following the Michigan vote, Ms. Gratz was honored with the prestigious Ronald Reagan Award from the American Conservative Union for leadership. Jennifer has spent many years working to end programs that grant preferential treatment based on race or sex and because of Ms. Gratz’s leadership eight states have now banned race and gender preferences.
Recently, Ms. Gratz co-founded the XIV Foundation (XIV) and Equal Protection Advocates (EPA). XIV, named after the 14th amendment, is a not-for-profit 501c3 dedicated to teaching the personal and societal advantages of fair and equal treatment. EPA is a 501c4 dedicated to advocating for fair and equal treatment without regard to race or gender for all Americans.
Ms. Gratz’s story and work has been featured in nearly every major media outlet – Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Dateline, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, LA Times, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, National Review, US News and World Report, Newsweek, Time Magazine, People Magazine, Glamour Magazine – to name a few.
Editorial Cartoonist, Editorial Writer, and Weekly Columnist, The Detroit News
Henry Payne is an editorial cartoonist, editorial writer, and weekly columnist The Detroit News.
A Pulitzer-Prize nominated cartoonist, Payne produces five local editorial cartoons a week for The News. He also writes and draws a weekly column, “Payne & Ink.” Additionally, Payne draws five cartoons a week on national and international subjects for United Feature Syndicate in Kansas City which distributes his cartoons to 40 newspaper clients worldwide. His work is reprinted in USA Today, National Review,Townhall.com and other publications.
Payne has been voted Best Editorial Cartoonist in Michigan by the Associated Press. He has been a runner-up for both the Pulitzer and Mencken awards.
As a writer, Payne reports regularly on economic, consumer and environmental issues. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard magazine, National Review, Reason, Scripps Howard News Service and newspapers around the country. He also is a correspondent for National Review’s popular “Planet Gore” blog.
Payne came to The Detroit News in 1999 after 13 years as an editorial cartoonist, writer, and editor forScripps Howard News Service in Washington, DC .
Payne published his first book, “Payne & Ink: The Cartoons and Commentary of Henry Payne, 2000-2001,” in 2002. He has also illustrated two children’s books for Random House: “Where did Daddy’s Hair Go?” (by Joe O’Connor) in 2006, and Dr. Seuss’ “The Ear Book” in 2007. In 1998, Payne created “Hub & Axel,” a comic panel distributed by the Tribune Company Syndicate about an American family and its very American passion for the automobile.
Born in 1962 in Charleston, West Virginia, Payne received a degree in history from Princeton University in 1984. As editorial cartoonist for two student newspapers, The Daily Princetonian and the Nassau Weekly, Payne won the College Media Advisers Cartoon Contest and the Tribune Company Syndicate’s National College Cartoonist’s Contest. Upon graduation from Princeton, Payne began his newspaper career as staff artist and editorial cartoonist with the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail. In 1986 he joined Scripps Howard News Service and began syndication with United Feature in 1987.
Payne is an active race car driver, tennis and squash player. He is the father of two boys and lives with wife, Talbot, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
President, Thomas M. Cooley Student Chapter
Penelope holds a Political Science and Pre-Law undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. She also received a Master of Science degree in Intelligence and National Security Studies with focus on Latino Immigration from the University of Texas at El Paso. Penelope has worked in several projects within the Latino Community such the LSPI Pre-Law Institute at UTEP as an outreach minority coordinator for recruitment of young Latino and underrepresented minorities to participate in the pre-law institute and later access IVY league Law Schools all across the country. Under the Kauffman Initiative she worked as an outreach specialist for the Hispanic Entrepreneur Center at UTEP She is now a J.D Law candidate 2014 at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Journalist/Author
Trevor W. Coleman is a national award-winning journalist and author who served s Chief Speechwriter to Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm and as Director of Communications for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights and the Governor’s Southeast Michigan office. Coleman was also a long time member of the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press where he won numerous awards for editorial and column writing prior to his appointment to the Granholm administration. He is currently working fulltime on the authorized biography of legendary federal Judge Damon J. Keith. Its working title is “Crusader for Justice: The Life and Amazing Times of Federal Judge Damon J. Keith.”
As the Director of Communications for the Michigan Department of Civil Rights, he was responsible for crafting a global communications strategy which included developing all internal and external communications policies, managing media relations and executive speechwriting responsibilities. Because of his unique joint appointment, he was also required to establish an effective external communications strategy for the Governor’s Office for SE Michigan. In that position he also served as the official liaison to the Governor’s Advisory Council on Arab and Chaldean Affairs and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.
As Chief Speechwriter for Governor Granholm, Coleman wrote or contributed to all major public policy speeches including in the areas of international relations, automotive industry, education, economics, budgetary, race relations, and health, poverty and gender issues. He wrote major commencement addresses and contributed to State of the State address. Coleman also wrote the Governor’s guest OPEDS for state and regional newspapers as well as articles for public policy and other niche magazines. This included the Detroit News, Detroit Free Press, Detroit Crain’s Business, Detroit Magazine, the Michigan Chronicle and others. He also helped develop the Governor’s communication strategy for her “One Michigan” tour and campaign to unite citizens.
As a member of the editorial board of the Detroit Free Press, Coleman specialized in writing on education, health care and urban policy. He also frequently wrote on civil rights, civil liberties and the U.S. criminal justice system. He was the editorial board’s senior foreign affairs writer for three years. Prior to joining the Free Press, Coleman was an urban affairs and civil rights reporter for The Detroit News, an editorial writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer, reporter and columnist for the Hartford Courant and city desk reporter for the Times-Leader in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. He was also a contributing editor and writer for Emerge Magazine, Black Enterprise and the NAACP Crisis Magazine. Coleman also wrote a Sunday column for several years for his hometown newspaper, The Hudson Register Star.
Among his many journalism awards are a 2001 American Diabetes Association Award of Merit for a series of editorials urging the state to expand medical coverage for diabetics; a 1999 Michigan Press Association Award for column writing; a 1999 National Association of Black Journalist Award for Commentary; the 1998 Detroit Press Foundation Michigan Journalism Award for Commentary; the 1993 Detroit Press Foundation Journalism Award for News Reporting, 1993 Best of Gannett Award for News Reporting and the 1993 and 1999 Lincoln University Unity Awards for coverage of minority and social issues. Coleman is listed in “Who’s Who among African-Americans,” and in 2010 was listed in the “Who’s Who of Black Detroiters.”
Among his many honors have been a 2009 Michigan Department of Civil Rights Dedicated Service Award, 2008 Brown Chapel AME Church Civil Rights Leadership Award, 2004 Macomb County NAACP Freedom Fund Leadership Award, 2004 Over Comers Ministries Inc. Leadership Award, 2002 Wayne Community College District Award for Community Service and the 1993 Distinguished Alumni Award, from the Kappa Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity at The Ohio State University.
He has been a guest speaker at many colleges and universities across the nation; among them Harvard Law School, The Ohio State University, the University of Michigan and University of Michigan School of Law, Michigan State University, Wayne State University, The University of Toledo Law School, Delaware State University, Schoolcraft College, Wayne Community College and many others. He has also appeared on numerous television and radio talk and public affairs programs.
A native of New York, he received his undergraduate degree in communications from The Ohio State University and is a fellow at the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland. He is also is a graduate of the American Press Institute in Reston, VA and Poynter Institute in Fla. Coleman resides in Bloomfield Hills and is the divorced father of two children Sydnie, a college junior and TJ, a high school junior.
Attorney (of counsel), Witte Law Offices
Matthew G. Davis practices in the areas of appellate law, civil rights (including alleged violations of the First and Second Amendments), election law, campaign finance, and defamation. Mr. Davis is also experienced in general civil litigation.
Mr. Davis graduated from the The Ohio State University with a bachelors of arts in journalism in 1990 and earned his juris doctorate from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2005. He started his legal career in the pre-hearing division of the Michigan Court of Appeals before becoming law clerk for Judge Brian K. Zahra. Following his clerkship, Mr. Davis joined Witte Law Offices as an associate.
Prior to his legal career, Mr. Davis spent approximately twelve years as a reporter for various daily newspapers, including the Columbus ( Ohio ) Dispatch, the St. Paul (Minn. ) Pioneer Press, and the Detroit Free Press, where he covered the state Legislature in Lansing. Mr. Davis left newspapers to attend the Thomas M. Cooley Law School and, concomitantly, serve as director of communications for the Michigan Department of Corrections and the Michigan Department of Attorney General. Mr. Davis led the creation and development of the Offender Tracking Information System at the MDOC, which allows Internet access of offender information.
Racial Justice Staff Attorney, ACLU of Michigan
Through his work as the attorney for the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU of Michigan, Mark P. Fancher addresses: racially disproportionate rates of incarceration; racial discrimination against public school students of color, racial profiling, public defender system reform, attacks on affirmative action and juvenile sentencing issues.
Fancher was formerly the Senior Staff Attorney for the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice where he specialized in workers' rights. He served on the staff of the State Bar of Michigan from 1998 to 2000 where he coordinated projects to encourage greater pro bono participation by Michigan's lawyers. He was a visiting assistant clinical professor at the University of Michigan Law School from 1996 through 1998.
Before moving to Michigan, Fancher was the Director of Litigation for Camden Regional Legal Services in New Jersey. He has also been in private practice where he specialized in employment discrimination and community economic development. Fancher is a graduate of Rutgers University School of Law - Camden. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree from the University of Tennessee.
Fancher has played a leadership role in the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) for numerous years. He is a past chair of the organization’s International Affairs Section, and he served as NCBL’s national co-chair from 1995-1998. He is also a member of the State Bar of Michigan Pro Bono Initiative.
Fancher has lectured across the country and written extensively on issues that include: self-determination for Africa and the African Diaspora; indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights; and political repression in the U.S.
Co-Founder, XIV Foundation
Jennifer Gratz is a modern-day civil rights leader. In 1997 she challenged race preferences (also known as affirmative action) at the University of Michigan and was victorious at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Gratz was the lead plaintiff in the landmark case Gratz v. Bollinger which challenged affirmative action at the University of Michigan. On June 23, 2003 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ms. Gratz was discriminated against and U-M’s admission policy was unconstitutional. However, in a companion case decided the same day (Grutter v. Bollinger), the Supreme Court allowed race preferences to continue at U-M’s law school. Ms. Gratz called the split decision flawed and continued the fight for equality in her home state. She spearheaded the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative (MCRI), a state constitutional amendment that made race and gender preferences unconstitutional in public education, employment and contracting. In Nov 2006 Michigan voters approved MCRI by a 16-point landslide.
At CPAC following the Michigan vote, Ms. Gratz was honored with the prestigious Ronald Reagan Award from the American Conservative Union for leadership. Jennifer has spent many years working to end programs that grant preferential treatment based on race or sex and because of Ms. Gratz’s leadership eight states have now banned race and gender preferences.
Recently, Ms. Gratz co-founded the XIV Foundation (XIV) and Equal Protection Advocates (EPA). XIV, named after the 14th amendment, is a not-for-profit 501c3 dedicated to teaching the personal and societal advantages of fair and equal treatment. EPA is a 501c4 dedicated to advocating for fair and equal treatment without regard to race or gender for all Americans.
Ms. Gratz’s story and work has been featured in nearly every major media outlet – Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, Dateline, 60 Minutes, The Today Show, Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, LA Times, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, National Review, US News and World Report, Newsweek, Time Magazine, People Magazine, Glamour Magazine – to name a few.
Editorial Cartoonist, Editorial Writer, and Weekly Columnist, The Detroit News
Henry Payne is an editorial cartoonist, editorial writer, and weekly columnist The Detroit News.
A Pulitzer-Prize nominated cartoonist, Payne produces five local editorial cartoons a week for The News. He also writes and draws a weekly column, “Payne & Ink.” Additionally, Payne draws five cartoons a week on national and international subjects for United Feature Syndicate in Kansas City which distributes his cartoons to 40 newspaper clients worldwide. His work is reprinted in USA Today, National Review,Townhall.com and other publications.
Payne has been voted Best Editorial Cartoonist in Michigan by the Associated Press. He has been a runner-up for both the Pulitzer and Mencken awards.
As a writer, Payne reports regularly on economic, consumer and environmental issues. His articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard magazine, National Review, Reason, Scripps Howard News Service and newspapers around the country. He also is a correspondent for National Review’s popular “Planet Gore” blog.
Payne came to The Detroit News in 1999 after 13 years as an editorial cartoonist, writer, and editor forScripps Howard News Service in Washington, DC .
Payne published his first book, “Payne & Ink: The Cartoons and Commentary of Henry Payne, 2000-2001,” in 2002. He has also illustrated two children’s books for Random House: “Where did Daddy’s Hair Go?” (by Joe O’Connor) in 2006, and Dr. Seuss’ “The Ear Book” in 2007. In 1998, Payne created “Hub & Axel,” a comic panel distributed by the Tribune Company Syndicate about an American family and its very American passion for the automobile.
Born in 1962 in Charleston, West Virginia, Payne received a degree in history from Princeton University in 1984. As editorial cartoonist for two student newspapers, The Daily Princetonian and the Nassau Weekly, Payne won the College Media Advisers Cartoon Contest and the Tribune Company Syndicate’s National College Cartoonist’s Contest. Upon graduation from Princeton, Payne began his newspaper career as staff artist and editorial cartoonist with the Charleston (WV) Daily Mail. In 1986 he joined Scripps Howard News Service and began syndication with United Feature in 1987.
Payne is an active race car driver, tennis and squash player. He is the father of two boys and lives with wife, Talbot, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.
Senior Legal Fellow, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
President, Thomas M. Cooley Student Chapter
Penelope holds a Political Science and Pre-Law undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at El Paso. She also received a Master of Science degree in Intelligence and National Security Studies with focus on Latino Immigration from the University of Texas at El Paso. Penelope has worked in several projects within the Latino Community such the LSPI Pre-Law Institute at UTEP as an outreach minority coordinator for recruitment of young Latino and underrepresented minorities to participate in the pre-law institute and later access IVY league Law Schools all across the country. Under the Kauffman Initiative she worked as an outreach specialist for the Hispanic Entrepreneur Center at UTEP She is now a J.D Law candidate 2014 at Thomas M. Cooley Law School.
Assistant Professor, George Mason University School of Law
Elina Treyger is an Assistant Professor at George Mason University School of Law. She is a 2007 graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard University. Prior to joining the Mason Law faculty, Professor Treyger clerked for the Honorable Danny J. Boggs of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was an Olin/Searle Fellow at Yale Law School.
Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
Prof. Sheley joined the College of Law in 2018. Before coming to OU she was an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary Faculty of Law. She has also served as a Visiting Associate Professor at the George Washington University Law School and an Olin-Searle Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to academia she practiced for several years in the litigation group of the Washington, D.C. offices of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. While in practice she was commended by the Humane Society of the United States for her pro bono work in the prosecution of dog fighting sponsors. She is proud to have served on the Board of Directors of the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society.
Associate Professor, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Zvi S. Rosen is an Associate Professor at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law and the Faculty Director of the Franklin Pierce Society for Intellectual Property. He has served as a Assistant Professor at the Southern Illinois University School of Law, as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University, and as a Visiting Scholar and Professorial Lecturer in Law at George Washington University School of Law.
In 2015-2016, he was the Abraham L. Kaminstein Scholar in Residence at the U.S. Copyright Office. Mr. Rosen received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 2005 and LLM in Intellectual Property in 2006 from the George Washington University Law School. He has practiced at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP as well as smaller firms and his own practice, and clerked for the Hon. Thomas B. Bennett of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama. He has written extensively on the development of modern copyright and trademark law, as well as on bankruptcy law.
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The Michigan Lawyers Chapter hosted this event on February 12, 2014, at Thomas M. Cooley...
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Trevor W. Coleman, Matthew G. Davis, Mark Fancher, Jennifer Gratz, Henry Payne, Hans A. Von Spakovsky, Penelope S. Williams
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The Michigan Lawyers Chapter hosted this event on February 12, 2014, at Thomas M. Cooley...
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John G. Malcolm
SCOTUScast 3-11-14 featuring John Malcolm
On March 5, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Rosemond v. United States....
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Erin Sheley
SCOTUScast 3-10-14 featuring Erin Sheley
On January 21, 2014 the Supreme Court heard oral argument in Navarette v. California. The...
Law v. Siegel - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Zvi Rosen
SCOTUScast 3-5-14 featuring Zvi Rosen
On March 4, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Law v. Siegel. The...