Anthony Sanders

Anthony Sanders is the Director of the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement (CJE), and a senior attorney. He joined IJ in 2010. As CJE’s director, he educates the public about the proper role of judges in enforcing constitutional limits on the size and scope of government. As a senior attorney he litigates cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting economic liberty, private property, freedom of speech and other individual liberties in both federal and state courts across the country.

One area of Sanders' expertise is on using state constitutions to protect individual rights. He has litigated several cases in various state courts on state constitutional protections. He has also written several law review articles on state constitutional law, and other subjects. His work has appeared in publications such as the Iowa Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, and Rutgers Law Review, and has published opinion pieces in leading media outlets across the country. Most recently, he published two articles about “Baby Ninth Amendments,” provisions in state constitutions that protect rights beyond just those that are enumerated. He has also spoken on various subjects, including judicial engagement, free speech, civil forfeiture, and the continuing importance of Magna Carta.

Prior to joining IJ-MN, Sanders served as a law clerk to Justice W. William Leaphart on the Montana Supreme Court. He also worked for several years in private practice in Chicago.

Sanders received his law degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2004, where he served as an articles submission editor for the Minnesota Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and his master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A dual U.S. and U.K. citizen, he grew up on the islands of Vashon in Washington State, and Alderney in the British Channel Islands.