Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute
Clark Neily is senior vice president for legal studies at the Cato Institute. His areas of interest include constitutional law, overcriminalization, civil forfeiture, police accountability, and gun rights. Neily is the author of Terms of Engagement: How Our Courts Should Enforce the Constitution’s Promise of Limited Government. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and National Review Online, as well as various law reviews, including the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, George Mason Law Review, Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, NYU Journal of Law and Liberty, and Texas Review of Law and Politics. Neily is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer for the Federalist Society, Institute for Humane Studies, and American Constitution Society.
Before joining Cato in 2017, Neily was a senior attorney and constitutional litigator at the Institute for Justice and director of the Institute’s Center for Judicial Engagement. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Law, where he teaches constitutional litigation and public-interest law.
Neily served as co-counsel in District of Columbia v. Heller, the historic case in which the Supreme Court held for the first time that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own a gun for self-defense.
Neily began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Royce Lamberth on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. After that he spent four years in the trial department of the Dallas-based firm Thompson & Knight. Neily received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, where he was Chief Articles Editor of the Texas Law Review.
Managing Partner, Crabbe Brown & James LLP
Larry James has been at the heart of the Columbus business, legal, civic, and political scene for the last thirty years. He is a respected litigator, as well as an advisor to local and national leaders. In recognition of his many achievements, the law firm changed its name from Crabbe, Brown, Jones, Potts & Schmidt to Crabbe, Brown & James in January 2001.
In 2011, The Ohio State University selected Mr. James as lead counsel to represent its student athletes in NCAA investigations. In 2013, Armen Keteyian published his book The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football, a chapter of which is dedicated to Larry’s work in representing the OSU football players.
In 2012, Mr. James and his wife, Donna, were awarded the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus’ Humanitarians of the Year Award. In 2015, noted journalist Wil Haygood published his award-winning book Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America, which he dedicated to Mr. James.
Mr. James is a life member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, and he has served as General Counsel of the National Fraternal Order of Police since 2001.
Senior Fellow, Stand Together Trust
Vikrant Reddy is a senior fellow at Stand Together Trust, specializing in the area of criminal justice reform. Reddy previously served as a senior policy analyst at the Texas Public Policy Foundation (TPPF), where he managed the launch of TPPF’s national Right on Crime initiative in 2010. He has worked as a research assistant at the Cato Institute, as a judicial clerk to the Hon. Gina M. Benavides in Texas, and as an attorney in private practice. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, and he serves on the Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society. He is also an appointee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Texas State Advisory Committee.
Reddy’s research and scholarly opinions have appeared in a range of national media outlets, including USA Today, National Review, The Federalist, and others.
Reddy earned his law degree from the Southern Methodist University School of Law. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
Founder, Americans in Support of Law Enforcement
Scott G. Erickson is a conservative writer, policy analyst, and law enforcement professional with over 18 years of experience in police work. He holds a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice Studies from the University of Cincinnati.
In 2015, Scott founded Americans in Support of Law Enforcement, a pro-law enforcement nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing the issues most relevant to the broader law enforcement community. He currently serves as the organization's President and Executive Director.
In addition to his law enforcement duties, Scott has collaborated extensively with the nation’s foremost conservative think tank, The Heritage Foundation. Frequently contributing to Heritage’s blog, The Daily Signal, Scott has focused on myriad issues of national security including foreign terrorist organizations, law enforcement, and missile defense.
He has co-authored several reports at Heritage: A Comprehensive Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) System Requires Action; Changing Today’s Law Enforcement Culture to Face 21st-Century Threats; and Lessons from Benghazi: Investigation Leaves Important Questions Unanswered.
Additionally, Scott’s writing has been featured in The Washington Times, FoxNews.com, The Orange County Register, and other publications. He has also been quoted in major media outlets, including theNew York Times, on national security and law enforcement issues.
A frequent guest on various television and radio programs, Scott has appeared on Fox News, One America News Network, the Dana Loesch Show, and others.
In 2013, Scott was named as one of the Republican National Committee'sRising Stars and his profile was recently featured in USA Today.
Scott continues to work toward advancing conservative solutions to the issues facing our nation while maintaining fidelity to America’s founding documents.
President, Fraternal Order of Police
Chuck Canterbury began serving as President of the Fraternal Order of Police in January 2003 after the death of President Steve Young. He has been reelected seven times.
President Canterbury joined the Fraternal Order of Police in 1984 when he, along with eleven other officers, chartered their Local Lodge. He served as Local Lodge President for 13 years, during which time he was instrumental in starting the Lodge Legal Defense Plan, purchasing the first lodge building, and starting the Lodge insurance program.
He went on to serve as State Lodge President from 1990 to 1998. During his tenure he was instrumental in establishing the State Lodge lobbying program, initiating the political endorsement program and implementing the State Lodge Legal Defense Plan. He led the effort to hire a full time Executive Director for the State Lodge to manage these programs.
He began his service on the Grand Lodge Executive Board in 1995 when he was elected to the first of three terms as the Second Vice President. In 2001, he was elected Vice President. During this time, he has worked to expand the police labor movement in the areas of our country who do not have collective bargaining rights. Improving the quality of life for police officers has been his foremost goal. During his tenure he has brought a best business practice model to the FOP.
President Canterbury retired in January 2004 from the Horry County Police Department, Conway, South Carolina, where he most recently had oversight of the Operations Bureau. He began his police career in 1978 and over his 26-year career he worked in the Patrol Division, the Criminal Investigations Division and served as the Training Division Supervisor, during which he was certified as an Instructor in basic law enforcement, firearms, chemical weapons, and pursuit driving.
He has been appointed by President George Bush to serve on the Medal of Valor Board and also serves on our Nation's Homeland Security Council. Chuck has also been appointed to the Congressional Badge of Bravery Awards committee. Chuck is also on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. He also serves as Treasurer of the International Council of Police Representatives Association. This group represents over 1.4 million of our world's law enforcement officers.
He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Coastal Carolina University.
President, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
Vanita Gupta is the President of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. She previously served as the acting Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division and the top civil rights prosecutor for the United States Department of Justice. Before her work at the DOJ she was a civil rights lawyer and the Deputy Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), where she oversaw the ACLU's national criminal justice reform efforts. She is a graduate of Yale and New York University Law School.
Acting Assistant Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, Office of Professional Responsibility, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Brian M. Fish is currently the Senior Advisor to the General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security where he works on immigration and law enforcement issues. Previously, he was a trial attorney with the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he represented the Department of Homeland Security in removal hearings before the U.S. Immigration Court. Additionally, he was a Special Assistant United States Attorney and a Baltimore City homicide prosecutor. He is a member of the Federalist Society's Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group Executive Committee and the President of its Baltimore Lawyers Chapter. He earned his B.A. from LaSalle University in 1992 and his J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans School of Law in 1998.
Adjunct Professor, George Washington University
Howard W. Cox is a former federal prosecutor, criminal investigator and Senior Intelligence Service officer. After almost 40 years of federal service, he retired as the Assistant Inspector General for Investigations of the Central Intelligence Agency. In this capacity, Mr. Cox supervised criminal, civil and administrative investigations conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG). Prior to his employment with the CIA, Mr. Cox was the Assistant Deputy Chief of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the Department of Justice, where he was responsible for supervising criminal prosecutions of federal hacking and identity theft cases. While at the Department of Justice, Mr. Cox received the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award.
Prior to his service with the Department of Justice, Mr. Cox served as a manager, attorney and criminal investigator at OIG offices at the US Postal Service, the Department of Defense, and the General Services Administration. He also served as Staff Counsel for the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Prior to his federal civilian service, Mr. Cox was also a Captain and trial attorney in the US Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Mr. Cox also served as Law Secretary to the Hon. Sherwin D. Lester, NJ Superior Court.
Mr. Cox is an adjunct professor at George Washington University, where he teaches graduate level courses in computer forensics. He is also an instructor with the Graduate School USA, and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, where he teaches courses related to procurement fraud and electronic search and seizure. Mr. Cox received his AB degree from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ. He received his law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC.
Assistant Professor of Law, UNT Dallas College of Law
Professor Brian L. Owsley is an Assistant Professor of Law at UNT Dallas College of Law. Professor Owsley received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He served as Executive Editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He also received a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs. After law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Janis Graham Jack, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas; served as Leonard H. Sadler Fellow for Human Rights Watch in New York City; and clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. After his appellate court clerkship, he practiced with the Southern Poverty Law Center as a legal fellow in Montgomery, Alabama; the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.; and with a private law firm in Washington, D.C., which now has merged with the international firm of Troutman, Sanders. After private practice, Professor Owsley returned to government practice, working as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Following this period, he was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas, where he served from 2005 until 2013. With this extensive and varied practice and judicial experience, he entered law teaching in 2013. He has taught at Texas Tech and Indiana Tech Law Schools. Professor Owsley teaches Torts, Constitutional Law, and other courses.
Lange v. California - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Clark Neily, Larry H. James, Vikrant P. Reddy
On June 23rd, 2021 the Supreme Court decided Lange v. California, a case which concerned...
Do Citizens Have a Right to Film Police Officers? [POLICYbrief]
Scott Erickson
Can you be arrested for taking videos of the police? Scott Erickson, president and executive...
Federal Oversight of Local Police Departments - Podcast
Chuck Canterbury, Vanita Gupta, Brian M. Fish
Under Attorney Generals Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, the Department of Justice entered into a...
Privacy and Cell-Site Simulators - Podcast
Howard W. Cox, Brian L. Owsley
Cell-site simulators are devices used by law enforcement. In response to the signals emitted by...
What is Private, and What is Protected, in the Privacy Protection Act?
Priscilla Adams
The Privacy Protection Act (PPA) labors under a bit of a misnomer; for what it...