Vice President, Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law, Advancing American Freedom
John G. Malcolm oversees Advancing American Freedom’s work to increase understanding of the Constitution and the rule of law as Vice President of the organization’s Edwin Meese III Institute for the Rule of Law. Malcolm brings to the challenge a wealth of legal expertise and experience in both the public and private sectors.
Prior to joining Advancing American Freedom in 2025, Malcolm was the Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government and the Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation. Prior to joining Heritage in 2012, Malcolm was general counsel at the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, as well as a distinguished practitioner in residence at Pepperdine Law School. From 2004 to 2009, Malcolm was executive vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association.
Malcolm served as a deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division from 2001 to 2004, where he oversaw sections on computer crime and intellectual property, domestic security, child exploitation and obscenity, and special investigations. Immediately prior to that, he was a founding partner in the Atlanta law firm of Malcolm & Schroeder, LLP.
From 1990 to 1997, Malcolm was an assistant U.S. attorney in Atlanta, assigned to the fraud and public corruption section, and also an associate independent counsel, investigating fraud and abuse in the Department of Housing and Urban Development. He was honored with the Director’s Award for Superior Performance for his work in connection with the successful prosecution of Walter Leroy Moody Jr., who assassinated an 11th Circuit judge and the head of the Savannah chapter of the NAACP.
A graduate of Harvard Law School and Columbia College, Malcolm began his career as a law clerk to a federal district court judge and a federal appellate court judge, and as an associate at the Atlanta-based law firm of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan (new Eversheds Sutherland).
Malcolm, who resides in Washington, D.C., serves on the Board of Trustees of the Washington National Opera and is a Senate-confirmed member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, the largest funder of civil legal aid in the United States.
United States House of Representatives, Maryland
The son of immigrants who fled communist Eastern Europe immediately after World War II, Andrew P. Harris, M.D., has spent a lifetime serving his neighbors, country and community. Whether it was as a physician at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital, as a medical officer in the Naval Reserve, as a hard-working state senator, or now as congressman, Andy has made a life by serving others. He is dedicated to making sure every constituent in the 1st Congressional District receives the highest-quality assistance and is well-represented in the halls of Congress.
Serving his neighbors. Andy is a proud father of five children (Joe, Becky, Irene, Jessica and Danny), grandfather of two (Charles, Abigail), and husband to Cookie for over 33 years. Born in working-class Brooklyn in 1957, Andy grew up one of four boys.. He found his calling studying medicine at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where he continued to practice as an anesthesiologist for over three decades. Obstetric anesthesiology was his subspecialty, and over those years has helped thousands of women through their labor and delivery. For many years, his peers chose him to be named as one of the nation’s “Best Doctors” in his specialty. Recently, Andy still practices at Memorial Hospital in Easton, Maryland.
Serving his country. Answering a recruitment call to fill a critical need for anesthesiologists in the Naval Reserve during the Reagan Administration, Andy volunteered to serve in the military as a medical specialist. He went on to establish and command the Johns Hopkins Medical Naval ReserveUnit. In 1990, his unit was called up to active duty in order to assist with Operation Desert Shield (and later Operation Desert Storm). They took care of active duty military, veterans, and POWs at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Harris reached the rank of Commander (O-5).
Serving his community. Unhappy with the status quo in Annapolis, Harris, a political neophyte, decided to take on the establishment and make a run for the Maryland State Senate in 1998. After winning by an impressive margin, Andy continued to serve as a physician – epitomizing our Founding Fathers' belief in a part-time, citizen legislature. His innovative thinking, devotion to efficient government and dedication to his constituents earned him the “Hero of the Taxpayer” award from the Maryland Taxpayers Association in 2008.
Andy began serving as the Congressman from the beautiful 1st Congressional District of Maryland in 2011. He serves on the Committee on Appropriations and on the following subcommittees: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies; and Legislative Branch. In his free time, he enjoys spending time on the Chesapeake Bay with his family, and repairing old cars with his sons.
Prof. Jill Levenson is a licensed clinical social worker with more than 20 years experience in the human service field. She began her career as a child protection social worker in Baltimore and has worked in a variety of social service agencies over the years. In addition to teaching at Lynn, she maintains a small psychotherapy practice.
Levenson is also a nationally recognized expert in sexual violence and is frequently quoted in the media. She has testified in front of the Florida, Kansas, Vermont and New Mexico Legislatures and has contributed to an Amicus Brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2002 case of CT v. Doe, which addressed the constitutionality of Megan's Law. Levenson is actively engaged in several research projects funded by the National Institute of Justice, and serves on the editorial board of “Sexual Abuse: Journal of Research and Treatment.”
Former Adjunct Professor of Law; former Special Counsel to the President; former federal prosecutor, Georgetown Law (ret.)
Bill Otis is a former Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University, a one-time federal prosecutor, and a former Special White House Counsel for President George H. W. Bush. After graduating from Stanford Law School, he started his career in the Criminal Division of the Justice Department, then became chief of appeals for the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. In the 1980's he served on the Department's "Train the Trainer" team, which taught US Attorneys Offices across the county how to implement the then-new Sentencing Reform Act. He has held several posts in the federal government, including Special Assistant to the Secretary of Energy and Counselor to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, in addition to the White House post. He has testified before Congress on issues in criminal procedure, illegal drugs, the US Sentencing Commission, and the death penalty, and has given numerous media interviews on those and other subjects. He currently teaches a seminar at Georgetown Law titled "Conservatism in Law in America" with his wife, Federalist Society co-founder Lee Liberman Otis.
Death Penalty Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California
Natasha Minsker is the Death Penalty Policy Director of the ACLU of Northern California. In this position, Ms. Minsker uses a multi-disciplinary approach to promote the goal of reforming capital sentencing procedures and the eventually ending the death penalty in California. Previously, Ms. Minsker spent five years at the Alameda County Public Defender’s Office, the first year as a research attorney in the Capital Defense Unit and the remaining four years as a Deputy Public Defender, handling all types of misdemeanor, felony, and juvenile cases. Ms. Minsker also served as staff attorney to the Judicial Council of California’s Task Force on Criminal Jury Instructions, helping the committee research and draft more than 700 new criminal jury instructions. She clerked for the Honorable Martha Vazquez, Chief Judge of the Federal District Court of New Mexico, and is a graduate of Stanford Law School.
The ACLU of Northern California is the largest of the ACLU affiliates, representing more than 55,000 members.
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.
University Distinguished Professor, University of Houston Law Center
Professor Dow joined the University of Houston Law Center faculty in 1988. He graduated with a B.A. in History from Rice University, and earned his M.A. in History and his law degree from Yale. Upon graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Carolyn Dineen King, judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Professor Dow has handled more than fifty appeals, including more than 25 death penalty appeals. His areas of expertise include contracts, constitutional law, and death penalty law. He has written extensively on these subjects as well as on equal protection, law and literature, and federal jurisdiction.
Topics
Adam Walsh Act Teleforum Preview, Continued
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 established a national sex offender...
An Exchange Over The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)
John G. Malcolm, Andrew P. Harris, Jill Levenson
The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act: A Sensible and Workable Law that Helps Keep...
Death Penalty
William G. Otis, Natasha Minsker, Kent Scheidegger, David Dow
On June 25, 2008 the Supreme Court decided Kennedy v. Louisiana, holding that the Eighth...