CEO, The Rural Broadband Association
Shirley Bloomfield is chief executive officer of NTCA–The Rural Broadband Association, the premier association representing nearly 850 independent telecommunications companies that are leading innovation in rural and small-town America. With more than 30 years of experience representing the country’s smallest telecom operators, Bloomfield is an expert on the role of federal communications policies in sustaining the vitality of rural and remote communities and the benefits rural broadband networks bring to millions of American families and businesses and the national economy. Bloomfield has a strong track record of leadership in seeking synergies and aligning strategic partnerships among rural telecom companies, their larger counterparts, other rural utilities and local and federal governments, further expanding business opportunities for small communications providers. Under her leadership, NTCA has made broadband an integral part of policy conversations in Washington, D.C., and has secured billions of dollars in federal funding for rural service providers to expand build out and sustain networks and help close the digital divide. Bloomfield is a strong supporter of national efforts to improve the resilience and reliability of critical electric and telecommunications infrastructure and serves as a board member of NRTC and the Southeast Reliability Corporation (SERC).
Executive Director, Connect LA
Veneeth is the first executive director for the state of Louisiana's broadband efforts (also known as ConnectLa). He is responsible for coordinating efforts among federal, state and local leaders to eliminate the digital divide in Louisiana by 2029.
He and his team are considered thought leaders in the broadband community for their rapid scale up and execution of federal dollars to impact the 1.5 million residents in Louisiana who lack high speed internet. Louisiana's efforts have been recognized and he is often asked to speak at local and national events by the Pew Charitable Trusts, National Governors Association, Former FCC officials, Fiber Broadband Association, National Conference of State Legislators, US Department of Commerce's SelectUSA Summit, National Digital Inclusion Alliance and other organizations.
ConnectLa's work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Advocate, USA Today's network of newspapers and other leading telecom publications.
Their office has also been recognized nationally and among other states in the following ways:
From 2018-2021, he was the Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome. During, the parish saw the best year in history for economic development projects. His role included proactive outreach to executives from leading tech, pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, articulating the case for Baton Rouge as an investment destination. In addition, he was involved in the lifecycle of Economic Development deals and he led the administration's response in helping small business owners during the pandemic.
Veneeth was asked by Governor John Bel Edwards to co-chair his Resilient Louisiana Healthcare Task Force, which included the CEOs of Ochsner, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana and Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. The task force recommended approaches to create an innovative healthcare economy given the challenges posed by the pandemic. Prior to his time as a public servant, Veneeth helped build the Venture Capital/Private Equity healthcare practice for Sage Growth Partners and worked in the Office of the Honorable Robert Mosbacher Jr., former CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation under President George W. Bush.
Veneeth received the Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service in 2022, 2020 Leadership Louisiana Recipient by the Council for a Better Louisiana and 2018 Forty under 40 in Baton Rouge by the Greater Baton Rouge Business Report.
He is on Ochsner's Health State Advisory Board with the focus of significantly improving the healthcare rankings in the state, Board of Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation and Chairman for Innovation Catalyst, a non-profit evergreen investment based in Baton Rouge that has made more than a dozen investments startups.
He received his Master of Science in finance from Johns Hopkins University and his Bachelor of Science in economics from Purdue University. Veneeth grew up in Baton Rouge and attended Baton Rouge High School.
Visiting Fellow, Hudson Institute
Michael O’Rielly is a visiting fellow with Hudson Institute’s Center for the Economics of the Internet.
Comm. O'Rielly was nominated for a seat on the Federal Communications Commission by President Barack Obama on August 1, 2013 and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on October 29, 2013. He was sworn into office on November 4, 2013. On January 29, 2015, he was sworn into office for a new term, following his re-nomination by the President and confirmation by the United States Senate and served through December 11, 2020.
Prior to joining the agency Commissioner O’Rielly served as a Policy Advisor in the Office of the Senate Republican Whip, led by U.S. Senator John Cornyn, since January 2013. He worked in the Republican Whip’s Office since 2010, as an Advisor from 2010 to 2012 and Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Director from 2012 to 2013 for U.S. Senator Jon Kyl.
He previously worked for the Republican Policy Committee in the U.S. Senate as a Policy Analyst for Banking, Technology, Transportation, Trade, and Commerce issues from 2009 to 2010. Prior to this, Commissioner O’Rielly worked in the Office of U.S. Senator John Sununu, as Legislative Director from 2007 to 2009, and Senior Legislative Assistant from 2003 to 2007. Before his tenure as a Senate staffer, he served as a Professional Staff Member on the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the United States House of Representatives from 1998 to 2003, and Telecommunications Policy Analyst from 1995 to 1998.
He began his career as a Legislative Assistant to U.S. Congressman Tom Bliley from 1994 to 1995.
Commissioner O’Rielly received his B.A. from the University of Rochester.
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.
Partner, Consovoy McCarthy
Mr. Green helps clients litigate constitutional, statutory, and regulatory issues in courts and agencies throughout the country. Before joining the firm, he served as the Solicitor General of the State of Utah for five years. In that role, he oversaw all civil and criminal appellate matters in which the State of Utah or its officers or agencies were a party. While serving as solicitor general, he successfully argued cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and the Utah Supreme Court. He also led the Utah Attorney General office’s multistate litigation efforts, both challenging and defending regulatory actions by the federal government and other states. And he oversaw the division of the Utah Attorney General’s office responsible for defending cases challenging the constitutionality of state law. Before his service to the State of Utah, Mr. Green was Deputy Chief Counsel for Litigation at the U.S. Chamber Litigation Center. He began his career at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s Washington, D.C. office, where he litigated a variety of appellate and trial-court cases. Mr. Green served as a law clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas at the U.S. Supreme Court, to Judge Michael McConnell at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and to Judge Paul Cassell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. He earned both his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Utah. At the College of Law, he served as Editor in Chief of the Utah Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif and first in his class. He currently serves on the Utah Supreme Court’s advisory committee for the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure and has been named one of Utah’s Legal Elite by Utah Business magazine.
U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Utah
Melissa Holyoak was nominated by President Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah on January 29, 2026. Holyoak was appointed on November 17, 2025 by Attorney General Pam Bondi to serve as Interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Utah.
Prior to that, Holyoak served as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade Commission from March 25, 2024 until her appointment as U.S. Attorney. During her FTC tenure, Commissioner Holyoak strove to vigorously enforce the antitrust and consumer protection laws while acting within the agency’s constitutional and statutory remit. She spoke widely about a range of FTC priorities, including improving competition enforcement, effectively applying existing laws to emerging trends in technology, and protecting children and teens online. She also published numerous statements about FTC matters.
Holyoak brings extensive experience as a litigator and leader. She served as Solicitor General with the Utah Attorney General’s Office where she oversaw the civil appeals, criminal appeals, constitutional defense and special litigation, and antitrust and data privacy divisions. She also managed multistate matters including those involving consumer protection and antitrust claims.
Before taking on that role, she served as president and general counsel of Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based public interest law firm and in other public interest attorney positions with the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the Center for Class Action Fairness. Holyoak represented class members challenging unfair class actions and consumers fighting regulatory abuse in federal district courts and appellate courts across the country.
Holyoak has argued in the Fifth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and D.C. Circuits. She is a former prosecutor and attorney with O’Melveny & Myers LLP. She graduated from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 2003 as a member of the Order of the Coif and the Law Review. Holyoak is a member of the bars of Utah, D.C., and Missouri (inactive). Her husband Dr. Joshua Holyoak is a urologist and together they have four beautiful children.
Solicitor General, Louisiana
In 2016, Attorney General Jeff Landry appointed Liz Murrill as the first Solicitor General for Louisiana. She has more than 25 years of experience working in diverse state and federal government legal environments and has experience handling complex litigation, state and federal appeals, and complex government transactions. Liz most recently served as the Louisiana Department of Justice's Director of Administration and, before that, Director of the Civil Division. She previously served former Governor Bobby Jindal as Executive Counsel and was Executive Counsel to the Commissioner of Administration. Liz was counsel for the Office of the Governor in the BP Oil Spill litigation and has served as a member and counsel to several state boards and commissions. She was a United States Supreme Court Judicial Fellow in 2007-08 at the Federal Judicial Center and taught appellate advocacy and legal writing at the Louisiana State University Law Center for more than ten years. Liz earned her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, law degree from the Louisiana State University Law Center where she was Editor-In-Chief of the Law Review, and Master of Laws in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law. She clerked for U.S. District Judge Frank J. Polozola and Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Melvin Shortess. Liz has argued three cases at the United States Supreme Court (including June Medical v. Russo and Ramos v. Louisiana) and many others at the Louisiana Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit, and multiple state and federal courts. Additionally, she has filed briefs in courts across the country on a wide variety of constitutional issues.
Hermann Moyse, Jr., Professor and Director of the Eric Voegelin Institute in the Department of Political Science, Louisiana State University
Professor James R. Stoner, Jr. (Ph.D., Harvard University, 1987) has teaching and research interests in political theory, English common law, and American constitutionalism. He is the author of Common-Law Liberty: Rethinking American Constitutionalism (Kansas, 2003) and Common Law and Liberal Theory: Coke, Hobbes, and the Origins of American Constitutionalism (Kansas, 1992), as well as a number of articles and essays. In 2009 he was named a Senior Fellow of the Witherspoon Institute of Princeton, New Jersey; he has co-edited two books published by Witherspoon, The Social Costs of Pornography: A Collection of Papers (with Donna M. Hughes, 2010), and Rethinking Business Management: Examining the Foundations of Business Education (with Samuel Gregg, 2007). He was the 2010 recipient of the Honors College Sternberg Professorship at LSU.
He has taught at LSU since 1988, chaired the Department of Political Science from 2007 to 2013, and served as Acting Dean of the Honors College in fall 2010. He was a member of the National Council on the Humanities from 2002 to 2006. In 2002-03 he was a visiting fellow in the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, where he will return in the 2013-14 academic year as Garwood Visiting Professor in the fall and Visiting Fellow in the spring.
Solicitor General, Louisiana
In 2016, Attorney General Jeff Landry appointed Liz Murrill as the first Solicitor General for Louisiana. She has more than 25 years of experience working in diverse state and federal government legal environments and has experience handling complex litigation, state and federal appeals, and complex government transactions. Liz most recently served as the Louisiana Department of Justice's Director of Administration and, before that, Director of the Civil Division. She previously served former Governor Bobby Jindal as Executive Counsel and was Executive Counsel to the Commissioner of Administration. Liz was counsel for the Office of the Governor in the BP Oil Spill litigation and has served as a member and counsel to several state boards and commissions. She was a United States Supreme Court Judicial Fellow in 2007-08 at the Federal Judicial Center and taught appellate advocacy and legal writing at the Louisiana State University Law Center for more than ten years. Liz earned her bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University, law degree from the Louisiana State University Law Center where she was Editor-In-Chief of the Law Review, and Master of Laws in Alternative Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law. She clerked for U.S. District Judge Frank J. Polozola and Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Melvin Shortess. Liz has argued three cases at the United States Supreme Court (including June Medical v. Russo and Ramos v. Louisiana) and many others at the Louisiana Supreme Court, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit, and multiple state and federal courts. Additionally, she has filed briefs in courts across the country on a wide variety of constitutional issues.
General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs
James Baehr was confirmed as General Counsel for the Department of Veterans Affairs in October, 2025.
Previously, Baehr was a Constitutional litigator and a founder of the Pelican Center for Justice. Before that, served as a Special Assistant to the President in the Domestic Policy Council in the White House. He coordinated and oversaw DPC’s policy portfolio across a number of agencies, including the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Department of Justice.
Baehr serves as a Major in the Marine Corps Reserves as the Reserve Regional Defense Counsel-East Coast. In 2018, he activated and deployed to the Middle East for Operation Inherent Resolve, where he worked on the Command Staff and earned the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.
In his civilian career, Baehr was a federal prosecutor at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans, prosecuting over 100 defendants for felony-level violations in the Eastern District of Louisiana including narcotics, fraud, murder, and corruption. He previously clerked for Judge Edith Clement of the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Baehr’s first job after law school was as an active-duty Marine judge advocate defense counsel. He defended over 200 Marines in trials, presentencing trials, and administrative boards.
Baehr received his J.D. and a Masters in History from the University of Virginia in 2008. He graduated from Dartmouth College with honors in History and Government in 2005.
Distinguished University Professor, Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
University Professor Nelson Lund is the author of Rousseau’s Rejuvenation of Political Philosophy: A New Introduction. He has also written widely in the field of constitutional law, including articles on constitutional interpretation, federalism, separation of powers, the Second Amendment, the Commerce Clause, the Speech or Debate Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Uniformity Clause. In addition, he has published articles in the fields of employment discrimination and civil rights, the legal regulation of medical ethics, and the application of economic analysis to legal institutions and legal ethics.
Professor Lund graduated from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, after which he received an MA in philosophy from the Catholic University of America and a PhD in political science from Harvard University. He left the faculty of the University of Chicago to attend its law school, where he served as executive editor of the University of Chicago Law Review and chapter chairman of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies. After law school, he held positions at the United States Department of Justice in the Office of the Solicitor General and the Office of Legal Counsel. He also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Patrick E. Higginbotham of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and to the Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court. Following his clerkship with Justice O'Connor, Professor Lund served in the White House as associate counsel to the president from 1989 to 1992.
Since joining the faculty at George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, Professor Lund has taught Constitutional Law, Legislation, Federal Election Law, Employment Discrimination, State and Local Government, and seminars on the Second Amendment and on a variety of topics in Jurisprudence.
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.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Judge Edith Clement sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Clement worked in a private practice as a maritime attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being appointed in 1991 to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by President George H. W. Bush. In 2001, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Clement is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Federal Bar Association, the American Law Institute, the Federalist Society, the Tulane Law Schools Inn of Court, and the Committee on the Administrative Office of the Judicial Conference of the United States. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and received her JD from Tulane Law School.
Partner, Montgomery Barnett
Harvey Charles Koch, Jr, a native of Hammond La. and a resident of New Orleans for 80 years, was born on August 15, 1934, and died peacefully on July 13, 2020, from cancer at age 85.
Mr. Koch's practice included complex commercial litigation, litigation management, insurance coverage and extra-contractual defense litigation, the construction process, construction litigation and arbitration, contract interpretation, sports and entertainment law, fidelity, surety and financial institution bonds, lawyer's malpractice, errors and omissions, life and long term care and fine arts coverages.
Mr. Koch participated in negotiations in Egypt after the Yom Kippur War leading to removal of ships sunk in the Suez Canal; represented a consortium of companies involved in reconstructing Kuwait and its oil fields after Operation Desert Storm; represented a major international insurance company in developing indemnity agreements, construction bonds, and guarantees for use with contractors in twelve foreign countries; represented the lead insurer in the adjustment of the business interruption claims of the Titan IV rockets manufacturer when the solid rocket fuel manufacturing plant supplying that missile program was destroyed in an explosion. And Mr. Koch has defended parties in complex litigation involving nuclear power and fossil fuel plants; the shipping industry; the former Louisiana Sunday Closing laws; and the resurfacing of both runways of the New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in the 1980's. Mr. Koch currently represents the international construction management firm managing all construction at the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY).
As an appellate practitioner, Mr. Koch briefed the United States Supreme Court on the Insurance Industry's position on coverage issues regarding the Security Dealer's Blanket Bond, and the New Zealand Supreme Court on the interpretation by United States Courts on coverage issues related to the Financial Institution Bond.
Mr. Koch was listed in Best Lawyers in America (Construction), was a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers (Founder and Former Chair of its Insurance Industry Committee and a former member of its Board of Governors), and was a consultative member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Koch chaired the American Bar Association's Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Co-Chaired the ABA's first three National Institutes of the Forum on the Construction Industry, chaired six ABA National Law Institutes, founded and served as first Chair of the Louisiana Bar Association's Section on Construction, Fidelity and Surety Law, served as a Vice Chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, served on both the Surety Claims Institute Board of Governors and the Advisory Council of the Chief Judge of the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., was a Trustee of the Federalist Society, was a member of the National Bond Claims Association, was one of the four Advisors Emeritus of the Fidelity Law Association and was a Life Fellow of both the American and Louisiana Bar Foundations.
Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court
Harry Thomas Lemmon was a Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from May 16, 1980 to May 16, 2001. Born in Morgan City, Louisiana, Lemmon graduated from Morgan City High School in 1948, and from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1952. After briefly working as a chemist for American Oil Company, he served in the United States Army Chemical Corps in the Korean War. He graduated from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1963, and was in private practice from then until 1970.
Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Emeritus, The Heritage Foundation
Edwin Meese III, the prominent conservative leader, thinker and elder statesman, continues a quarter-century formal association with The Heritage Foundation as the leading think tank’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Emeritus.
In that capacity, Meese oversees special projects and acts as an ambassador for Heritage within the conservative movement.
Meese was chairman of Heritage’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies from its founding in 2001 until what he calls his “semi-retirement” on Feb. 1, 2013.
He joined Heritage in 1988 as the think tank's first Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow -- the only policy chair in the country to be officially named for the 40th president. His work focused on keeping President Reagan’s legacy of conservative principles alive in public debate and discourse.
The legal center now bears his name, in recognition of Meese’s contributions to the rule of law and the nation’s understanding of constitutional law. Its mission is to educate government officials, the media and the public about the Constitution and legal principles -- and how they affect public policy.
Perhaps best known as U.S. attorney general during Reagan’s second term, Meese’s service to the conservative icon stretched from the California governor’s mansion in 1966 to the White House in 1981 before he went to the Department of Justice four years later.
His Heritage “hats” kept Meese among the major conservative voices in national policy debates at an age when most men and women enjoyed quiet retirements.
In 2006, for example, Meese was named to the Iraq Study Group, a special presidential commission dedicated to examining the best resolutions for America's involvement in Iraq. In the past few years he wrote and spoke about constitutional topics ranging from religious liberty to the responsibility of Supreme Court justices.
Immediately after Reagan's death in 2004, and in the years since, Meese often agreed to major media appearances to discuss the lasting impact of his old friend, mentor and boss. He has summarized the Reagan legacy in three accomplishments: Reagan cut taxes and kept them low. He worked to defeat and end the Soviet Union and its worldwide push for communism. And he restored America's faith in itself after years of failure and "malaise."
"I admired him as a leader and cherish his friendship," Meese wrote in a 2004 essay for Heritage members and supporters. "Ronald Reagan had strong convictions. He was committed to the principles that had led to the founding of our nation. And he had the courage to follow his convictions against all odds." <[>Edwin Meese III was born Dec. 2, 1931, to Edwin Jr. and Leone Meese in Oakland, Calif. He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and holds a law degree from the University of California-Berkeley.
Meese spent much of his adult life working for Reagan, first after the former actor, sports announcer and athlete was elected as California’s governor in 1966 and then when he sought and won the presidency in 1980.
Reagan never forgot Meese's loyalty and hard work. During a press conference at which reporters questioned Meese's actions at the Justice Department, Reagan replied: "If Ed Meese is not a good man, there are no good men."
During the Reagan governorship, Meese served as executive assistant and chief of staff from 1969 through 1974 and as legal affairs secretary from 1967 through 1968. He previously was deputy district attorney in Alameda County, Calif.
From January 1981 to February 1985, Meese held the position of counsellor to the president -- the senior job on the White House staff -- and functioned as Reagan's chief policy adviser. In 1985, he received Government Executive magazine's annual award for excellence in management.
Meese served as the 75th attorney general of the United States from February 1985 to August 1988. As the nation's chief law enforcement officer, he directed the Justice Department and led international efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.
Meese’s relationship with Heritage began when he met with senior management to discuss the think tank's landmark policy guide, Mandate for Leadership, prepared for the incoming administration. Meese later recalled that Reagan personally handed out copies of the 1,093-page book to members of his Cabinet and asked them to read it. Nearly two-thirds of Mandate's 2,000 recommendations would be adopted or attempted by the Reagan administration.
More than a decade after joining Heritage, Meese assumed the chairmanship of its Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Under his guidance, the center counseled White House staffers, Justice Department officials and Senate Judiciary Committee members on the importance of filling judicial vacancies with qualified men and women who are committed to interpreting the Constitution according to the founding document's original meaning.
The center became known for hosting "moot court" practice sessions to sharpen the arguments of attorneys slated to bring important cases before the Supreme Court. Those cases addressed constitutional issues ranging from property rights to racial preferences in primary and secondary schools to restrictions on free speech in campaign finance law.
Meese headed the legal center's Advisory Board for the writing and editing of the best-selling book, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution (Regnery, 2005). In it, 109 experts walked readers through a clause-by-clause analysis of the Constitution. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was among those keeping the reference work handy during Judiciary Committee hearings on Supreme Court nominees.
Meese's other books include “Leadership, Ethics and Policing” (Prentice Hall, 2004); “Making America Safer” (Heritage, 1997); and “With Reagan: The Inside Story” (Regnery Gateway, 1992).He wrote the Introduction to a well-received 2010 book on the “overcriminalization” trend, “One Nation Under Arrest,” by Heritage veterans Paul Rosenzweig and Brian W. Walsh.
He also is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California and lectures, writes and consults throughout the United States on a variety of subjects.
As both attorney general and counsellor to Reagan, Meese was a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council. He served as chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and the National Drug Policy Board. After Reagan won the White House in the 1980 election, Meese headed the transition team. During the campaign, he was the Reagan-Bush Committee's senior official.
Meese had a career outside government and politics. From 1977 to 1981, he was a law professor at the University of San Diego, where he also directed the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.
He was an executive in the aerospace and transportation industry as vice president for administration of Rohr Industries Inc. in Chula Vista, Calif. He left Rohr to return to the practice of law, doing corporate and general work in San Diego County.
A retired colonel in the Army Reserve, Meese remains active in numerous civic and educational organizations.
He and his wife, Ursula, have two grown children and reside in McLean, Va.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
Judge Edith Clement sits on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Clement worked in a private practice as a maritime attorney in New Orleans, Louisiana, before being appointed in 1991 to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by President George H. W. Bush. In 2001, she was appointed by President George W. Bush to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Judge Clement is a member of the Maritime Law Association of the United States, the Federal Bar Association, the American Law Institute, the Federalist Society, the Tulane Law Schools Inn of Court, and the Committee on the Administrative Office of the Judicial Conference of the United States. She is a graduate of the University of Alabama and received her JD from Tulane Law School.
Partner, Montgomery Barnett
Harvey Charles Koch, Jr, a native of Hammond La. and a resident of New Orleans for 80 years, was born on August 15, 1934, and died peacefully on July 13, 2020, from cancer at age 85.
Mr. Koch's practice included complex commercial litigation, litigation management, insurance coverage and extra-contractual defense litigation, the construction process, construction litigation and arbitration, contract interpretation, sports and entertainment law, fidelity, surety and financial institution bonds, lawyer's malpractice, errors and omissions, life and long term care and fine arts coverages.
Mr. Koch participated in negotiations in Egypt after the Yom Kippur War leading to removal of ships sunk in the Suez Canal; represented a consortium of companies involved in reconstructing Kuwait and its oil fields after Operation Desert Storm; represented a major international insurance company in developing indemnity agreements, construction bonds, and guarantees for use with contractors in twelve foreign countries; represented the lead insurer in the adjustment of the business interruption claims of the Titan IV rockets manufacturer when the solid rocket fuel manufacturing plant supplying that missile program was destroyed in an explosion. And Mr. Koch has defended parties in complex litigation involving nuclear power and fossil fuel plants; the shipping industry; the former Louisiana Sunday Closing laws; and the resurfacing of both runways of the New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in the 1980's. Mr. Koch currently represents the international construction management firm managing all construction at the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport (MSY).
As an appellate practitioner, Mr. Koch briefed the United States Supreme Court on the Insurance Industry's position on coverage issues regarding the Security Dealer's Blanket Bond, and the New Zealand Supreme Court on the interpretation by United States Courts on coverage issues related to the Financial Institution Bond.
Mr. Koch was listed in Best Lawyers in America (Construction), was a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers (Founder and Former Chair of its Insurance Industry Committee and a former member of its Board of Governors), and was a consultative member of the American Law Institute. Mr. Koch chaired the American Bar Association's Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, Co-Chaired the ABA's first three National Institutes of the Forum on the Construction Industry, chaired six ABA National Law Institutes, founded and served as first Chair of the Louisiana Bar Association's Section on Construction, Fidelity and Surety Law, served as a Vice Chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, served on both the Surety Claims Institute Board of Governors and the Advisory Council of the Chief Judge of the Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., was a Trustee of the Federalist Society, was a member of the National Bond Claims Association, was one of the four Advisors Emeritus of the Fidelity Law Association and was a Life Fellow of both the American and Louisiana Bar Foundations.
Justice, Louisiana Supreme Court
Harry Thomas Lemmon was a Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court from May 16, 1980 to May 16, 2001. Born in Morgan City, Louisiana, Lemmon graduated from Morgan City High School in 1948, and from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1952. After briefly working as a chemist for American Oil Company, he served in the United States Army Chemical Corps in the Korean War. He graduated from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1963, and was in private practice from then until 1970.
Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Emeritus, The Heritage Foundation
Edwin Meese III, the prominent conservative leader, thinker and elder statesman, continues a quarter-century formal association with The Heritage Foundation as the leading think tank’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow Emeritus.
In that capacity, Meese oversees special projects and acts as an ambassador for Heritage within the conservative movement.
Meese was chairman of Heritage’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies from its founding in 2001 until what he calls his “semi-retirement” on Feb. 1, 2013.
He joined Heritage in 1988 as the think tank's first Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow -- the only policy chair in the country to be officially named for the 40th president. His work focused on keeping President Reagan’s legacy of conservative principles alive in public debate and discourse.
The legal center now bears his name, in recognition of Meese’s contributions to the rule of law and the nation’s understanding of constitutional law. Its mission is to educate government officials, the media and the public about the Constitution and legal principles -- and how they affect public policy.
Perhaps best known as U.S. attorney general during Reagan’s second term, Meese’s service to the conservative icon stretched from the California governor’s mansion in 1966 to the White House in 1981 before he went to the Department of Justice four years later.
His Heritage “hats” kept Meese among the major conservative voices in national policy debates at an age when most men and women enjoyed quiet retirements.
In 2006, for example, Meese was named to the Iraq Study Group, a special presidential commission dedicated to examining the best resolutions for America's involvement in Iraq. In the past few years he wrote and spoke about constitutional topics ranging from religious liberty to the responsibility of Supreme Court justices.
Immediately after Reagan's death in 2004, and in the years since, Meese often agreed to major media appearances to discuss the lasting impact of his old friend, mentor and boss. He has summarized the Reagan legacy in three accomplishments: Reagan cut taxes and kept them low. He worked to defeat and end the Soviet Union and its worldwide push for communism. And he restored America's faith in itself after years of failure and "malaise."
"I admired him as a leader and cherish his friendship," Meese wrote in a 2004 essay for Heritage members and supporters. "Ronald Reagan had strong convictions. He was committed to the principles that had led to the founding of our nation. And he had the courage to follow his convictions against all odds." <[>Edwin Meese III was born Dec. 2, 1931, to Edwin Jr. and Leone Meese in Oakland, Calif. He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and holds a law degree from the University of California-Berkeley.
Meese spent much of his adult life working for Reagan, first after the former actor, sports announcer and athlete was elected as California’s governor in 1966 and then when he sought and won the presidency in 1980.
Reagan never forgot Meese's loyalty and hard work. During a press conference at which reporters questioned Meese's actions at the Justice Department, Reagan replied: "If Ed Meese is not a good man, there are no good men."
During the Reagan governorship, Meese served as executive assistant and chief of staff from 1969 through 1974 and as legal affairs secretary from 1967 through 1968. He previously was deputy district attorney in Alameda County, Calif.
From January 1981 to February 1985, Meese held the position of counsellor to the president -- the senior job on the White House staff -- and functioned as Reagan's chief policy adviser. In 1985, he received Government Executive magazine's annual award for excellence in management.
Meese served as the 75th attorney general of the United States from February 1985 to August 1988. As the nation's chief law enforcement officer, he directed the Justice Department and led international efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime.
Meese’s relationship with Heritage began when he met with senior management to discuss the think tank's landmark policy guide, Mandate for Leadership, prepared for the incoming administration. Meese later recalled that Reagan personally handed out copies of the 1,093-page book to members of his Cabinet and asked them to read it. Nearly two-thirds of Mandate's 2,000 recommendations would be adopted or attempted by the Reagan administration.
More than a decade after joining Heritage, Meese assumed the chairmanship of its Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. Under his guidance, the center counseled White House staffers, Justice Department officials and Senate Judiciary Committee members on the importance of filling judicial vacancies with qualified men and women who are committed to interpreting the Constitution according to the founding document's original meaning.
The center became known for hosting "moot court" practice sessions to sharpen the arguments of attorneys slated to bring important cases before the Supreme Court. Those cases addressed constitutional issues ranging from property rights to racial preferences in primary and secondary schools to restrictions on free speech in campaign finance law.
Meese headed the legal center's Advisory Board for the writing and editing of the best-selling book, The Heritage Guide to the Constitution (Regnery, 2005). In it, 109 experts walked readers through a clause-by-clause analysis of the Constitution. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) was among those keeping the reference work handy during Judiciary Committee hearings on Supreme Court nominees.
Meese's other books include “Leadership, Ethics and Policing” (Prentice Hall, 2004); “Making America Safer” (Heritage, 1997); and “With Reagan: The Inside Story” (Regnery Gateway, 1992).He wrote the Introduction to a well-received 2010 book on the “overcriminalization” trend, “One Nation Under Arrest,” by Heritage veterans Paul Rosenzweig and Brian W. Walsh.
He also is a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California and lectures, writes and consults throughout the United States on a variety of subjects.
As both attorney general and counsellor to Reagan, Meese was a member of the Cabinet and the National Security Council. He served as chairman of the Domestic Policy Council and the National Drug Policy Board. After Reagan won the White House in the 1980 election, Meese headed the transition team. During the campaign, he was the Reagan-Bush Committee's senior official.
Meese had a career outside government and politics. From 1977 to 1981, he was a law professor at the University of San Diego, where he also directed the Center for Criminal Justice Policy and Management.
He was an executive in the aerospace and transportation industry as vice president for administration of Rohr Industries Inc. in Chula Vista, Calif. He left Rohr to return to the practice of law, doing corporate and general work in San Diego County.
A retired colonel in the Army Reserve, Meese remains active in numerous civic and educational organizations.
He and his wife, Ursula, have two grown children and reside in McLean, Va.
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