Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Katsas was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in December 2017. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor on the Harvard Law Review. Between 1989 and 1992, he served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Becker on the Third Circuit, to then-Judge Clarence Thomas on the D.C. Circuit, and to Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court. Between 1992 and 2001, he was an associate and then partner in the Washington office of Jones Day, where he specialized in appellate and complex civil litigation. Between 2001 and 2009, he served in many senior positions in the Department of Justice, including as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division and as Acting Associate Attorney General. In 2009, he returned to Jones Day. From January to December 2017, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President.
Before joining the bench, Judge Katsas argued more than 75 appeals, including three cases in the Supreme Court, 13 cases in the D.C. Circuit, and cases in every other federal court of appeals. By appointment of the Chief Justice, he served on the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules from 2013 to 2017. In 2016, he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Judge, United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
Judge Katsas was appointed to the D.C. Circuit in December 2017. He graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School, where he was an executive editor on the Harvard Law Review. Between 1989 and 1992, he served as a law clerk to Judge Edward Becker on the Third Circuit, to then-Judge Clarence Thomas on the D.C. Circuit, and to Justice Thomas on the Supreme Court. Between 1992 and 2001, he was an associate and then partner in the Washington office of Jones Day, where he specialized in appellate and complex civil litigation. Between 2001 and 2009, he served in many senior positions in the Department of Justice, including as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division and as Acting Associate Attorney General. In 2009, he returned to Jones Day. From January to December 2017, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Counsel to the President.
Before joining the bench, Judge Katsas argued more than 75 appeals, including three cases in the Supreme Court, 13 cases in the D.C. Circuit, and cases in every other federal court of appeals. By appointment of the Chief Justice, he served on the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules from 2013 to 2017. In 2016, he was elected to membership in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law, University of California at Berkeley; Senior Research Fellow, School of Civic Leadership, Civitas Institute, University of Texas at Austin; Nonresident Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law. He is also Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Civic Leadership and Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023. Professor Yoo’s other books include Defender-in-Chief: Trump’s Fight for Presidential Power; Striking Power: How Cyber, Robots, and Space Weapons Change the Rules for War, Point of Attack: Preventive War, International Law, and Global Welfare, and Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George Bush.
Professor Yoo has published more than 100 articles in academic journals on subjects including national security, constitutional law, international law, and the Supreme Court. He also regularly contributes to the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and National Review, among others.
Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman. He has been a visiting professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, Keio University in Japan, Trento University in Italy, the University of Chicago, and the Free University of Amsterdam.
Professor Yoo supervises the Public Law and Policy Program and the California Constitution Center. He also serves on the boards of the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Federalist Society’s Separation of Powers and Federalism Division, the Universidad Cientifica del Sur Law School, and the Asia-Pacific Law Institute at Seoul National University. He is a winner of the Federalist Society’s Paul Bator award and been the Edwin Meese III Originalism Lecturer at the Heritage Foundation.
Professor Yoo graduated from Yale Law School and summa cum laude from Harvard College.
General Counsel, James Madison Center for Free Speech
Professor of Law, Widener University Commonwealth Law School
Of Counsel, Squire
George Kendall’s practice focuses primarily on pro bono matters. George handles capital, criminal and civil rights cases around the United States at trial, on appeal and in post-conviction proceedings including in the United States Supreme Court, where he has represented clients for more than 25 years. He also regularly consults with capital defense lawyers nationwide. George has worked with the Defender Services Division of the Administrative Office of the US Courts in improving the quality of legal representation in federal criminal cases and has also worked closely with The Innocence Project and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund (LDF) on policy initiatives. While at the LDF he was editor of the newsletter Race Notes, which identifies arguments and strategies citizens can use to lessen the influence of racial bias in the criminal justice system.
He is a former staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union Eleventh Circuit Capital Litigation Project. George has taught courses on criminal justice issues at several law schools including Yale Law School, Florida State University College of Law and St. John’s School of Law.
George is the recipient of numerous awards including the Life in the Balance Achievement Award from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association in 1999, the New York State Defenders Association Service of Justice Award in 1997, ACLU of Georgia Bill of Rights Award in 1987 and the Stuart Still Memorial Award in 1987.
George frequently appears as a panelist or keynote speaker at capital litigation seminars. He is a board member of the Death Penalty Information Center and Southern Public Defender Training Center. George is also a member of the Advisory Group for the Georgetown University Law Center Supreme Court Institute.
In 2010 George was the recipient of the Equal Justice Champion Award from the Equal Justice Initiative for assistance in juvenile life without parole cases and other matters, and the Constitutional Champion Award from the Constitution Project, a highly respected DC-based organization that assembles bipartisan commissions to work toward sensible policy solutions to some of our toughest legal issues.
Assistant Attorney General & Senior Trial Counsel to the Criminal Bureau, Massachusetts Attorney General
Chairman, Cato Institute
Robert A. Levy is chairman of the Cato Institute's board of directors. He joined Cato as senior fellow in constitutional studies in 1997 after 25 years in business. He also sits on boards of the Institute for Justice, the Federalist Society, and the George Mason University School of Law. He founded CDA Investment Technologies, a major provider of financial information and software, and was its CEO until 1991. Levy clerked for Judge Royce C. Lamberth on the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., and for Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. From 1997 until 2004, Levy was an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University. He has written numerous articles on investments, law, and public policy. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today,Washington Post, National Review, and many other publications. Levy has also discussed public policy on national radio and TV programs, including ABC's Nightline, CNN's Crossfire, Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, MSNBC's Hardball, and NBC's Today Show. His latest book, co-authored with William Mellor, is The Dirty Dozen: How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom. Levy received his Ph.D. in business from the American University and his J.D. degree from the George Mason University School of Law.
Managing Shareholder, Saltzman Mugan Dushoff, PLLC
Over the course of his twenty-plus years as an attorney in Las Vegas, Mr. Saltzman has developed a corporate law practice focused on financial institution and liquor law. He assists businesses in their formation, licensing and governance matters; he also counsels businesses on corporate mergers and acquisition matters. He assists highly regulated financial institutions and captive insurance companies in corporate and regulatory compliance matters and he has testified before the Nevada legislature as an expert on trust company legislation and drafted portions of Nevada law relating to the chartering and operation of Nevada trust companies. He has counseled trust companies and financial service firms on Blockchain and cryptocurrency related legal compliance matters.
Mr. Saltzman has developed and managed the firm’s liquor law practice into Nevada’s largest alcohol beverage specialty law practice group. He and his team of attorneys and paralegals assist a wide range of liquor retailers, wholesalers and suppliers in licensing and compliance matters in all Nevada jurisdictions. More information on Mr. Saltzman’s liquor law practice can be found at his blog: www.nvliquorlaw.com
Matthew Saltzman received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Philosophy from University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1987. In 1993, he received his Juris Doctor from University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was also Executive Editor of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review and served as teaching assistant for the Legal Research and Writing course.
Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court
Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, March 11, 1936. He married Maureen McCarthy and has nine children- Ann Forrest, Eugene, John Francis, Catherine Elisabeth, Mary Clare, Paul David, Matthew, Christopher James, and Margaret Jane. He received his A.B. from Georgetown University and the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, and his LL.B. from Harvard Law School, and was a Sheldon Fellow of Harvard University from 1960-1961. He was in private practice in Cleveland, Ohio from 1961-1967, a Professor of Law at the University of Virginia from 1967-1971, and a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago from 1977-1982, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University and Stanford University. He was chairman of the American Bar Association's Section of Administrative Law, 1981-1982, and its Conference of Section Chairmen, 1982-1983. He served the federal government as General Counsel of the Office of Telecommunications Policy from 1971-1972, Chairman of the Administrative Conference of the United States from 1972-1974, and Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel from 1974-1977. He was appointed Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982. President Reagan nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat September 26, 1986.
Supervising Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice.
Ward Campbell is the Supervising Deputy Attorney General and Sacramento Capital Case Coordinator, as well as the Supervising Deputy Attorney General, at the California Department of Justice.
Mr. Campbell is the recipient of the Attorney General’s Awards for Excellence (1999 and 2006), the William James Award for Distinguished Service from the California District Attorneys Association (2003), the Appellate Award for Outstanding Advocacy in Capital Cases (2005) and the William Schafer Award for Distinguished Service (2011).
Mr. Campbell received his law degree from the University of California at Davis.
Assistant District Attorney, Philadelphia District Attorney
Sarah Hart has worked for over three decades in the criminal justice field at the federal, state and local levels.
From 1979-95, she served as a prosecutor in Philadelphia where (for 9 years) she represented the District Attorney in federal prison litigation involving mass releases of pretrial detainees. During this time, she provided substantial assistance to the U.S. Congress in drafting the Federal Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA).
From 1995-2001, Mrs. Hart served as the Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections where she successfully defended the constitutionality of the PLRA in the federal courts.
From 2001-2005, following unanimous Senate confirmation, she served as the Director of the National Institute of Justice (the research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Justice) where, among other things, she developed the national $1 billion DNA initiative.
After an appointment as a Visiting Professor teaching graduate school courses at Rutgers University, she returned to Philadelphia to represent Philadelphia District Attorney in class action litigation concerning the Philadelphia Prison System. During this time she represented the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association in crafting comprehensive, bipartisan prison reform legislation in Pennsylvania that enacted sweeping changes in sentencing and parole practices. (Acts 81-84 of 2008).
Mrs. Hart previously served as Vice Chair of the Legal Affairs Committee of the American Corrections Association, a member of the Executive Committee of the Criminal Law Practice Group of the Federalist Society, a member of the Board of Directors of the Crime Victims Law Institute, and as a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Appellate Procedural Rules Committee. She has also provided extensive training on the PLRA and corrections issues to the National Institute of Corrections, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the Association of State Correctional Administrators.
Mrs. Hart has published articles relating to corrections, forensics, and domestic violence. A recent publication focuses on the benefits and costs of prisoner class actions.
S. Hart, Evaluating Institutional Prisoners’ Rights Litigation: Costs and Benefits and Federalism Considerations, 11 U. Penn. J. Const. L. 73 (2008).
She is a graduate of Rutgers Law School and the University of Delaware.
An Overview of the Oral Arguments before the United States Supreme Court in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Cases
Memphis, TennesseeObamacare on Trial: Will the Supreme Court Uphold the Affordable Care Act?
Charlotte, North CarolinaMartinez v. Ryan - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Ward Campbell
On March 20, 2012 the Supreme Court announced its decision in Martinez v. Ryan. The question...
Luncheon: John Yoo on "Taming Globalization"
Irvine, CaliforniaColeman v. Maryland Court of Appeals - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Elizabeth Price Foley
On March 20, 2012, the Supreme Court announced its decision in Coleman v. Maryland Court of...
Florence v. Board of Chosen Freeholders - Post-Decision SCOTUScast
Sarah V. Hart
On April 2, 2012 the Supreme Court announced its decision in Florence v. Board of Chosen...
Judicial Elections and Speech Restrictions
The Supreme Court and Access to Effective Counsel
How the Supreme Court Has Subverted the Constitution
Las Vegas Lawyers Chapter
Las Vegas, NVBreakfast with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
Mineola, New York