Professor of History, East Stroudsburg University
Dr. Brooks is currently professor of history at East Stroudsburg University, where he teaches several courses, including African Americans and the Courts and US Constitutional History and Law and other courses in legal history. Further to his work at ESU, he is also a founding member and vice president of the Harrisburg lawyers' chapter of the Federalist Society.
Professor Brooks received his BA and MA in US History from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. He then received a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to Edinburgh University (Scotland), where he studied British influences on the US judiciary. He completed his doctoral work at Kassel University (Germany). There he worked on the international “Modern Constitutionalism” project, editing and translating constitutions from German to English and English to German. His doctoral work there focused in particular on eleventh amendment sovereignty issues and law during the US founding era.
While in Germany, Prof. Brooks was an active member of the Center for North American Research, where he focused on constitutional and legal history, especially as it pertained to jurisprudential matters. He ran a solo business where he trained attorneys in several mid- to large-sized German and international law firms in legal English and communication. Prof. Brooks also did legal translation for many firms and for Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court, that nation’s highest court. Two books resulting from his work there include German Employment Law: 618 Questions Frequently Asked by Foreigners (2014) and Expats in Germany - Inbound and Outbound: Questions Frequently Asked by Foreigners (2017).
Current areas of research include state appellate judicial selection reform, early black attorneys, and comparative employment law.
Dr. Brooks has also written extensively Real Clear Politics, Real Clear Pennsylvania, and Allentown’s The Morning Call. His work has also appeared in New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and The Hill.
Director, Global Engagement; Vincent de Paul Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law
Before joining DePaul, Dr. Alberto R. Coll served for five years as dean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies, the U.S. Navy’s foremost strategic research center. A cum laude graduate from Princeton University in history, he earned his JD and PhD in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. In 1982, Professor Coll joined the faculty at Georgetown University, and in 1986 was appointed secretary of the Navy Senior Research Fellow at the Naval War College. In 1989, he became the youngest holder of the Charles H. Stockton Chair of International Law, the college’s oldest chair. From 1990 to 1993, Professor Coll was principal deputy assistant secretary of defense, serving in the Pentagon office that oversaw the Defense Department’s policy, strategy and $3 billion budget for special operations forces and “low-intensity” conflict, including counterterrorism. For his work, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Professor Coll is the author of The Wisdom of Statecraft and editor of several other books on international relations and law. He is the author of prize-winning articles in the American Journal of International Law and the Naval War College Review, as well as articles in Foreign Policy, Washington Quarterly, Harvard Journal of International Law, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, and the UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs. In 2004, Professor Coll received the Antonio Jose Irisarri Medal for his contribution to strengthening the rule of law and civilian control over the military in Guatemala. He has served as consultant to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, the Rand Corp., the United States Information Agency, and numerous defense and intelligence organizations. He is a frequent commentator on American foreign policy, U.S. relations with Cuba and Latin America, and international legal and political issues. Over the past 28 years he has lectured at more than 120 universities, think tanks, government agencies, and public forums in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and South Africa. Professor Coll is a member of the Virginia Bar, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Instituto de Estudios Juridicos y Politicos at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. At DePaul, he teaches courses on international law, international human rights, U.S. foreign relations, terrorism, international trade and Latin America.
George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
John O. McGinnis is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He also has an MA degree from Balliol College, Oxford, in philosophy and theology. Professor McGinnis clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From 1987 to 1991, he was deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. He is the author of Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Government Through Technology (Princeton 2013) and Originalism and the Good Constitution (Harvard 2013) (with M. Rappaport). He is a past winner of the Paul Bator award given by the Federalist Society to an outstanding academic under 40. He has been listed by the United States on the roster of panelists who may be called upon to decide World Trade Organization Disputes.
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Maimon Schwarzschild is Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he has taught
since 1982. He has published extensively on constitutional law, jurisprudence, law and religion,
and civil rights. He is an English barrister and an American lawyer: he was an attorney in the
Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice from 1976 to 1981 and practised as a
barrister in London in the 1980s. He was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne for several years,
and has been a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is a Director of the
Institute of Law and Religion at the University of San Diego and a member of the editorial board
of Law and Philosophy. With Gail Heriot he recently co-edited a volume entitled “A Dubious
Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education”, published by Encounter Books.
Director, Global Engagement; Vincent de Paul Professor of Law, DePaul University College of Law
Before joining DePaul, Dr. Alberto R. Coll served for five years as dean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies, the U.S. Navy’s foremost strategic research center. A cum laude graduate from Princeton University in history, he earned his JD and PhD in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia. In 1982, Professor Coll joined the faculty at Georgetown University, and in 1986 was appointed secretary of the Navy Senior Research Fellow at the Naval War College. In 1989, he became the youngest holder of the Charles H. Stockton Chair of International Law, the college’s oldest chair. From 1990 to 1993, Professor Coll was principal deputy assistant secretary of defense, serving in the Pentagon office that oversaw the Defense Department’s policy, strategy and $3 billion budget for special operations forces and “low-intensity” conflict, including counterterrorism. For his work, he received the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Professor Coll is the author of The Wisdom of Statecraft and editor of several other books on international relations and law. He is the author of prize-winning articles in the American Journal of International Law and the Naval War College Review, as well as articles in Foreign Policy, Washington Quarterly, Harvard Journal of International Law, the University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, and the UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs. In 2004, Professor Coll received the Antonio Jose Irisarri Medal for his contribution to strengthening the rule of law and civilian control over the military in Guatemala. He has served as consultant to the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, the Rand Corp., the United States Information Agency, and numerous defense and intelligence organizations. He is a frequent commentator on American foreign policy, U.S. relations with Cuba and Latin America, and international legal and political issues. Over the past 28 years he has lectured at more than 120 universities, think tanks, government agencies, and public forums in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and South Africa. Professor Coll is a member of the Virginia Bar, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Instituto de Estudios Juridicos y Politicos at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. At DePaul, he teaches courses on international law, international human rights, U.S. foreign relations, terrorism, international trade and Latin America.
George C. Dix Professor in Constitutional Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
John O. McGinnis is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He also has an MA degree from Balliol College, Oxford, in philosophy and theology. Professor McGinnis clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. From 1987 to 1991, he was deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice. He is the author of Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Government Through Technology (Princeton 2013) and Originalism and the Good Constitution (Harvard 2013) (with M. Rappaport). He is a past winner of the Paul Bator award given by the Federalist Society to an outstanding academic under 40. He has been listed by the United States on the roster of panelists who may be called upon to decide World Trade Organization Disputes.
Professor of Law, University of San Diego School of Law
Maimon Schwarzschild is Professor of Law at the University of San Diego, where he has taught
since 1982. He has published extensively on constitutional law, jurisprudence, law and religion,
and civil rights. He is an English barrister and an American lawyer: he was an attorney in the
Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice from 1976 to 1981 and practised as a
barrister in London in the 1980s. He was a visiting professor at the Sorbonne for several years,
and has been a visiting professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is a Director of the
Institute of Law and Religion at the University of San Diego and a member of the editorial board
of Law and Philosophy. With Gail Heriot he recently co-edited a volume entitled “A Dubious
Expediency: How Race Preferences Damage Higher Education”, published by Encounter Books.
Director - Office of Litigation, NRA-ILA
Joseph Greenlee is the Director of the Office of Litigation Counsel at the National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action. He is also a Research Associate at the Independence Institute and a Policy Advisor for Legal Affairs at the Heartland Institute.
Greenlee has worked on more than 100 constitutional law cases (representing a party or amicus curiae) and has filed more than 30 briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Greenlee has published 15 scholarly articles on firearms law. He has been cited in over 120 cases, including five United States Supreme Court cases, as well as decisions by five federal circuit courts of appeals, over thirty district courts, the highest courts of six states and Puerto Rico, and three state appellate courts.
Greenlee has also authored dozens of short articles on the right to keep and bear arms, which have appeared in The Hill, Washington Post, Washington Times, and SCOTUSblog, among others.
Founder, Libertas-West Project
Karen Lugo is a constitutional law consultant and national security analyst. She was Director of the Center for Tenth Amendment at Texas Public Policy Foundation from 2013 to 2015. When living in California, she was Co-Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence Center. From 2005 – 2012, she was a clinical visiting and adjunct professor at Chapman University School of Law where she co-taught the advanced Constitutional Law Clinic. Karen has co-authored and written circuit-level and Supreme Court amicus briefs on such issues as FISA Surveillance, Healthcare Reform, Arizona’s Border Security, Gay Marriage, The Ten Commandments, Eminent Domain, Christian Clubs on University Campuses, and Material Support for Terrorists.
Karen is the founder of the Libertas-West Project, a center for study Islamic integration and radicalization issues. In this capacity, she consulted with the Center for Security Policy to write a book on local over-watch of mosque construction and community engagement called: Mosques in America: A Guide to Accountable Permit Hearings and Continuing Citizen Oversight.
Karen writes and speaks for European and American groups on the importance of basing assimilation efforts on principles of Western exceptionalism. She presented a policy brief to the French Conseil d’Etat analyzing the legal implications of banning the burqa. Ms. Lugo has written one of the most comprehensive overviews of sharia law in American courts, American Family Law and Sharia-Compliant Marriages, for the Federalist Society law journal, Engage. She has written several white papers on the American Law for American Courts legislation and sharia tribunals in America.
Ms. Lugo was an appointee to the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. She also taught a Human Rights law course on the contrast between French and English Enlightenment theories in Strasbourg, France.
Until moving from California, Ms. Lugo was a member of the David Horowitz Freedom Center Board of Directors. She was also a regular guest on the Orange County PBS local issues debate program, Inside OC, and she is a contributor to Pajamas Media, National Review Online, City Journal, American Spectator, American Greatness, Townhall.com, American Thinker, Daily Caller, and Family Security Matters. She has been interviewed by dozens of radio hosts and has spoken for civic groups on constitutional and cultural concerns.
Senior Fellow in Constitutional Jurisprudence, Independence Institute
Professor Robert G. Natelson is a constitutional scholar and author.
Rob’s constitutional scholarship has been cited repeatedly by justices and parties at the U.S. Supreme Court—as well as by federal appeals courts, and at least 18 state supreme courts.
Rob’s research into the Constitution’s original meaning has carried him to libraries throughout the United States and in Britain, including four months at Oxford University. His books and articles span many different parts of the Constitution, including groundbreaking studies of the Necessary and Proper Clause, the Indian Commerce Clause, federalism, Founding-Era interpretation, regulation of elections, and the amendment process of Article V. He created the first-ever online bibliography for 18th century materials used in constitutional research. He is a contributing author to the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States (on Magna Carta). He contributed eight essays to the third edition of the Heritage Guide to the Constitution: five on the amendment procedure and one each on the Guarantee Clause, the Postal Clause, and the Recess Appointments Clause.
U.S. Supreme Court justices have relied explicitly on Rob’s research in 41 citations in 13 separate cases.
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