Professor of Law, Emeritus, Washington and Lee University School of Law
David Bruck directed Washington and Lee's death penalty defense clinic, the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse, from 2004 to 2020. Prior to coming to W&L, Bruck practiced criminal law in South Carolina for 28 years, and specialized in the defense of capital cases at the trial, appellate and post-conviction stages. Over the course of his career, he has served as Richland County (Columbia, S.C.) Public Defender, as Chief Attorney of the South Carolina Office of Appellate Defense, and since 1992 as Federal Death Penalty Resource Counsel to the federal defender system nationwide.
Bruck has argued seven death penalty cases in the United States Supreme Court, including Skipper v. South Carolina, 476 U.S. 1 (1986), and Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994), and over 70 capital appeals in state and lower federal courts. He has represented capital defendants at trial in more than 20 cases, including State v. Susan Smith (1995), in which he and co-counsel Judy Clarke obtained a life sentence after their client was convicted of drowning her two small children.
Bruck has testified before U.S. Congressional committees on death penalty-related legislation on nine occasions, has presented CLE trainings and federal judicial workshops on capital litigation in more than thirty states and U.S. territories, and since 2005 has served as Chair of the National Consortium for Capital Defense Training. In 1996 the ABA Section of Litigation selected Bruck to receive the John Minor Wisdom Public Service & Professionalism Award, and in 2001 he received the Significant Contributions to Criminal Justice Award from the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice.
Retired Assistant United States Attorney
Steve Mellin is a recently retired federal prosecutor. He worked for the Department of Justice for over 30 years in offices all over the United States. His career focused on prosecuting violent criminals, including terrorism and death penalty homicide cases. While working in Alexandria, Virginia, Mr. Mellin was involved in the 9-11 terrorism investigations and prosecutions. While at Main Justice, he worked on numerous death penalty cases across the US, culminated his terrorism work with the successful prosecution of the Boston Marathon bomber.
Steve is a graduate of the University of Texas and George Mason University School of Law.
Partner, Ashcroft Law Firm
With more than 20 years government experience, Johnny Sutton has acquired expertise as a front-line trial prosecutor and a top policy advisor to a Governor and a President. Mr. Sutton runs the Austin office of the Ashcroft Law Firm which specializes in internal investigations, white-collar criminal defense and helping companies comply with federal law.
From November 2001 to April 2009, Sutton led one of the largest and busiest United States Attorney’s Offices in the nation. The Western District of Texas covers 93,000 square miles, 68 counties and 660 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. As U.S. Attorney, Mr. Sutton managed more than 300 employees, a $28 million annual budget and directed 43,000 federal prosecutions and thousands of civil cases. Under Mr. Sutton’s leadership, the office led the nation in drug convictions, was second in illegal alien prosecutions, won more than 105 public corruption convictions and sent nearly 400 violent criminal gang members to prison.
In 2003, then-United States Attorney General John Ashcroft appointed Mr. Sutton to the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee—a panel of 17 U.S. Attorneys that advise the General and help carry out the President’s national goals. Sutton served from 2003 until 2009 and was chairman for nearly two years.
After leading the Bush-Cheney Department of Justice Transition Team in 2000, Mr. Sutton was named Associate Deputy Attorney General. He held the position until becoming U.S. Attorney.
From 1995 to 2000, Mr. Sutton served as the Criminal Justice Policy Director for then-Governor George W. Bush. Mr. Sutton was the chief policy advisor to the Governor on all criminal justice issues.
From 1988 to 1995, Mr. Sutton was a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office (Houston, TX) where he tried more than 60 first chair felony jury trials and had only three acquittals. He also successfully tried 17 murder jury trials, including seven for capital murder.
Mr. Sutton attended the University of Texas at Austin on a baseball scholarship where he was a two year lettermen and the starting left fielder for the 1983 University of Texas National Championship baseball team. Mr. Sutton was voted the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Central Regional Baseball Tournament in 1983. Mr. Sutton is fluent in Spanish and conversant in Portuguese.
Mr. Sutton has dedicated his career to defending the innocent and standing up for the rule of law.
Member, Ifrah Law
After 27 years as a prosecutor, James (“Jim”) Trusty brings to Ifrah Law extensive experience in complex, multi-district white collar litigation, especially in matters involving RICO, The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and The Money Laundering Control Act of 1986.
Jim has represented a wide variety of individuals and corporations in the white-collar space. He regularly represents professional athletes, both criminally and civilly, and during 2022 and 2023 he represented President Trump during pre-indictment litigation relating to the Mar-a-Lago and January 6 cases.
Prior to joining Ifrah Law, Jim had a long career in public service, most recently as Chief of the Organized Crime Section at the United States Department of Justice. For seven years, Jim was ultimately responsible for investigating and prosecuting regional, national, and international cases, supervising significant pleadings, and providing strategic and tactical guidance in investigations and multi-defendant trials. In addition to running the RICO Review Unit, which reviewed and approved all criminal RICO cases brought by federal prosecutors, he also was in charge of establishing and promoting policies focused on immigration reform, firearms trafficking, proposed Congressional testimony for DOJ officials, and internet gambling. Significant and sensitive matters on which he worked include the post-conviction review of the Alaska corruption case related to U.S. v. Theodore Stevens and the investigation into allegations of misconduct by a sitting U.S. Attorney and one of her subordinates.
Prior to his work at DOJ, Jim acted as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of white-collar and other criminal cases, including The Washington area Sniper investigation. He also prosecuted three death penalty cases and was a member of the Attorney General’s Capital Review Committee, responsible for assessing capital-eligible cases such as the Boston Marathon Bomber and the Charleston Church massacre.
In 2018, Jim was appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve on The Task Force to Study Maryland’s Criminal Gang Statutes. The Task Force assessed the efficacy of existing state laws as they apply to gang-related criminal activity in the state and presented its findings and recommendations to the Governor.
Chief Oversight Counsel, Senate Committee on Finance
Chris Armstrong is Deputy Chief Oversight Counsel to Chairman Orrin G. Hatch on the Senate Committee on Finance. He previously worked for Chairman Dave Camp on the House Committee on Ways and Means and Senator Charles E. Grassley. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group. The views expressed herein are the author’s own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Chairman Hatch or the Finance Committee.
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.
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.
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.
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