R. B. Price and Isabelle Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Missouri School of Law
Carl H. Esbeck is R.B. Price Professor and Isabelle Wade & Paul C. Lyda Professor of Law emeritus at the University of Missouri. After attending Cornell University School of Law where he served as an editor on the Cornell Law Review, he held a judicial clerkship with the Honorable Howard C. Bratton, chief judge of the U.S. District Court in New Mexico.
Professor Esbeck publishes widely in the area of religious liberty and church-state relations. He is recognized as the progenitor of "Charitable Choice," an integral part of the 1996 Federal Welfare Reform Act, later made a part of the faith-based initiative and equal-treatment regulations under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. In addition, he has taken the lead in recognizing that the modern Supreme Court has applied the Establishment Clause not as a personal right, but as a structural limit on the government's authority in disputes involving church governance. While on leave from 1999 to 2002, Professor Esbeck directed the Center for Law & Religious Freedom (CLRF) and later served as Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice. While directing the CLRF, Professor Esbeck was a central part of the congressional advocacy behind the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA). While at the Department of Justice one of his duties was to direct a task force to remove barriers to the equal-treatment of faith-based organizations applying for social service grants. He is the author of Disestablishment and Religious Dissent: Church-State Relations in the New American States, 1776 - 1833 (U. of MO Press, 2019).
Executive Director & Secretary, American Civil Rights Project
Dan Morenoff is the executive director at the American Civil Rights Project and an adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
His work focuses on protecting and, where necessary, restoring the primacy of all Americans' shared civil rights against the identitarian alternative.
Before practicing law, Morenoff served on the legislative staff of Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX). Morenoff holds a B.A. from Columbia College of Columbia University in the City of New York and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School. He has also served as an officer or director of several community organizations in Dallas, Texas.
Attorney, Institute for Justice
Anya Bidwell (née Cherkasova) leads IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability (“PIA”). Through this project, Anya works to promote judicial engagement and ensure that government officials are held to account when they violate individuals’ constitutional rights. Anya also serves as an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts project.
One of Anya’s PIA cases—Gonzalez v. Trevino—was heard by the United States Supreme Court on March 20, 2024. She argued the case for the petitioner, with the goal of convincing the Justices that retaliatory arrests not involving on-the-spot decisions by police officers should be actionable under the First Amendment regardless of probable cause. The decision is expected in June.
This was Anya’s third appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court. She second-chaired Brownback v. King (an excessive force case) and Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas (a commerce clause case) in November 2020 and January 2019 respectfully.
Before joining IJ, Anya worked for a top national law firm, handling cases in trial and appellate courts. She earned her J.D. with honors from the University of Texas. Two years prior to entering law school, Anya received a master’s degree in Global Policy Studies, also from the University of Texas, and wrote a thesis on asymmetric warfare.
Anya spent her childhood in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. At 16, she left her family behind and came to America on a university scholarship. Her upbringing motivated her to study law and become an advocate for a strong, independent judiciary.
Anya’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Guardian. She is also the host of live recordings of our Short Circuit podcast and a co-producer of our documentary-style podcast Bound by Oath.
Vice President for the Program on Technology, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, Lincoln Network
Arthur Rizer is the Vice President for the Program on Technology, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties at Lincoln Network. In addition to his work at Lincoln, Arthur is a visiting lecturer at University College London, and an adjunct professor at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. Arthur is also a member of Columbia University Justice Lab’s Executive Session for the Future of Justice Policy, the Federalist Society’s Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Practice Group, the Virginia Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and other advisory bodies.
Before joining Lincoln, Arthur was founding director of the R Street Institute’s program on criminal justice and civil liberties. Prior to that, Arthur taught at West Virginia University’s College of Law, and was a visiting professor at Georgetown University Law Center. He also served as a trial attorney with the U.S. Justice Department, primarily as a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Division, where he targeted command-and-control drug cartel leaders and narco-terrorists. He also served as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and in the civil division. Earlier in his career, Arthur served in the U.S. Army, originally enlisting as a private before later receiving a commission. He served as an armor officer, later becoming the commander of a military police company and a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps assistant professor. He deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, with the mission to train the Iraqi Infantry and served as an MP acting battalion commander and executive officer. He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army (WVNG). During his Army career, Arthur received the Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service and Iraq Campaign medals.
Arthur is the author of three books: Lincoln’s Counsel (2010); The National Security Implications of Immigration Law (2013); and Jefferson’s Pen: The Art of Persuasion (2016).
Arthur earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from Pacific Lutheran University; a master of laws, with distinction, from Georgetown University’s Law Center; and his JD, magna cum laude, from Gonzaga University School of Law. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Command Staff College. He is in the final stages of a doctorate at the University of Oxford, Faculty of Law, Centre of Criminology that focuses on policing.
General Counsel, Center for American Liberty
Mark Trammell is the General Counsel at Center for American Liberty where he is dedicated to defending First Amendment freedoms and civil liberties.
Prior to joining the Center for American Liberty, Trammell served as in-house counsel to Young America’s Foundation, where he advocated for and defended students’ free speech rights on college campuses. He has also served as an attorney at Liberty Counsel and as an adjunct professor at Liberty University.
Trammell is a member of the Maryland bar and the Virginia bar. He is a graduate of Liberty University School of Law and Union University. Trammell currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Partner, Holland & Hart LLP
A longtime litigator and project team leader, Tom Sansonetti helps clients permit and develop projects with potential obstacles in mind.
Long before a lawsuit can threaten a project, he counsels clients on how to develop effective plans of action that will meet government environmental permitting requirements and stand up to judicial scrutiny when those clients' projects are challenged in court.
Tom joined Holland & Hart in 1993 and has built a nationally recognized practice in natural resources and environmental law. Considered an expert in natural resources and environmental matters, Tom has served as one of the top leaders in the Department of Justice and also has held the third-ranking position in the Department of the Interior. He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court and in several Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, and has served as a federal prosecutor in environmental crimes cases. Tom’s appellate experience highlights his ability to argue cases at all levels of the federal court system.
General Counsel, Center for American Liberty
Mark Trammell is the General Counsel at Center for American Liberty where he is dedicated to defending First Amendment freedoms and civil liberties.
Prior to joining the Center for American Liberty, Trammell served as in-house counsel to Young America’s Foundation, where he advocated for and defended students’ free speech rights on college campuses. He has also served as an attorney at Liberty Counsel and as an adjunct professor at Liberty University.
Trammell is a member of the Maryland bar and the Virginia bar. He is a graduate of Liberty University School of Law and Union University. Trammell currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention.
An Extended Essay on Church Autonomy
Carl H. Esbeck
The doctrine of church autonomy[1] is distinct from the two more familiar lines of cases...
Luncheon with James E. "Trey" Trainor
"Will Elections Be Federalized?"
Denver, COMistaken Heritage: How a Statutory Misreading Has Denied Congress’ Intended Beneficiaries Protection for Half a Century
Dan Morenoff
When the Voting Rights Act (VRA) came up for renewal of its pre-clearance mechanism for...
How Decisions are Made in DC
Wyoming Lawyers Chapter - Virtual Event
How Decisions are Made in DC
Wyoming Lawyers Chapter - Virtual Event
State Court Docket Watch: Hamen v. Hamlin County
Anya Bidwell
Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public...
State Court Docket Watch: State of Montana v. Mercier
Arthur Rizer
Presently, there is much uncertainty in Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause jurisprudence in light of differences in tone...
Litigation Update: Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop
Mark Trammell
Jack Phillips, of Masterpiece Cakeshop fame, is back in court for the third time since the Supreme...
Litigation Update: Jack Phillips and Masterpiece Cakeshop
TeleforumTopics
The Upcoming 24th Annual Antitrust Symposium
One of the marquee events of every year for anyone interested in antitrust is the...