Executive Vice President, Goldwater Institute
Christina Sandefur is the Executive Vice President at the Goldwater Institute. She develops policies and litigates cases advancing healthcare freedom, free enterprise, private property rights, free speech, and taxpayer rights.
Christina is a co-drafter of the Right to Try initiative, now federal law, which protects terminally ill patients' right to try safe investigational treatments that have been prescribed by their physician but are not yet FDA-approved. She has won important victories for property rights in Arizona and works nationally to promote the Institute's Private Property Rights Protection Act, a state-level reform that requires government to pay owners when regulations destroy property rights and reduce property values.
Christina is the co-author of the book Cornerstone of Liberty: Private Property Rights in 21st Century America (2016). She is a frequent guest on national television and radio programs, has provided expert legal testimony to various legislative committees, and is a frequent speaker at conferences. She is the recipient of the 2018 Buckley Award in recognition of her leadership in the freedom movement, and she is an Advisory Board Member of the Network of enlightened Women. Christina serves on the board of the Phoenix Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and is a member of the executive committee for the Federalist Society's Regulatory Transparency Project: FDA & Health.
Christina is a graduate of Michigan State University College of Law and Hillsdale College.
Tazewell Taylor Professor of Law and William H. Cabell Research Professor, William & Mary Law School
Jonathan H. Adler joined the William & Mary law faculty as the Tazwell Taylor Professor of Law and William H. Cabell Research Professor in 2025. Prior to joining the faculty, he was the inaugural Johan Verheij Memorial Professor of Law and the founding Director of the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.
Professor Adler is the author or editor of seven books, including Climate Liberalism: Perspectives on Liberty, Property and Pollution (Palgrave, 2023), Marijuana Federalism: Uncle Sam and Mary Jane (Brookings Institution Press, 2020), Business and the Roberts Court (Oxford University Press, 2016) and Rebuilding the Ark: New Perspectives on Endangered Species Act Reform (AEI Press, 2011).
His articles have appeared in publications ranging from the Harvard Environmental Law Review and Yale Journal on Regulation to the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Washington Post. He has testified before Congress a dozen times, and his work has been cited in the U.S. Supreme Court. A 2024 study identified Professor Adler as the seventh most cited legal academic in administrative and environmental law from 2019 to 2023.
Professor Adler is a contributing editor to Civitas Outlook and a regular contributor to the popular legal blog, The Volokh Conspiracy. A regular commentator on constitutional and regulatory issues, he has appeared on numerous radio and television programs, ranging from the PBS Newshour and National Public Radio to the Fox News Channel and Entertainment Tonight.
Professor Adler is a senior fellow at the Property & Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana. In 2018, Professor Adler was elected to membership in the American Law Institute and helped co-found the organization Checks and Balances. In 2024, Professor Adler was appointed a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.
Professor Adler clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Partner, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP
Misha leads Troutman Peppers' national appellate and Supreme Court practice. Most recently, he successfully obtained orders from the Supreme Court blocking an unconstitutional restriction on places of worship, as well as overturning a lower court order that had blocked several state election laws. He has also argued and prevailed before the Supreme Court in Gill v. Whitford, one of the most significant redistricting cases in decades, as well as Murr v. Wisconsin, a high-stakes regulatory taking case.
Before joining Troutman, Misha served as Solicitor General of the State of Wisconsin. Misha previously served as a law clerk for the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy of the Supreme Court, Janice Rogers Brown of the D.C. Circuit, and Alex Kozinski of the 9th Circuit. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where he was President of the Federalist Society Chapter.
Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Health Law & Policy, Georgetown University
David A. Hyman, M.D., J.D., is the Scott K. Ginsburg Professor of Health Law & Policy at Georgetown University. Professor Hyman focuses his research and writing on the regulation and financing of health care. He teaches or has taught health care regulation, civil procedure, insurance, medical malpractice, law & economics, professional responsibility, and tax policy.
While serving as Special Counsel to the Federal Trade Commission, Professor Hyman was principal author and project leader for the first joint report ever issued by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, “Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition” (2004). He is also the author of Medicare Meets Mephistopheles, which was selected by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce/National Chamber Foundation as one of the top ten books of 2007, and the co-author (with Charles Silver) of Overcharged: Why Americans Pay Too Much for Health Care (2018). He has published widely in student-edited law reviews and peer-reviewed medical, health policy, law, and economics journals.
District 15, Florida House of Representatives
Jay Fant's Florida roots are deep. His grandfather's family arrived in Jacksonville almost a century ago, and Jay learned the value of hard work and community service by watching his dad and granddad start and run their family business, First Guaranty Bank. After graduating from law school at the University of Florida, Jay joined the business and was proud to run it alongside his dad until 2012.
Through his business, Jay was honored to serve many homeowners and small businessmen and women by providing the credit they needed to improve their lives and achieve their dreams. Like many of his customers, the Great Recession hit Jay's business hard, and just as they were poised to recover, federal government overreach and incompetence made that impossible.
That experience drove Jay to run for the State Legislature to be part of solving the problem of explosive government growth that chokes free enterprise and makes it harder for families to get ahead. In 2014, he was elected to the District 15 seat in the Florida House of Representatives, and he has been honored to serve his Jacksonville constituents in Tallahassee.
In the House, he serves on the Ways and Means and Government Accountability Committees, where he has worked diligently to make state government leaner and more efficient and ensure it works for the people, not the other way around. On the Judiciary Committee and as Vice Chair of the Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee his leadership has helped protect the rights of Florida's citizens.
Jay and his wife, Lauren, are the proud parents of two sons and two daughters. They live in Jacksonville, where he invests time in the community and has coached youth sports and served with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Rotary, and the Healthy U Now Foundation. The Fants are members of St. Johns Presbyterian Church.
Attorney General, Florida
Attorney General Ashley Moody, a fifth generation Floridian, was born and raised in Plant City, Florida. She attended the University of Florida where she earned her bachelors and masters degrees in accounting and juris doctorate. She later attended Stetson University College of Law earning a masters of law in international law. In 2018, she was elected the 38th Attorney General of Florida.
General Moody joined the United States Attorney’s Office prosecuting drug, firearm, and fraud offenses. While a federal prosecutor, Ashley was commended by the DEA for prosecutorial excellence and outstanding initiative in drug law enforcement. She was also recognized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for her lead of “Operation Round-Up,” a targeted prosecution of violent and repeat offenders.
In 2006, at the age of 31, General Moody became the youngest judge in Florida when she was elected Circuit Court Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. As a judge, she founded the Attorney Ad Litem program recruiting volunteer attorneys to stand in the place of parents who did not appear in court with their children. She also developed a mentoring program for at-risk children within the juvenile delinquency system.
Ashley is married to Justin, a federal law enforcement agent. They have two sons, Connor and Brandon. Their eldest son Brandon is serving in the United States Army.
District 59, Florida House of Representatives
Ross currently represents District 59 in the Florida House of Representatives and is a managing partner of Spano & Woody, P.A. in Riverview, FL. He is also the Chairman of the Florida Human Trafficking Working Group and serves on the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission.
As a state representative, Ross is a member of the following legislative committees:
Ross and his wife Amie have four children: Kali, Vincent, Caleb and Isaiah. They are active members of the Bell Shoals Baptist Church.
As Florida's Attorney General, Ross will always fight to uphold the rule of law and protect Florida's Constitution. He will prioritize protecting vulnerable populations, including victims of human trafficking. And as a proven conservative leader in the Florida Legislature, Ross will strive to protect the conservative values that are so important to him. He will keep government small and limited, protect family values and uphold the rule of law.
Owner/Partner, Torrens Law Group, P.A.
Ryan Torrens is running for Florida Attorney General for the right reason – to fight for you. For more than four years, Ryan Torrens has been going to battle in Court against the biggest banks in this country on behalf of Florida’s consumers. When Ryan says he will fight for Florida’s consumers, these aren’t just words, it is what he has already been doing!
A fifth-generation Tampa native, Ryan Torrens owns his own law practice, which focuses on foreclosure defense and consumer protection litigation.
Ryan Torrens defends consumer clients against mortgage foreclosure actions and also represents against creditors and debt collectors for collection violations.
Prior to starting his own law practice in 2012, Ryan Torrens worked as an independent consultant on the federal government-mandated Independent Foreclosure Review Project, where he was charged with reviewing toxic mortgage loans. While working on this project, Ryan gained a serious interest in consumer protection law.
Ryan Torrens earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government and World Affairs from the University of Tampa magna cum laude and graduated from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. While in law school, Ryan served as an intern for a federal bankruptcy judge and for several members of the U.S. Congress.
In his spare time, Ryan Torrens enjoys running, fishing, reading, and enjoying time with his family, including his partner, Francesca, and their rescued dog named Ziggy.
District 2, Florida House of Representatives
COMMUNITY LEADER AND FAMILY MAN
Frank and his wife Stephanie are proudly raising their three boys with conservative values in the Florida Panhandle. Frank serves as a Deacon in the First Baptist Church and teaches Sunday School with his wife. He is also a board member for Baptist Hospital and Pensacola M.E.S.S. Hall Children's Science Museum. Recognized for his business and community leadership, Governor Rick Scott appointed Frank to the Florida Development Finance Corporation Board of Directors, where he serves as Chair.
A SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS LEADER AND ATTORNEY
Frank is the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel for the Sansing Dealer Group, an organization with over 650 employees and stores throughout Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.Frank graduated from Southern Methodist University School Law and was the President of the Federalist Society chapter. Frank has practiced law in Texas and Florida for over 15 years. Prior to entering public service, Frank practiced law as an Attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a top national law firm.
UNMATCHED EXPERIENCE FIGHTING FOR CONSERVATIVE VALUES
As a Florida legislator, Frank
District 15, Florida House of Representatives
Jay Fant's Florida roots are deep. His grandfather's family arrived in Jacksonville almost a century ago, and Jay learned the value of hard work and community service by watching his dad and granddad start and run their family business, First Guaranty Bank. After graduating from law school at the University of Florida, Jay joined the business and was proud to run it alongside his dad until 2012.
Through his business, Jay was honored to serve many homeowners and small businessmen and women by providing the credit they needed to improve their lives and achieve their dreams. Like many of his customers, the Great Recession hit Jay's business hard, and just as they were poised to recover, federal government overreach and incompetence made that impossible.
That experience drove Jay to run for the State Legislature to be part of solving the problem of explosive government growth that chokes free enterprise and makes it harder for families to get ahead. In 2014, he was elected to the District 15 seat in the Florida House of Representatives, and he has been honored to serve his Jacksonville constituents in Tallahassee.
In the House, he serves on the Ways and Means and Government Accountability Committees, where he has worked diligently to make state government leaner and more efficient and ensure it works for the people, not the other way around. On the Judiciary Committee and as Vice Chair of the Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee his leadership has helped protect the rights of Florida's citizens.
Jay and his wife, Lauren, are the proud parents of two sons and two daughters. They live in Jacksonville, where he invests time in the community and has coached youth sports and served with Big Brothers Big Sisters, Rotary, and the Healthy U Now Foundation. The Fants are members of St. Johns Presbyterian Church.
Attorney General, Florida
Attorney General Ashley Moody, a fifth generation Floridian, was born and raised in Plant City, Florida. She attended the University of Florida where she earned her bachelors and masters degrees in accounting and juris doctorate. She later attended Stetson University College of Law earning a masters of law in international law. In 2018, she was elected the 38th Attorney General of Florida.
General Moody joined the United States Attorney’s Office prosecuting drug, firearm, and fraud offenses. While a federal prosecutor, Ashley was commended by the DEA for prosecutorial excellence and outstanding initiative in drug law enforcement. She was also recognized by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for her lead of “Operation Round-Up,” a targeted prosecution of violent and repeat offenders.
In 2006, at the age of 31, General Moody became the youngest judge in Florida when she was elected Circuit Court Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit in Hillsborough County. As a judge, she founded the Attorney Ad Litem program recruiting volunteer attorneys to stand in the place of parents who did not appear in court with their children. She also developed a mentoring program for at-risk children within the juvenile delinquency system.
Ashley is married to Justin, a federal law enforcement agent. They have two sons, Connor and Brandon. Their eldest son Brandon is serving in the United States Army.
District 59, Florida House of Representatives
Ross currently represents District 59 in the Florida House of Representatives and is a managing partner of Spano & Woody, P.A. in Riverview, FL. He is also the Chairman of the Florida Human Trafficking Working Group and serves on the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission.
As a state representative, Ross is a member of the following legislative committees:
Ross and his wife Amie have four children: Kali, Vincent, Caleb and Isaiah. They are active members of the Bell Shoals Baptist Church.
As Florida's Attorney General, Ross will always fight to uphold the rule of law and protect Florida's Constitution. He will prioritize protecting vulnerable populations, including victims of human trafficking. And as a proven conservative leader in the Florida Legislature, Ross will strive to protect the conservative values that are so important to him. He will keep government small and limited, protect family values and uphold the rule of law.
Owner/Partner, Torrens Law Group, P.A.
Ryan Torrens is running for Florida Attorney General for the right reason – to fight for you. For more than four years, Ryan Torrens has been going to battle in Court against the biggest banks in this country on behalf of Florida’s consumers. When Ryan says he will fight for Florida’s consumers, these aren’t just words, it is what he has already been doing!
A fifth-generation Tampa native, Ryan Torrens owns his own law practice, which focuses on foreclosure defense and consumer protection litigation.
Ryan Torrens defends consumer clients against mortgage foreclosure actions and also represents against creditors and debt collectors for collection violations.
Prior to starting his own law practice in 2012, Ryan Torrens worked as an independent consultant on the federal government-mandated Independent Foreclosure Review Project, where he was charged with reviewing toxic mortgage loans. While working on this project, Ryan gained a serious interest in consumer protection law.
Ryan Torrens earned a Bachelor of Arts in Government and World Affairs from the University of Tampa magna cum laude and graduated from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. While in law school, Ryan served as an intern for a federal bankruptcy judge and for several members of the U.S. Congress.
In his spare time, Ryan Torrens enjoys running, fishing, reading, and enjoying time with his family, including his partner, Francesca, and their rescued dog named Ziggy.
District 2, Florida House of Representatives
COMMUNITY LEADER AND FAMILY MAN
Frank and his wife Stephanie are proudly raising their three boys with conservative values in the Florida Panhandle. Frank serves as a Deacon in the First Baptist Church and teaches Sunday School with his wife. He is also a board member for Baptist Hospital and Pensacola M.E.S.S. Hall Children's Science Museum. Recognized for his business and community leadership, Governor Rick Scott appointed Frank to the Florida Development Finance Corporation Board of Directors, where he serves as Chair.
A SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS LEADER AND ATTORNEY
Frank is the Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel for the Sansing Dealer Group, an organization with over 650 employees and stores throughout Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.Frank graduated from Southern Methodist University School Law and was the President of the Federalist Society chapter. Frank has practiced law in Texas and Florida for over 15 years. Prior to entering public service, Frank practiced law as an Attorney at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, a top national law firm.
UNMATCHED EXPERIENCE FIGHTING FOR CONSERVATIVE VALUES
As a Florida legislator, Frank
Deputy Director - Center for Effective Public Management; Senior Fellow - Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution
John Hudak is deputy director of the Center for Effective Public Management and a senior fellow in Governance Studies. His research examines questions of presidential power in the contexts of administration, personnel, and public policy. Additionally, he focuses on campaigns and elections, legislative-executive interaction, and state and federal marijuana policy.
John’s 2016 book, Marijuana: A Short History, offers a unique, up-to-date profile of how cannabis emerged from the shadows of counterculture and illegality to become a serious, even mainstream, public policy issue and source of legal revenue for both businesses and governments. In it, he describes why attitudes and policy have changed, and what those changes mean for marijuana's future place in society.
His 2014 Presidential Pork: White House Influence over the Distribution of Federal Grants demonstrates that pork-barrel politics occurs beyond the halls of Congress. Presidents capitalize on their discretionary funding authority to target federal dollars to swing states in advance of presidential elections. His other work explores how agency staffing, expertise, and institutional structure facilitate or hinder presidential power and influence. This research explores the balance between political control and bureaucratic expertise in the delivery of public policy.
John’s work has been recognized for its quality and contribution by the Midwest Political Science Association and the American Political Science Association’s Presidency Research Group. His work has been supported by institutions including the National Science Foundation.
Prior to joining Brookings, John served as the program director and as a graduate fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. He holds a B.A. in political science and economics from the University of Connecticut and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Vanderbilt University.
Director of Economic Studies, Cato Institute
Jeffrey Miron is director of economic studies at the Cato Institute and the director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Economics at Harvard University. His area of expertise is the economics of libertarianism, with particular emphasis on the economics of illegal drugs.
Miron has served on the faculty at the University of Michigan and as a visiting professor at the Sloan School of Management, M.I.T., and the department of economics at Harvard University. From 1992-1998, he was chairman of the department of economics at Boston University. He is the author of Drug War Crimes: The Consequences of Prohibition and The Economics of Seasonal Cycles, in addition to numerous op-eds and journal articles. He has been the recipient of an Olin Fellowship from the National Bureau of Economic Research, an Earhart Foundation Fellowship, and a Sloan Foundation Faculty Research Fellowship.
Miron received a BA, magna cum laude, from Swarthmore College in 1979 and a PhD in economics from MIT in 1984.
Alton C. and Cecile Cunningham Craig Professor of Law, The University of Alabama School of Law
Julie Andersen Hill is the Alton C. and Cecile Cunningham Craig Professor of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law where she teaches banking and commercial law. Her scholarly work focuses on the unwritten rules of banking regulation. She often examines how regulators respond to financial innovation. Before entering the legal academy, Professor Hill practiced law in the Washington, D.C. office of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. As part of the litigation group, she represented large financial institutions in government investigations. She also clerked for Judge Wade Brorby on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. Professor Hill earned her undergraduate degree in economics summa cum laude from Southern Utah University and her J.D. summa cum laude from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University.
Vice President of Domestic and Economic Policy, The Heritage Foundation
Roger Severino is Vice President of Economic and Domestic Policy, and the Joseph C. and Elizabeth A. Anderlik Fellow at The Heritage Foundation.
Severino is a national authority on civil rights, conscience and religious freedom, the administrative state, and information privacy, particularly as applied to health care law and policy. Find his tweets at @RogerSeverino_.
Severino spearheaded the HHS Accountability Project while a Senior Fellow at EPPC from 2021 to 2023. Previously, Severino was Director of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights, where he led a team of over 250 staff enforcing our nation’s civil rights, conscience and religious freedom, and health information privacy laws. He served from 2017 to 2021 and was the longest-serving OCR director of the past three decades.
Prior to joining HHS, Severino served for two years as Director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at Heritage, advocating for life, family, and religious-freedom policies. Before that, he was a trial attorney for seven years at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division where he enforced the Fair Housing Act and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Severino started his legal career at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, where he was Legal Counsel and Chief Operations Officer and defended the rights of people of all faiths under federal and international law.
Severino has been profiled in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and The Hill and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, and PBS, among others. In 2020, The New York Times dubbed him and his wife Carrie, “a conservative power couple” to be reckoned with.
Severino holds a JD from Harvard Law School, a master’s degree in public policy, with highest distinction, from Carnegie Mellon University, and a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Southern California. He was appointed by President Trump to the Administrative Conference of the United States and is a member of the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Virginia bars.
As OCR director, Severino founded the federal government’s first division dedicated exclusively to conscience and religious freedom compliance and enforcement. He enforced the Weldon Amendment for the first time against a state (California) after it coerced families and religious organizations into paying for abortion insurance coverage, leading to a $200 million federal funding disallowance. He also enforced laws protecting pro-life pregnancy resource centers from discrimination by states hostile to their message and enforced laws prohibiting forced participation in abortions by medical professionals.
With respect to civil rights, Severino protected older persons and people with disabilities from being denied life-saving care due to discriminatory “quality of life” judgments, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also achieved a landmark sexual harassment resolution with Michigan State University in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal and protected the rights of non-English speakers to have equal access to health and human services.
In the area of health privacy, he secured the largest HIPAA monetary settlement in history and achieved the largest number of enforcement resolutions both in a single year and across four years. He also facilitated the transformational use of Skype, Zoom, and Facetime for delivery of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
His regulatory reform activities resulted in a comprehensive conscience protection regulation and proposed a life-affirming disability rights regulation. He achieved regulatory savings of $3.6 billion in health care industry costs over five years and identified and proposed an additional $3.2 billion in cost savings from the repeal of ineffective and unnecessary regulatory burdens.
Severino is a Spanish speaker who teaches salsa and west coast swing in his spare time.
Free Speech & Off-Label Branding [POLICYbrief]
Christina Sandefur
Short video featuring Christina Sandefur
While the prescription of medicine for off-label use is legal, the FDA prohibits pharmaceutical companies...
Topics
Now They Tell Us: Bankruptcy Meme Turns Out to Be Rubbish
A decade ago then-professor Elizabeth Warren and her co-authors released a study on the...
20 State Lawsuit Challenging Obamacare's Constitutionality
Jonathan H. Adler, Misha Tseytlin
Practice Groups and Regulatory Transparency Project Teleforum
Recently, 20 States, led by Attorney General Ken Paxton of Texas and Attorney General Brad...
Topics
Round Two for Obamacare: Sebelius Redux
Rarely do challengers of landmark legislation get a second bite at the apple in constitutional...
Introduction to the FDA & Health Working Group
David Hyman
Regulatory Transparency Project's Fourth Branch Video
David Hyman is the Chairman of RTP's FDA & Health working group and Professor of...
Topics
Thoughts on the New Constitutional Case Against Obamacare
On February 26th, twenty Republican-controlled states filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care...
Perspectives on the Florida Office of Attorney General
Jay Fant, Ashley Moody, Ross Spano, Ryan Torrens, Frank White
2018 Annual Florida Chapters Conference
2018 Annual Florida Chapters Conference The panelists discussed the roles and responsibilities of Attorney Generals...
Perspectives on the Florida Office of Attorney General
Jay Fant, Ashley Moody, Ross Spano, Ryan Torrens, Frank White
2018 Annual Florida Chapters Conference
2018 Annual Florida Chapters Conference The panelists discussed the roles and responsibilities of Attorney Generals...
Medical Marijuana and Money Laundering
John Hudak, Jeffrey Miron, Julie Hill
Short video featuring John Hudak, Jeffrey Miron & Julie Hill
Medical marijuana may be legal in many states, but federally, it is still illegal. This...
Conscience and Religious Freedom Division
Roger Severino
Religious Liberties Practice Group Teleforum
On January 18, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the creation of...