Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute
Matthew Cavedon is the Director of the Cato Institute’s Project on Criminal Justice. He focuses on reforming plea-driven mass adjudication, ensuring police accountability, and defending constitutional criminal originalism. Cavedon’s scholarship has been published (or is forthcoming in) publications including the Arizona State Law Journal, Cato Supreme Court Review, Seattle University Law Review, and Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy. Formerly a Georgia public defender and fellow at the Institute for Justice, Cavedon has taught law school courses on criminal law and procedure, as well as the First Amendment. Cavedon clerked for a U.S. district court and the Supreme Court of Georgia. He came to Cato following a fellowship at the Emory University Center for the Study of Law and Religion.
Chief Policy Counsel, Council on Criminal Justice and Senior Advisor, Right on Crime
Marc A. Levin is the Chief Policy Counsel for the Council on Criminal Justice (counciloncj.org) and Senior Advisor for Right on Crime.
An attorney and accomplished author on legal and public policy issues, Marc began the Foundation’s criminal justice program in 2005. This work contributed to nationally praised policy changes that have been followed by dramatic declines in crime and incarceration in Texas. Building on this success, in 2010, Levin developed the concept for the Right on Crime initiative, a TPPF project in partnership with Prison Fellowship and the American Conservative Union Foundation. Right on Crime has become the national clearinghouse for conservative criminal justice reforms and has contributed to the adoption of policies in dozens of states that fight crime, support victims, and protect taxpayers.
In 2014, Levin was named one of the “Politico 50” in the magazine’s annual “list of thinkers, doers, and dreamers who really matter in this age of gridlock and dysfunction.”
Marc has testified on criminal justice policy on four occasions before Congress and has testified before legislatures in states including Texas, Nevada, Kansas, Wisconsin, and California. He also has met personally with leaders such as U.S. Presidents, Speakers of the House, and the Justice Commtitee of the United Kingdom Parliament to share his ideas on criminal justice reform. In 2007, he was honored in a resolution unanimously passed by the Texas House of Representatives that stated, “Mr. Levin’s intellect is unparalleled and his research is impeccable.”
Since 2005, Marc has published dozens of policy papers on topics such as sentencing, probation, parole, reentry, and overcriminalization which are available on the TPPF website. Levin’s articles on law and public policy have been featured in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Texas Review of Law & Politics, National Law Journal, New York Daily News, Jerusalem Post, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Philadelphia Inquirer, San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Times, Los Angeles Daily Journal, Charlotte Observer, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Austin American-Statesman, San Antonio Express-News and Reason Magazine.
In 1999, Marc graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Plan II Honors and Government. In 2002, Marc received his J.D. with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. Marc was a Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow in 1996. He served as a law clerk to Judge Will Garwood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and Staff Attorney at the Texas Supreme Court.
Legal Director & General Counsel, Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
Kent S. Scheidegger has been the Legal Director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation since December 1986. He also served as Chairman of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society 2003 to 2005. His articles on criminal and constitutional law have been published in law reviews, national legal publications, and congressional reports. Legal arguments authored by Mr. Scheidegger have been cited and incorporated in several precedent-setting United States Supreme Court decisions.
After receiving a degree in physics with honors from New Mexico State University in 1976, Mr. Scheidegger served for six years in the United States Air Force as a Nuclear Research Officer. He took his law degree with distinction from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1982 and practiced civil law in Northern California. He was general counsel of California Cooler, Inc. from 1984 until 1986, when he joined the Foundation.
Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Thomas Berry is the director in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Before joining Cato, he was an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His academic work has appeared in NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, Washington and Lee Law Review Online, and Federalist Society Review. His popular writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review Online, and The Hill Online. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, and his work has been cited by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Berry holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a senior editor on the Stanford Law and Policy Review and a Bradley Student Fellow in the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. He graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Santa Fe.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Associate Chief Counsel, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Maria C. Monaghan is associate chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, she handles a variety of litigation matters for the Chamber.
Before joining the Litigation Center, Monaghan practiced as an associate in the D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She represented clients in the telecommunications, energy, transportation, and e-commerce sectors, with a focus on appellate litigation and regulatory matters.
Monaghan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito of the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Honorable Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as Articles Development Editor for the Virginia Law Review and participated in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management and Labor Studies from Rutgers University.
Senior Counsel, America First Legal Foundation
James Rogers is Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, where he litigates in a number of areas, including border security, election integrity, parental rights, and administrative and constitutional law. Before joining America First Legal, from 2021 to 2022, he was Senior Litigation Counsel at the Solicitor General’s Office of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. While there, he spearheaded lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s destructive open borders policies and its COVID19 vaccine mandates. From 2015 to 2021, James was a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Consular Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia.
Prior to joining the Department of State, he was a commercial litigation partner at Osborn Maledon, a Phoenix-based firm with a #1 litigation ranking from Chambers and Partners. James earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2009, an L.L.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge in 2008, and a B.A., with honors, in International Studies from Brigham Young University in 2005. He is a sixth-generation Arizonan and lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his four children.
Partner, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
Ryan Schermerhorn is a registered patent attorney in the firm's Industrial & Mechanical Technologies Practice Group. His engineering background provides him with an understanding of clients’ technologies and enables him to effectively and efficiently provide a range of patent procurement services. He also leverages his experience to assist on intellectual property litigation as well as develop strategies for acquiring and protecting intellectual property.
Since 2017, Ryan has been listed as an "Emerging Lawyer" by Emerging Lawyers Magazine and has been selected for inclusion in the Illinois Rising Stars® lists. Ryan was recognized in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's 2023 40 Under Forty list. Since 2024, Ryan has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© list in the practice areas of Litigation - Patent and Patent Law. In 2025, Ryan was selected by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyer Network as a “Leading Lawyer.”
Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Thomas Berry is the director in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Before joining Cato, he was an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His academic work has appeared in NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, Washington and Lee Law Review Online, and Federalist Society Review. His popular writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review Online, and The Hill Online. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, and his work has been cited by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Berry holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a senior editor on the Stanford Law and Policy Review and a Bradley Student Fellow in the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. He graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Santa Fe.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Associate Chief Counsel, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Maria C. Monaghan is associate chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, she handles a variety of litigation matters for the Chamber.
Before joining the Litigation Center, Monaghan practiced as an associate in the D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She represented clients in the telecommunications, energy, transportation, and e-commerce sectors, with a focus on appellate litigation and regulatory matters.
Monaghan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito of the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Honorable Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as Articles Development Editor for the Virginia Law Review and participated in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management and Labor Studies from Rutgers University.
Senior Counsel, America First Legal Foundation
James Rogers is Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, where he litigates in a number of areas, including border security, election integrity, parental rights, and administrative and constitutional law. Before joining America First Legal, from 2021 to 2022, he was Senior Litigation Counsel at the Solicitor General’s Office of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. While there, he spearheaded lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s destructive open borders policies and its COVID19 vaccine mandates. From 2015 to 2021, James was a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Consular Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia.
Prior to joining the Department of State, he was a commercial litigation partner at Osborn Maledon, a Phoenix-based firm with a #1 litigation ranking from Chambers and Partners. James earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2009, an L.L.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge in 2008, and a B.A., with honors, in International Studies from Brigham Young University in 2005. He is a sixth-generation Arizonan and lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his four children.
Partner, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
Ryan Schermerhorn is a registered patent attorney in the firm's Industrial & Mechanical Technologies Practice Group. His engineering background provides him with an understanding of clients’ technologies and enables him to effectively and efficiently provide a range of patent procurement services. He also leverages his experience to assist on intellectual property litigation as well as develop strategies for acquiring and protecting intellectual property.
Since 2017, Ryan has been listed as an "Emerging Lawyer" by Emerging Lawyers Magazine and has been selected for inclusion in the Illinois Rising Stars® lists. Ryan was recognized in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's 2023 40 Under Forty list. Since 2024, Ryan has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© list in the practice areas of Litigation - Patent and Patent Law. In 2025, Ryan was selected by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyer Network as a “Leading Lawyer.”
Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Thomas Berry is the director in the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the Cato Supreme Court Review. Before joining Cato, he was an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His academic work has appeared in NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, Washington and Lee Law Review Online, and Federalist Society Review. His popular writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, National Law Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, National Review Online, and The Hill Online. He has testified before the U.S. Senate, and his work has been cited by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Berry holds a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was a senior editor on the Stanford Law and Policy Review and a Bradley Student Fellow in the Stanford Constitutional Law Center. He graduated with a B.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John’s College, Santa Fe.
Partner, Boyden Gray PLLC
Jimmy Conde is partner at Boyden Gray PLLC, specializing in energy, environmental, and administrative law, with particular expertise in the Clean Air Act. He has protected clients against agency overreach in cutting-edge and complex legal proceedings, including challenges to EPA, DOE, DOT, and California rules seeking to compel electrification of motor vehicles, the FCC’s universal service fund, Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division rules, and HHS rules interfering with the practice of medicine and sound insurance practices. His written commentary has been published and referenced in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Examiner, Concurrences (an antitrust publication), and Newsweek, among others.
Mr. Conde began his legal career as an associate with Boyden Gray PLLC. He clerked for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Judge David J. Porter in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Associate Chief Counsel, U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Maria C. Monaghan is associate chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center, the litigation arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In this capacity, she handles a variety of litigation matters for the Chamber.
Before joining the Litigation Center, Monaghan practiced as an associate in the D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. She represented clients in the telecommunications, energy, transportation, and e-commerce sectors, with a focus on appellate litigation and regulatory matters.
Monaghan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Samuel A. Alito of the United States Supreme Court, the Honorable Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the Honorable Amul R. Thapar of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. She graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia School of Law, where she served as Articles Development Editor for the Virginia Law Review and participated in the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. She received her undergraduate degree in Human Resource Management and Labor Studies from Rutgers University.
Senior Counsel, America First Legal Foundation
James Rogers is Senior Counsel at America First Legal Foundation, where he litigates in a number of areas, including border security, election integrity, parental rights, and administrative and constitutional law. Before joining America First Legal, from 2021 to 2022, he was Senior Litigation Counsel at the Solicitor General’s Office of the Arizona Attorney General’s Office. While there, he spearheaded lawsuits against the Biden Administration’s destructive open borders policies and its COVID19 vaccine mandates. From 2015 to 2021, James was a Foreign Service Officer at the U.S. Department of State, where he worked in the Office of the Assistant Legal Advisor for Consular Affairs, at the U.S. Consulate in Porto Alegre, Brazil, and at the U.S. Embassy in Windhoek, Namibia.
Prior to joining the Department of State, he was a commercial litigation partner at Osborn Maledon, a Phoenix-based firm with a #1 litigation ranking from Chambers and Partners. James earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2009, an L.L.M. in International Law from the University of Cambridge in 2008, and a B.A., with honors, in International Studies from Brigham Young University in 2005. He is a sixth-generation Arizonan and lives in Mesa, Arizona, with his four children.
Partner, Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP
Ryan Schermerhorn is a registered patent attorney in the firm's Industrial & Mechanical Technologies Practice Group. His engineering background provides him with an understanding of clients’ technologies and enables him to effectively and efficiently provide a range of patent procurement services. He also leverages his experience to assist on intellectual property litigation as well as develop strategies for acquiring and protecting intellectual property.
Since 2017, Ryan has been listed as an "Emerging Lawyer" by Emerging Lawyers Magazine and has been selected for inclusion in the Illinois Rising Stars® lists. Ryan was recognized in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin's 2023 40 Under Forty list. Since 2024, Ryan has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© list in the practice areas of Litigation - Patent and Patent Law. In 2025, Ryan was selected by the Law Bulletin Publishing Company’s Leading Lawyer Network as a “Leading Lawyer.”
Criminal Law & Procedure at the Supreme Court—A Recap of OT25
A Seat at the Sitting - April 2026
Thomas Berry, James Conde, Maria Monaghan, James Rogers, Ryan Schermerhorn
Each month, a panel of constitutional experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting...
A Seat at the Sitting - April 2026
Thomas Berry, James Conde, Maria Monaghan, James Rogers, Ryan Schermerhorn
Each month, a panel of constitutional experts convenes to discuss the Court’s upcoming docket sitting...
A Seat at the Sitting - April 2026