Executive Director, Committee for Justice
Ashley Baker serves as Executive Director at the Committee for Justice. Her focus areas include the Supreme Court, regulatory policy, antitrust, and judicial nominations. Her writing has appeared in Fox News, USA Today, The Boston Globe, The Hill, RealClearPolitics, The American Spectator, and elsewhere. Ashley is also the founder of the recently-formed Alliance on Antitrust coalition. She has testified before the United States Senate on the topic of antitrust law.
Ashley is an active member of the Federalist Society, where she serves as a member of the Regulatory Transparency Project's Antitrust & Consumer Protection and Cyber & Privacy working groups. As a member of the Republican National Lawyers Association, she has served as a speaker on the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.
As an expert on the judicial nominations process, Ashley worked closely on the efforts to confirm Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
Much of Ashley’s work is at the intersection of the courts, regulation, and technology. Ashley also engages in policy analysis and outreach on legislation and regulations related to these issues by writing op-eds, letters to Congress for committee hearings, and regulatory comments.
Raoul Berger Professor of Legal History at Northwestern University School of Law
Stephen Presser is a leading American legal historian and expert on shareholder liability for corporate debts. He is frequently an invited witness before committees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on issues of constitutional law. He holds a joint appointment with the J. L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management and also teaches in Northwestern's history department.
Western Region Director, State Affairs, R Street Institute
Steven Greenhut oversees R Street’s efforts in California, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Washington state, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming and Hawaii. His duties include authoring op-eds and policy studies, testifying before state and municipal legislative bodies, and representing R Street as a speaker, public commentator and coalition ally in venues where it is possible to move state and local policy in a free-market direction.
He most recently served as California columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune. In this role, from his base in Sacramento, he wrote a regular reported news column covering the State Capitol and issues outside of San Diego. Previously, he was vice president of journalism at the Franklin Center, where he oversaw a team of watchdog editors and reporters in state capitols.
Steven is the author of two books, Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain (2004) and Plunder! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation (2009). In 2005, he received the Thomas Paine Award, granted by the Institute for Justice in recognition of his writing to promote liberty. In 2011, he placed second in the International Policy Network R.C. Hoiles Prize for Journalism.
He received his bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in journalism from George Washington University.
Steven and his wife of 35 years live on an acreage outside of Sacramento and have three adult children, 30 goats, five cats, six chickens and two dogs.
Carol Matheis practices law business litigation and insurance law in Newport Beach, California. She earned her J.D. at Western University College of Law and is a graduate of George Mason University.
Vice President and Legal Director, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.
William Messenger is Foundation Vice President and Legal Director. He was a staff attorney for over twenty years and, during that time, represented individuals in numerous cases that sought to expand worker freedom of choice. This includes acting as lead counsel in three cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 2018, Messenger argued Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, where the Supreme Court held it violates the First Amendment for governments and unions to compel individuals to financially support unions and their speech. Originally from Youngstown Ohio, Messenger attended Ohio University as an undergraduate and then the George Washington University School of Law.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Judge Nelson was confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in October 2018, as the youngest Circuit Judge to serve from Idaho and he has chambers in his hometown of Idaho Falls. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Nelson served for nine years as General Counsel of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca, Inc., a consumer goods company. He previously worked in Washington, DC, where he served in all three branches of the federal government, including as Special Counsel for Supreme Court nominations to the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Deputy General Counsel to the White House Office of Management and Budget; Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice; and a law clerk to Judge Henderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has argued in most of the federal courts of appeals and worked on dozens of Supreme Court briefs. He started in the Washington, DC office of Sidley Austin as an appellate lawyer, after clerking for Judges Mosk and Brower of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague, and for now-Judge Tom Griffith, then-Senate Legal Counsel, during the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Judge Nelson earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D., with honors, from BYU Law School. Judge Nelson has been a member of the Federalist Society since 1998.
Special Counsel, Hopkins & Carley
Chuck Reed is a member of Hopkins & Carley’s Real Estate Practice in the San Jose office. As Special Counsel to the firm, Chuck brings his years of experience in government to help clients solve complex problems in a variety of practice areas, including:
Chuck was Mayor of San Jose from 2007 to 2014, a member of the City Council from 2000 to 2006, and a city and county Planning Commissioner for 14 years before being elected to office. Before taking office as Mayor of the tenth largest city in the country, he was a lawyer in private practice in San Jose.
Chuck has been recognized as a national leader by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, other national media, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities. The story of his work in San Jose has been noted in books, such as Boomerang by Michael Lewis and Fate of the States by Meredith Whitney, and he has been a frequent speaker on pension reform at conferences around the country.
Western Region Director, State Affairs, R Street Institute
Steven Greenhut oversees R Street’s efforts in California, Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Idaho, Washington state, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming and Hawaii. His duties include authoring op-eds and policy studies, testifying before state and municipal legislative bodies, and representing R Street as a speaker, public commentator and coalition ally in venues where it is possible to move state and local policy in a free-market direction.
He most recently served as California columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune. In this role, from his base in Sacramento, he wrote a regular reported news column covering the State Capitol and issues outside of San Diego. Previously, he was vice president of journalism at the Franklin Center, where he oversaw a team of watchdog editors and reporters in state capitols.
Steven is the author of two books, Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain (2004) and Plunder! How Public Employee Unions are Raiding Treasuries, Controlling Our Lives and Bankrupting the Nation (2009). In 2005, he received the Thomas Paine Award, granted by the Institute for Justice in recognition of his writing to promote liberty. In 2011, he placed second in the International Policy Network R.C. Hoiles Prize for Journalism.
He received his bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in journalism from George Washington University.
Steven and his wife of 35 years live on an acreage outside of Sacramento and have three adult children, 30 goats, five cats, six chickens and two dogs.
Carol Matheis practices law business litigation and insurance law in Newport Beach, California. She earned her J.D. at Western University College of Law and is a graduate of George Mason University.
Vice President and Legal Director, National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation, Inc.
William Messenger is Foundation Vice President and Legal Director. He was a staff attorney for over twenty years and, during that time, represented individuals in numerous cases that sought to expand worker freedom of choice. This includes acting as lead counsel in three cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 2018, Messenger argued Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, where the Supreme Court held it violates the First Amendment for governments and unions to compel individuals to financially support unions and their speech. Originally from Youngstown Ohio, Messenger attended Ohio University as an undergraduate and then the George Washington University School of Law.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Judge Nelson was confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in October 2018, as the youngest Circuit Judge to serve from Idaho and he has chambers in his hometown of Idaho Falls. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Nelson served for nine years as General Counsel of Idaho Falls-based Melaleuca, Inc., a consumer goods company. He previously worked in Washington, DC, where he served in all three branches of the federal government, including as Special Counsel for Supreme Court nominations to the Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Deputy General Counsel to the White House Office of Management and Budget; Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice; and a law clerk to Judge Henderson of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He has argued in most of the federal courts of appeals and worked on dozens of Supreme Court briefs. He started in the Washington, DC office of Sidley Austin as an appellate lawyer, after clerking for Judges Mosk and Brower of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague, and for now-Judge Tom Griffith, then-Senate Legal Counsel, during the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Judge Nelson earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D., with honors, from BYU Law School. Judge Nelson has been a member of the Federalist Society since 1998.
Special Counsel, Hopkins & Carley
Chuck Reed is a member of Hopkins & Carley’s Real Estate Practice in the San Jose office. As Special Counsel to the firm, Chuck brings his years of experience in government to help clients solve complex problems in a variety of practice areas, including:
Chuck was Mayor of San Jose from 2007 to 2014, a member of the City Council from 2000 to 2006, and a city and county Planning Commissioner for 14 years before being elected to office. Before taking office as Mayor of the tenth largest city in the country, he was a lawyer in private practice in San Jose.
Chuck has been recognized as a national leader by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, other national media, the U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National League of Cities. The story of his work in San Jose has been noted in books, such as Boomerang by Michael Lewis and Fate of the States by Meredith Whitney, and he has been a frequent speaker on pension reform at conferences around the country.
Co-Chairman, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Leonard is Co-Chairman and former Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society, joining the organization over 25 years ago. Since that time he has been instrumental in helping the organization top 70,000, focusing on the growth of lawyers membership, operations and activities advancing limited, constitutional government. In addition to his work at the Society, Leonard has advised President Trump on judicial selection, assisted with the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh Supreme Court selection and confirmation process, and served as a member of the transition team. He also organized the outside coalition efforts in support of the Roberts and Alito U.S. Supreme Court confirmations. Leonard was appointed by President George W. Bush to three terms to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as chairman. He was also a U.S. Delegate to the UN Council and UN Commission on Human Rights during the Bush Administration. Leonard was the recipient of the 2009 Bradley Prize, along with the other founders and directors of the Federalist Society, for his work in advancing freedom and the rule of law. He is the coeditor of Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House, as well as the author of opinion editorials in the New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Leonard holds degrees from Cornell University and Cornell Law School. He presently resides in Northern Virginia, where he and his wife Sally have raised their seven children.
Partner, Jones Day
Don McGahn represents clients before government agencies, in enforcement matters, and in court disputes arising from government regulation or action. He handles litigation, crisis management, regulatory compliance, and political issues.
Prior to rejoining Jones Day in 2019, Don served as Counsel to the President of the United States, advising Donald J. Trump on all legal issues concerning the President and his administration, including constitutional and statutory authority, executive orders, international agreements, tariffs, trade, administrative law, and national security. Don also managed the judicial selection process for the President. During Don's tenure, a historic number of judges were appointed to the federal bench, including two Supreme Court justices. In addition, he spearheaded President Trump's deregulation efforts, which resulted in deregulation at record rates. Following Don's departure from the White House, the President appointed him to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, a nonpartisan, independent agency dedicated to promoting improvement to administrative agency processes.
Don's accomplishments have been recognized at the highest levels of government. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that Don concluded his tenure "not only as the best White House Counsel I've seen on the job, but more broadly, as one of the most successful and consequential aides to any President in recent memory."
Don was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2008, and confirmed in the Senate by unanimous consent, to serve as a member of the Federal Election Commission. He also served as outside Counsel to the Committee on House Administration during the 113th and 114th Congresses and as general counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Co-Chairman, The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Leonard is Co-Chairman and former Executive Vice President of the Federalist Society, joining the organization over 25 years ago. Since that time he has been instrumental in helping the organization top 70,000, focusing on the growth of lawyers membership, operations and activities advancing limited, constitutional government. In addition to his work at the Society, Leonard has advised President Trump on judicial selection, assisted with the Gorsuch and Kavanaugh Supreme Court selection and confirmation process, and served as a member of the transition team. He also organized the outside coalition efforts in support of the Roberts and Alito U.S. Supreme Court confirmations. Leonard was appointed by President George W. Bush to three terms to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom as chairman. He was also a U.S. Delegate to the UN Council and UN Commission on Human Rights during the Bush Administration. Leonard was the recipient of the 2009 Bradley Prize, along with the other founders and directors of the Federalist Society, for his work in advancing freedom and the rule of law. He is the coeditor of Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House, as well as the author of opinion editorials in the New York Times,The Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post. Leonard holds degrees from Cornell University and Cornell Law School. He presently resides in Northern Virginia, where he and his wife Sally have raised their seven children.
Partner, Jones Day
Don McGahn represents clients before government agencies, in enforcement matters, and in court disputes arising from government regulation or action. He handles litigation, crisis management, regulatory compliance, and political issues.
Prior to rejoining Jones Day in 2019, Don served as Counsel to the President of the United States, advising Donald J. Trump on all legal issues concerning the President and his administration, including constitutional and statutory authority, executive orders, international agreements, tariffs, trade, administrative law, and national security. Don also managed the judicial selection process for the President. During Don's tenure, a historic number of judges were appointed to the federal bench, including two Supreme Court justices. In addition, he spearheaded President Trump's deregulation efforts, which resulted in deregulation at record rates. Following Don's departure from the White House, the President appointed him to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States, a nonpartisan, independent agency dedicated to promoting improvement to administrative agency processes.
Don's accomplishments have been recognized at the highest levels of government. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stated that Don concluded his tenure "not only as the best White House Counsel I've seen on the job, but more broadly, as one of the most successful and consequential aides to any President in recent memory."
Don was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2008, and confirmed in the Senate by unanimous consent, to serve as a member of the Federal Election Commission. He also served as outside Counsel to the Committee on House Administration during the 113th and 114th Congresses and as general counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Judge Carlos Bea serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Stanford University in 1956 and his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1958. Judge Bea was born in San Sebastian, Spain, and immigrated with his family to Cuba in 1939. In 1952, he represented Cuba on the Cuban National basketball team in the Helsinki Olympics. Judge Bea became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1958. He engaged in private practice in San Francisco, principally in the area of civil trials (jury and non-jury), from 1959-75 at Dunne, Phelps & Mills and from 1975-90 at Carlos Bea, A Law Corporation. He taught courses in civil litigation advocacy at Hastings College of Law and Stanford Law School. From 1990 to 2003, Judge Bea served as a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was confirmed in 2003.
Judge Bea and his wife Louise reside in San Francisco, where they raised their four sons, Sebastian, Alexander, Nicholas, and Dominic.
Dr. John Eastman is the former Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service and former Dean at Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, where he had been a member of the faculty since 1999, specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal History, and Property. He is a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute that he founded in 1999. He has a Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and a B.A. in Politics and Economics from the University of Dallas. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage.
Prior to joining the Chapman law faculty, Dr. Eastman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, and to the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and practiced law with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Dr. Eastman has also represented numerous clients in important constitutional law matters and has argued before the Supreme Court. On behalf of the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, he has participated as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and State Supreme Courts in more than one hundred cases of constitutional significance, including Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the school vouchers case), Kelo v. New London, Ct. (eminent domain), and Van Orden v. Perry (the 10 Commandments case). He has also appeared as an expert legal commentator on numerous television and radio programs, including C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, NewsHour, and The O'Reilly Factor.
Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law
Professor Gulasekaram teaches Constitutional Law and Immigration Law. His research currently focuses on the political and legal dynamics of state and local immigration regulations, and their effect on federal policies. His co-authored book, The New Immigration Federalism, provides an in-depth empirical and theoretical analysis of the recent resurgence of state and local immigration lawmaking. He has also extensively explored the relationship between the Second Amendment and immigrants, as a way of understanding constitutional protections for noncitizens. In addition to his scholarly publications, his commentary has appeared in the L.A. Times and the Washington Post, and in blogs for various national outlets. He is a graduate of Brown University and Stanford Law School.
Professor Gulasekaram joined the Santa Clara University School of Law faculty in 2007, and has also taught as Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford Law School, Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at New York University School of Law and Visiting Assistant Professor at Loyola University Law School in New Orleans. Prior to academia, he was a litigation associate with O’Melveny & Meyers LLP and Susman Godfrey LLP, both in Los Angeles. He clerked for the Honorable Jacques L. Wiener Jr. on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. In addition, he is the co-founder of the World Children’s Initiative, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and educational infrastructure for children in developing areas around the world. www.wciprojects.org
Partner, Bell McAndrews & Hiltachk LLP
Ashlee joined Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP in 2004. She maintains a nationwide practice advising individuals, businesses, candidates, political action committees (PACs), lobbyists, and trade associations on compliance with complex campaign finance and advertising, lobbying, and nonprofit tax exempt statutes and regulations. Ashlee also counsels clients on navigating the process of qualifying initiative, referenda and recall ballot measures at state and local levels and all aspects of such campaigns.
Ashlee is a leader organizing efforts to ensure integrity and proper administration of elections in California. Ashlee is an active member of the California Political Attorneys Association, Federalist Society, and Republican National Lawyers Association, and a supporter of the Center for Civic Education.
Prior to joining Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP, Ashlee served as a staff member in the California State Legislature and with a congressional campaign.
Ashlee received her Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, and her undergraduate degree with honors in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2003.
Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Senior Research Fellow, School of Civic Leadership, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law. He is also Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Civic Leadership and Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023. Professor Yoo’s other books include Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War, Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare, and Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush.
Professor Yoo has published more than 100 articles in academic journals on subjects including national security, constitutional law, international law, and the Supreme Court. He also regularly contributes to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Review, among others.
Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman. He has been a visiting professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, Keio University in Japan, Trento University in Italy, the University of Chicago, and the Free University of Amsterdam.
Professor Yoo supervises the Public Law and Policy Program and the California Constitution Center. He also serves on the boards of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Federalist Society’s Separation of Powers and Federalism Division, the Universidad Cientifica del Sur Law School, and the Asia-Pacific Law Institute at Seoul National University. He is a winner of the Federalist Society’s Paul Bator award and been the Edwin Meese III Originalism Lecturer at the Heritage Foundation.
Professor Yoo graduated from Yale Law School and summa cum laude from Harvard College.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
Judge Carlos Bea serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He received his Bachelor's Degree from Stanford University in 1956 and his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1958. Judge Bea was born in San Sebastian, Spain, and immigrated with his family to Cuba in 1939. In 1952, he represented Cuba on the Cuban National basketball team in the Helsinki Olympics. Judge Bea became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1958. He engaged in private practice in San Francisco, principally in the area of civil trials (jury and non-jury), from 1959-75 at Dunne, Phelps & Mills and from 1975-90 at Carlos Bea, A Law Corporation. He taught courses in civil litigation advocacy at Hastings College of Law and Stanford Law School. From 1990 to 2003, Judge Bea served as a judge of the San Francisco Superior Court. He was nominated by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was confirmed in 2003.
Judge Bea and his wife Louise reside in San Francisco, where they raised their four sons, Sebastian, Alexander, Nicholas, and Dominic.
Dr. John Eastman is the former Henry Salvatori Professor of Law & Community Service and former Dean at Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, where he had been a member of the faculty since 1999, specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal History, and Property. He is a founding director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute that he founded in 1999. He has a Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and a B.A. in Politics and Economics from the University of Dallas. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage.
Prior to joining the Chapman law faculty, Dr. Eastman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, and to the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and practiced law with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis. Dr. Eastman has also represented numerous clients in important constitutional law matters and has argued before the Supreme Court. On behalf of the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, he has participated as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and State Supreme Courts in more than one hundred cases of constitutional significance, including Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the school vouchers case), Kelo v. New London, Ct. (eminent domain), and Van Orden v. Perry (the 10 Commandments case). He has also appeared as an expert legal commentator on numerous television and radio programs, including C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, NewsHour, and The O'Reilly Factor.
Professor of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law
Professor Gulasekaram teaches Constitutional Law and Immigration Law. His research currently focuses on the political and legal dynamics of state and local immigration regulations, and their effect on federal policies. His co-authored book, The New Immigration Federalism, provides an in-depth empirical and theoretical analysis of the recent resurgence of state and local immigration lawmaking. He has also extensively explored the relationship between the Second Amendment and immigrants, as a way of understanding constitutional protections for noncitizens. In addition to his scholarly publications, his commentary has appeared in the L.A. Times and the Washington Post, and in blogs for various national outlets. He is a graduate of Brown University and Stanford Law School.
Professor Gulasekaram joined the Santa Clara University School of Law faculty in 2007, and has also taught as Visiting Assistant Professor at Stanford Law School, Acting Assistant Professor of Lawyering at New York University School of Law and Visiting Assistant Professor at Loyola University Law School in New Orleans. Prior to academia, he was a litigation associate with O’Melveny & Meyers LLP and Susman Godfrey LLP, both in Los Angeles. He clerked for the Honorable Jacques L. Wiener Jr. on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans. In addition, he is the co-founder of the World Children’s Initiative, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to improving health and educational infrastructure for children in developing areas around the world. www.wciprojects.org
Partner, Bell McAndrews & Hiltachk LLP
Ashlee joined Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP in 2004. She maintains a nationwide practice advising individuals, businesses, candidates, political action committees (PACs), lobbyists, and trade associations on compliance with complex campaign finance and advertising, lobbying, and nonprofit tax exempt statutes and regulations. Ashlee also counsels clients on navigating the process of qualifying initiative, referenda and recall ballot measures at state and local levels and all aspects of such campaigns.
Ashlee is a leader organizing efforts to ensure integrity and proper administration of elections in California. Ashlee is an active member of the California Political Attorneys Association, Federalist Society, and Republican National Lawyers Association, and a supporter of the Center for Civic Education.
Prior to joining Bell, McAndrews & Hiltachk, LLP, Ashlee served as a staff member in the California State Legislature and with a congressional campaign.
Ashlee received her Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, and her undergraduate degree with honors in Political Science and a minor in Philosophy from Chatham College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2003.
Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Senior Research Fellow, School of Civic Leadership, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law. He is also Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Civic Leadership and Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023. Professor Yoo’s other books include Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War, Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare, and Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush.
Professor Yoo has published more than 100 articles in academic journals on subjects including national security, constitutional law, international law, and the Supreme Court. He also regularly contributes to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Review, among others.
Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman. He has been a visiting professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, Keio University in Japan, Trento University in Italy, the University of Chicago, and the Free University of Amsterdam.
Professor Yoo supervises the Public Law and Policy Program and the California Constitution Center. He also serves on the boards of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Federalist Society’s Separation of Powers and Federalism Division, the Universidad Cientifica del Sur Law School, and the Asia-Pacific Law Institute at Seoul National University. He is a winner of the Federalist Society’s Paul Bator award and been the Edwin Meese III Originalism Lecturer at the Heritage Foundation.
Professor Yoo graduated from Yale Law School and summa cum laude from Harvard College.
Justice Gorsuch, Carpenter, & the Fourth Amendment [POLICYbrief]
Ashley Baker
Short video featuring Ashley Baker
Though Justice Neil Gorsuch filed one of the four dissenting opinions in Carpenter v. United...
Topics
Don’t Hear What I’m not Saying: Defining Strict Constructionism to Distinguish It
A substantially similar version of this post previously appeared on the Least Dangerous Blog....
The Tenacity of Transformation Theory, and Why Constitutional History Deserves Better
Stephen B. Presser
Federalist Society Review, Volume 20
A review of The Second Creation: Fixing the American Constitution in the Founding Era, by...
Topics
Do Members of Congress Have a Duty to Interpret the Constitution for Themselves?
Is Constitutional interpretation only a job for judges? The Hon. James Buckley explains that both...
Panel Three: Post-Janus Labor & Employment Law Issues in the State and Future of Unions
Steve Greenhut, Carol M. Matheis, William L. Messenger, Ryan D. Nelson, Chuck Reed
2019 Annual Western Chapters Conference
How will the Janus decision affect the ability of unions to wield political power and what impact...
Panel Three: Post-Janus Labor & Employment Law Issues in the State and Future of Unions
Steve Greenhut, Carol M. Matheis, William L. Messenger, Ryan D. Nelson, Chuck Reed
2019 Annual Western Chapters Conference
How will the Janus decision affect the ability of unions to wield political power and what impact...
Lunch Address by Don McGahn
Leonard A. Leo, Donald F. McGahn
2019 Annual Western Chapters Conference
On January 26, 2019, the Federalist Society hosted the annual Western Chapters Conference at the...
Lunch Address by Don McGahn
Leonard A. Leo, Donald F. McGahn
2019 Annual Western Chapters Conference
On January 26, 2019, the Federalist Society hosted the annual Western Chapters Conference at the...
Panel Two: What are the Limits of Local Control?
Carlos T. Bea, John C. Eastman, Pratheepan Gulasekaram, Ashlee Nicole Titus, John C. Yoo
2019 Annual Western Chapters Conference
When is it appropriate for states and cities to contradict or ignore federal law? Do...
Panel Two: What are the Limits of Local Control?
Carlos T. Bea, John C. Eastman, Pratheepan Gulasekaram, Ashlee Nicole Titus, John C. Yoo
2019 Annual Western Chapters Conference
When is it appropriate for states and cities to contradict or ignore federal law? Do...