Judge, Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One
The Honorable Jennifer M. Perkins began service on the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division One, on October 30, 2017. At the time of her appointment by Governor Douglas Ducey, Judge Perkins was Assistant Solicitor General for the State of Arizona.
Judge Perkins was born in Portales, New Mexico, and primarily raised in Albuquerque. She attended the prestigious Albuquerque Academy from 1988-1995, before moving to Washington D.C. to attend the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University as a National Merit Scholar. Therafter, she relocated again to Dallas, Texas, and earned her juris doctor from the SMU Dedman School of Law, graduating cum laude in 2002.
Judge Perkins started her career at the law firm of Browning & Peifer (now Peifer, Hanson, Mullins, and Baker) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. While there, she litigated complex commercial matters including class action plaintiff and defense work, and assisted with employment and contract litigation. In 2003, the judge accompanied the Honorable James O. Browning in transitioning to the federal district court bench, serving as his first law clerk.
After her clerkship, Judge Perkins moved to Arizona to work for the Institute for Justice, Arizona Chapter, a public interest law firm. She spent five years with IJ-AZ litigating civil rights cases in Arizona and across the country. In 2009, the judge became Disciplinary Counsel for the Arizona Commission on Judicial Conduct, where she reviewed and prosecuted ethics complaints against state court judges throughout Arizona. After five years serving the state in this capacity, Judge Perkins entered private practice by joining an appellate law firm in Phoenix. While there, she worked on state and federal appeals involving a wide range of legal subjects, including complex business disputes, property rights, judicial ethics, and personal injury matters.
In January 2015, Judge Perkins joined the Office of the Arizona Attorney General to serve as the first Assistant Solicitor General; in that capacity, she was responsible for oversight of Attorney General Opinions and served as ethics counsel to the entire office. In addition to these two primary roles, the judge assisted on a variety of matters including trial and appellate litigation of election-related matters; federal appellate litigation with the Federalism Unit; state criminal appeals; and drafting amicus briefs on behalf of Arizona in state and federal courts.
Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Georgia
Chief Justice Nels Peterson was appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court in 2016, and was elected to full six-year terms in 2018 and 2024. He previously served in a variety of other roles in Georgia state government, including as judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals, general counsel for the University System of Georgia, Georgia’s first solicitor general in the Attorney General’s Office, and executive counsel to the Governor.
Before entering state government, Nels practiced at King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta and clerked for Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He is a graduate of Kennesaw State University and Harvard Law School. Nels and his wife Jennifer have two children and live in Cobb County, where they teach adult Sunday school at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.
Vice President for Legal Affairs, Goldwater Institute
Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit
JEFFREY S. SUTTON is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He has served as Chair of the Federal Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Chair of the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules, and Chair of the Supreme Court Fellows Commission. He currently serves as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States. Since 1993, Chief Judge Sutton has been an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University College of Law, where he teaches seminars on State Constitutional Law, the United States Supreme Court, and Appellate Advocacy. He also teaches a class on State Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School. Among other publications, he is the author of Who Decides? States as Laboratories of Constitutional Experimentation and 51 Imperfect Solutions: States and the Making of American Constitutional Law. He is the co-author of a casebook, State Constitutional Law: The Modern Experience, as well as The Law of Judicial Precedent. He is also the co-editor of The Essential Scalia: On the Constitution, the Courts, and the Rule of Law. In 2006, Chief Judge Sutton was elected to the American Law Institute, and in 2017 he was elected to its Council.
Assistant Professor of Law, Capital University Law School
Nathaniel M. Fouch is an Assistant Professor of Law at Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. He previously clerked at every level of the state judiciary, including for Justice Pat DeWine of the Ohio Supreme Court. Professor Fouch was the founding president of both the Dayton Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and the Dayton Catholic Lawyers Guild. He earned his B.A. from Berea College and his J.D. cum laude from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. His work on the Ohio Constitution and state constitutionalism has been cited by the Ohio Supreme Court. Professor Fouch lives in Dayton, Ohio, with his wife, Theresa, and their three young children.
Senior Associate Legal Fellow, The Buckeye Institute
Alex M. Certo is a Senior Associate Legal Fellow at The Buckeye Institute. In this role, Certo advances Buckeye’s public policy efforts by litigating cases that protect individuals’ rights and by contributing to more than 75 amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as dozens of amicus briefs in state and lower federal courts. Additionally, Certo supports Buckeye’s policy work by analyzing the legal implications of proposed and pending legislation and by testifying before Ohio legislative committees.
Certo has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2019 and currently serves on the board of the Columbus Lawyers chapter, where he is vice president.
Certo’s legal experience includes working as a judicial extern for the Supreme Court of Ohio and as a summer extern in the Investigations Division of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Certo also worked as a law clerk for Agee, Clymer, Mitchell & Portman in Columbus, Ohio, focusing on workers’ compensation litigation.
Certo received his bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University and his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from Capital University Law School. In law school, Certo served on the associate board of the Capital University Law Review and competed on the Child Welfare and Adoption Law Moot Court team. Certo was the president of Capital’s Federalist Society chapter and vice president of the Labor and Employment Law Association. Certo also served as a teaching assistant for Capital’s Second Amendment course and a research assistant for a pair of faculty-written articles on public safety. Certo was awarded the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Patent Law and the Ronald I. Friedman Memorial Service Award, and he was inducted into The Order of Barristers.
Before law school, Certo worked as a staff accountant. His work focused on preparing individual and small business tax filings and assisting small business owners with daily accounting needs.
Senior Associate Legal Fellow, The Buckeye Institute
Alex M. Certo is a Senior Associate Legal Fellow at The Buckeye Institute. In this role, Certo advances Buckeye’s public policy efforts by litigating cases that protect individuals’ rights and by contributing to more than 75 amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as dozens of amicus briefs in state and lower federal courts. Additionally, Certo supports Buckeye’s policy work by analyzing the legal implications of proposed and pending legislation and by testifying before Ohio legislative committees.
Certo has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2019 and currently serves on the board of the Columbus Lawyers chapter, where he is vice president.
Certo’s legal experience includes working as a judicial extern for the Supreme Court of Ohio and as a summer extern in the Investigations Division of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Certo also worked as a law clerk for Agee, Clymer, Mitchell & Portman in Columbus, Ohio, focusing on workers’ compensation litigation.
Certo received his bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University and his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from Capital University Law School. In law school, Certo served on the associate board of the Capital University Law Review and competed on the Child Welfare and Adoption Law Moot Court team. Certo was the president of Capital’s Federalist Society chapter and vice president of the Labor and Employment Law Association. Certo also served as a teaching assistant for Capital’s Second Amendment course and a research assistant for a pair of faculty-written articles on public safety. Certo was awarded the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Patent Law and the Ronald I. Friedman Memorial Service Award, and he was inducted into The Order of Barristers.
Before law school, Certo worked as a staff accountant. His work focused on preparing individual and small business tax filings and assisting small business owners with daily accounting needs.
Senior Associate Legal Fellow, The Buckeye Institute
Alex M. Certo is a Senior Associate Legal Fellow at The Buckeye Institute. In this role, Certo advances Buckeye’s public policy efforts by litigating cases that protect individuals’ rights and by contributing to more than 75 amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as dozens of amicus briefs in state and lower federal courts. Additionally, Certo supports Buckeye’s policy work by analyzing the legal implications of proposed and pending legislation and by testifying before Ohio legislative committees.
Certo has been a member of the Federalist Society since 2019 and currently serves on the board of the Columbus Lawyers chapter, where he is vice president.
Certo’s legal experience includes working as a judicial extern for the Supreme Court of Ohio and as a summer extern in the Investigations Division of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. Certo also worked as a law clerk for Agee, Clymer, Mitchell & Portman in Columbus, Ohio, focusing on workers’ compensation litigation.
Certo received his bachelor’s degree from Slippery Rock University and his Juris Doctor (magna cum laude) from Capital University Law School. In law school, Certo served on the associate board of the Capital University Law Review and competed on the Child Welfare and Adoption Law Moot Court team. Certo was the president of Capital’s Federalist Society chapter and vice president of the Labor and Employment Law Association. Certo also served as a teaching assistant for Capital’s Second Amendment course and a research assistant for a pair of faculty-written articles on public safety. Certo was awarded the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Patent Law and the Ronald I. Friedman Memorial Service Award, and he was inducted into The Order of Barristers.
Before law school, Certo worked as a staff accountant. His work focused on preparing individual and small business tax filings and assisting small business owners with daily accounting needs.
Director, Center for Judicial Engagement, Institute for Justice
Anthony Sanders is the Director of the Center for Judicial Engagement (CJE) at the Institute for Justice 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 Anthony’s expertise is on using state constitutions to protect individual rights. He is the author of the book, published by University of Michigan Press, Baby Ninth Amendments: How Americans Embraced Unenumerated Rights and Why It Matters. He has also written several law review articles on state constitutional law, unenumerated rights, judicial review, economic liberty, property rights, international law, and other subjects. His work has appeared in publications such as the Iowa Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, American University Law Review, and Rutgers Law Review, and he has published opinion pieces in leading media outlets across the country. Further, he frequently speaks to various audiences on these matters and others, including judicial engagement, free speech, civil forfeiture, and the continuing importance of Magna Carta. Additionally, he hosts the weekly Short Circuit podcast, which often records live in front of law student audiences.
Anthony has litigated several cases in various state courts on state constitutional protections, as well as in federal courts on matters such as economic liberty, free speech, administrative law, and fines and fees abuse. Prior to joining IJ, Anthony served as a law clerk to Justice W. William Leaphart on the Montana Supreme Court. Anthony also worked for several years in private practice in Chicago where he was an active member of the Chicago Bar Association and chaired its Civil Rights Committee.
Anthony 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, Anthony grew up on the islands of Vashon in Washington State, and Alderney in the British Channel Islands.
Executive Director, Ohio Dental Association
David J. Owsiany is the executive director of the Ohio Dental Association and a past president of the Columbus Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society.
He has served as CEO of a statewide health care association, president of the Buckeye Institute, chief of policy for the Ohio Department of Insurance, judicial law clerk for the Illinois Appellate Court, and staffer on the United State Senate Judiciary Committee.
Mr. Owsiany has written dozens of articles on legal and public policy issues for various publications, including the University of Toledo Law Review, the Federalist Society's State Court Docket Watch, Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Crain’s Cleveland Business, and Akron Beacon Journal.
Owsiany received his J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis and B.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Deputy Legal Director, ACLU Ohio
David Carey is the deputy legal director for the ACLU of Ohio, where he develops and conducts litigation, and assists in managing the legal department. David’s litigation work spans a broad array of civil liberties issues, including challenges to prison conditions and parole procedures (Wilson v. Williams, Mann v. ODRC, Head v. Ohio Parole Board), defense of free expression (Lindenbaum v. Realgy, Wood v. Eubanks), criminal justice reform (State v. Foreman, State v. Chapman), criminalization of poverty (State ex rel. New Prospect v. Ruehlman), and voting rights and gerrymandering (APRI v. Householder, APRI v. LaRose).
David previously served as an ACLU of Ohio volunteer attorney for several years. His pro bono work included defending early voting access in NAACP v. Husted, writing amicus briefs in defense of free political expression in Susan B. Anthony List v. Driehaus and public trial rights in State v. Sowell, and assisting on a host of other matters. Incurably bitten by the civil rights litigation bug, he was thrilled to join the team in Columbus in 2018.
David graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with High Honors in History from the College of William and Mary in 2006. He received his J.D. in 2009 from New York University School of Law, where he was a Robert McKay Scholar and served as a Staff Editor and Articles Editor for the Annual Survey of American Law. Before joining the ACLU, he practiced with firms in New York and Columbus, on matters ranging from complex trade secret litigation to a pro bono representation of a client challenging a capital murder conviction in Alabama. Outside of his legal work, David is a proud advocate for historic preservation in Columbus, serving as the Planning and Development Chair for the Harrison West Society. He is also an enthusiastic traveler, an avid cook, and a devotee of Columbus-area craft brews.
General Counsel, Strive
Before joining Strive, Alexandra served as the Director of Regulatory Affairs at River Financial, where she handled all regulatory and government matters and served as product counsel. Prior to her time at River, Alexandra worked at the U.S. Department of Treasury, first in the General Counsel’s office and then as the youngest-ever Executive Secretary, where she worked directly with Secretary Mnuchin. Alexandra previously worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Akin Gump. She clerked for then-Justice Allison Eid on the Colorado Supreme Court and Judge Jennifer Elrod on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She holds a J.D. from the University of Texas and a B.A. from The King’s College.
Executive Director, Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society, The Ohio State University
Professor Lee J. Strang serves as the inaugural executive director of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at The Ohio State University.
Initiated in 2023 by the state of Ohio, the Chase Center will be an academic home at Ohio State for teaching, research, and programing on the foundations of the American constitutional order and its impact on society. As executive director, Professor Strang is responsible for organizing the center, overseeing the hiring and appointment of the center’s faculty, developing curriculum, and delivering student and academic programming. He also holds a faculty appointment in the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State.
Professor Strang is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has published dozens of articles in leading journals in the fields of constitutional law and interpretation, property law, and religion and the First Amendment. He co-edits the textbook Federal Constitutional Law, and his most recent book, Originalism’s Promise: A Natural Law Account of the American Constitution is the first book-length, natural law justification for originalism. He currently is writing on civic thought and leadership, and he is finalizing a book on the history of American Catholic legal education (with John M. Breen).
Before joining Ohio State, Professor Strang served as the inaugural director of the University of Toledo’s Institute of American Constitutional Thought & Leadership. He joined the Toledo College of Law faculty in 2008, was granted tenure in 2010, and was named John W. Stoepler Professor of Law & Values in 2015. The University of Toledo awarded Professor Strang its Outstanding Faculty Research and Scholarship Award in 2017. Before that, he was a visiting professor at Michigan State University College of Law. A graduate of the University of Iowa, where he was articles editor of the Iowa Law Review and Order of the Coif, Professor Strang holds an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School.
Professor Strang has been a visiting scholar at the Georgetown Center for the Constitution and a visiting fellow at the James Madison Program at Princeton University. In 2016, he was appointed to the Ohio Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and reappointed as chair in 2023.
Prior to teaching, Professor Strang served as a judicial clerk for Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. He was also an associate for Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, where he practiced in general and appellate litigation.
Professor Strang is a frequent presenter at scholarly conferences. He is the president of the Board of Trustees of Northwest Ohio Classical Academy, Ohio’s first classical charter school. He is also a regular participant in debates at law schools across the country, a contributor to the media, and a speaker to political, civic, and religious groups.
Partner, Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP
Philip litigates complex matters in state and federal courts. He has briefed appeals in multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals, including the Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, as well as state appellate courts in Ohio, Kentucky, and Georgia. Philip has also represented amici at both the cert petition and merits stages in the U.S. Supreme Court.
Prior to joining Taft, Philip served as a law clerk for Judge Raymond M. Kethledge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Judge Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Judge Lavenski R. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
Philip serves on the board of directors for the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky lawyers chapters of the Federalist Society. He was a 2018 James Wilson Fellow with the James Wilson Institute, a 2013 John Marshall Fellow with the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, and a 2011 Blackstone Fellow with the Alliance Defending Freedom.
Philip received his undergraduate degree, with Highest Honors, from Ouachita Baptist University. He received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as the submissions review editor for the Journal of Law and Politics.
How Did State Constitutions Shape the American Founding?
Jennifer Perkins, Nels S.D. Peterson, Timothy Sandefur, Jeffrey S. Sutton
In this Federalist Society America 250 series, experts analyze modern legal and policy debates through...
Transporting Abortifacients Across State Lines: Prospects for Indictment and Extradition
Paul Linton
On January 31, 2025, a Louisiana grand jury indicted a New York physician—Dr. Margaret Carpenter—for...
Ohio Supreme Court Overrules “Lockstepping” Precedent, Finds State Constitution’s Open Courts Provision Applies to Juvenile Court Proceedings
Nathaniel M. Fouch
Since Ohio joined the Union in 1803, its state constitution has provided that “All...
Ohio Supreme Court Rules a Bone in “Boneless” Wing Doesn’t Make a Food Supplier Negligent
Alex Certo
In Berkheimer v. REKM, L.L.C.,[1] the Ohio Supreme Court determined that the presence of a...
Panel 3: Saying What the Law Is - Applying Ohio's Abortion Amendment
2024 Ohio Conference
Columbus, OHThe Ohio Supreme Court Ruling That Allowed August 8 Special Election to Amend the Ohio Constitution to proceed
Alex Certo
In State ex rel. One Person One Vote v. LaRose, the Ohio Supreme Court was...
Proposed “Reproductive Freedom” Constitutional Amendment May Be Placed on the Ballot After Ohio Supreme Court Ruling
Alex Certo
The Ohio Constitution reserves for the people the right to propose an amendment to the...
Topics
Ohio Supreme Court Rules on Noneconomic Damages Cap
On December 16, in Brandt v. Pompa, a divided 4-3 Ohio Supreme Court found the...
State Court Docket Watch: Ohio v. O'Malley
Anthony Sanders
In 2019, in Timbs v. Indiana, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Excessive Fines...
DuBose v. McGuffey
David J. Owsiany
In recent years, a debate has emerged related to the appropriate role of bail in...