Legal Counsel, Alliance Defending Freedom
Julia Payne serves as legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Life. In this role, she defends the sanctity of life by litigating both beginning and end of life issues.
Before joining ADF, Payne worked at the Office of the Indiana Attorney General as a deputy attorney general for five years. While at the AG’s office, she managed all of Indiana’s pro-life litigation and also worked on cases concerning immigration, religious liberty, federalism, the Commerce Clause, criminal procedure, federal habeas corpus procedures, civil asset forfeiture, local and special laws, and the common law powers of the attorney general. She has argued cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, the Southern District of Indiana, and Indiana state courts.
Payne graduated cum laude from Indiana University Maurer School of Law in 2017, where she served as an editor on the Indiana Law Journal and won best brief in the Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition. During law school, Payne interned as a clerk for Indiana Solicitor General Tom Fisher and as a Blackstone Fellow with ADF’s Center for Academic Freedom in Atlanta. She also served as president of the Christian Legal Society and as an officer for the Advocates for Life and the Federalist Society.
Before law school, Payne graduated summa cum laude from Western Kentucky University with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Spanish. As an undergraduate, Payne studied abroad in both Spain and China. On campus, she served on the Student Government Association Judicial Council, led the music ministry for the Catholic Campus Center, and was an active member of Omega Phi Alpha Service Sorority. Payne was also a founding member of the Hilltoppers for Life, which helped spur her interest in First Amendment and pro-life issues. Payne is a member of the bars of the Indiana Supreme Court, the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana, and the Seventh Circuit.
Attorney General, State of Indiana
Todd Rokita is husband to Kathy, father to Teddy and Ryan, a Christian, a commercially rated airman, an attorney, a business leader, a proud Hoosier and a public servant. In 2020, Todd was elected Indiana’s Attorney General — earning the highest number of votes of any state officeholder in Indiana history.
As the state’s top legal officer, Todd works to uphold the rule of law, protect Hoosiers, support our prosecutors and police, and safeguard our constitutional liberties. His work includes investigating specialized matters such as identity theft, mortgage fraud, Medicaid fraud, election fraud and public corruption. Todd knows that the rule of law, as the driving force of American Exceptionalism, provides the necessary framework for preserving liberty.
Todd previously served Hoosiers in the U.S. Congress and, before that, as Indiana’s Secretary of State. In Congress, Todd demonstrated a passion for improving children’s educational outcomes through his work on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education.
Todd holds a consistent and proven record of supporting job creators and small businesses as a multiple-year recipient of NFIB’s Guardian of Small Business Award. Todd also has a 100% record from the National Right to Life and has earned “A” ratings for defending our 2nd Amendment and religious liberties.
Todd’s successful private-sector experience enables him to bring a fresh perspective to public service. He previously practiced law for several years, including serving as General Counsel and Principal at Apex Benefits. In addition, he serves in multiple leadership positions on the boards of publicly traded and private companies.
Todd and Kathy’s oldest son, Teddy, has Angelman Syndrome — a complex and severe genetic disorder — and Kathy serves as President of the National Angelman Syndrome Foundation along with being a Partner at a large CPA firm. Todd and Kathy, who are raising their family in Hendricks County, know that every life is precious and each can change the world.
Attorney General, State of Indiana
Todd Rokita is husband to Kathy, father to Teddy and Ryan, a Christian, a commercially rated airman, an attorney, a business leader, a proud Hoosier and a public servant. In 2020, Todd was elected Indiana’s Attorney General — earning the highest number of votes of any state officeholder in Indiana history.
As the state’s top legal officer, Todd works to uphold the rule of law, protect Hoosiers, support our prosecutors and police, and safeguard our constitutional liberties. His work includes investigating specialized matters such as identity theft, mortgage fraud, Medicaid fraud, election fraud and public corruption. Todd knows that the rule of law, as the driving force of American Exceptionalism, provides the necessary framework for preserving liberty.
Todd previously served Hoosiers in the U.S. Congress and, before that, as Indiana’s Secretary of State. In Congress, Todd demonstrated a passion for improving children’s educational outcomes through his work on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education.
Todd holds a consistent and proven record of supporting job creators and small businesses as a multiple-year recipient of NFIB’s Guardian of Small Business Award. Todd also has a 100% record from the National Right to Life and has earned “A” ratings for defending our 2nd Amendment and religious liberties.
Todd’s successful private-sector experience enables him to bring a fresh perspective to public service. He previously practiced law for several years, including serving as General Counsel and Principal at Apex Benefits. In addition, he serves in multiple leadership positions on the boards of publicly traded and private companies.
Todd and Kathy’s oldest son, Teddy, has Angelman Syndrome — a complex and severe genetic disorder — and Kathy serves as President of the National Angelman Syndrome Foundation along with being a Partner at a large CPA firm. Todd and Kathy, who are raising their family in Hendricks County, know that every life is precious and each can change the world.
Director, Washington Legislative Office, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Laura W. Murphy is in her second tenure as Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, a position she first held from 1993-2005. Since returning Murphy has maintained strong relationships with leaders in the United States Congress and the Obama Administration to advance the ACLU’s public policy priorities including national security, criminal justice, human rights, privacy, reproductive rights, civil rights and First Amendment issues.
Recently, Murphy played a leadership role in the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 signed into law by President Obama on August 3, 2010—a law that reduced the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine and that begins to address some of the racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Under her leadership, the ACLU Washington Legislative Office worked with Congress and the White House to gain support around federally-funded abortions for servicewomen and military dependents in the cases of rape or incest. The provision was signed into law on January 2, 2013.
Prior to her return to the ACLU, she founded and directed her own firm, Laura Murphy & Associates, L.L.C., where she utilized her 30 years of policy-making and political expertise to guide and advise corporate and non-profit clients at the national, state and local levels.
Murphy is well known for her notable legislative career advancing human rights and civil liberties. Both major newspapers on Capitol Hill, Roll Call and The Hill, selected Murphy as one of the 50 most influential lobbyists and one of 17 top nonprofit lobbyists in 1997 and 2003, respectively. In 1997, and again in 2003, the Congressional Black Caucus honored her for her significant contributions to legislation that advances civil rights and civil liberties. She has been given awards for her work with Congress and the White House by ACLU affiliates in Massachusetts, Mississippi and Maryland. Murphy has also been instrumental in garnering support from African Americans for same sex marriage, especially in her home state of Maryland. Murphy’s family has a storied history in the civil rights movement and in the Black press, and they were intimately involved in the successful 2012 campaign for marriage equality in Maryland.
In previous professional positions Murphy served as chief of staff to a California Assembly Speaker and a cabinet member for the Mayor of the District of Columbia. Murphy has testified more than a dozen times before Congress and is an experienced national spokesperson. She has been a frequent guest on television and radio including PBS, “NBC Nightly News” and “The Today Show”, “ABC World News”, CNN, Fox News, and National Public Radio.
Founding Director, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University
Jameel Jaffer is the founding director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which works to protect and expand the freedoms of speech and the press through strategic litigation, research, and public education. Until recently, Jaffer was deputy legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union and director of the ACLU’s Center for Democracy, in which role he oversaw the ACLU’s work relating to free speech, privacy, technology, national security, and international human rights.
Jaffer has litigated some of the most significant post-9/11 cases relating to national security and civil liberties, including cases concerning detention, interrogation, surveillance, targeted killing, and government secrecy. He co-led the litigation that resulted in the publication of the Bush administration’s “torture memos”—a lawsuit the New York Times described as “among the most successful in the history of public disclosure.” More recently, he led the ACLU’s litigation that resulted in the publication of the Obama administration’s “drone memos.”
Campaign Director, Democracy Campaign, People for the American Way
Independent Analyst, None
Allison Hayward most recently served as the Head of Case Selection at the Oversight Board. Previously, she was a Commissioner at the California Fair Political Practices Commission, a Board Member at the Office of Congressional Ethics, and an Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law. She also previously worked as Chief of Staff and Counsel in the office of Federal Election Commission Commissioner Bradley A. Smith and practiced election law in California and in Washington DC.
In 1994-1995, Professor Hayward was a judicial clerk for the Honorable Danny J. Boggs, United States Court of Appeal for the Sixth Circuit.
She is a member of the State Bar of California and the District of Columbia Bar.
Attorney General, State of Indiana
Todd Rokita is husband to Kathy, father to Teddy and Ryan, a Christian, a commercially rated airman, an attorney, a business leader, a proud Hoosier and a public servant. In 2020, Todd was elected Indiana’s Attorney General — earning the highest number of votes of any state officeholder in Indiana history.
As the state’s top legal officer, Todd works to uphold the rule of law, protect Hoosiers, support our prosecutors and police, and safeguard our constitutional liberties. His work includes investigating specialized matters such as identity theft, mortgage fraud, Medicaid fraud, election fraud and public corruption. Todd knows that the rule of law, as the driving force of American Exceptionalism, provides the necessary framework for preserving liberty.
Todd previously served Hoosiers in the U.S. Congress and, before that, as Indiana’s Secretary of State. In Congress, Todd demonstrated a passion for improving children’s educational outcomes through his work on the Committee on Education and the Workforce. He was chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education.
Todd holds a consistent and proven record of supporting job creators and small businesses as a multiple-year recipient of NFIB’s Guardian of Small Business Award. Todd also has a 100% record from the National Right to Life and has earned “A” ratings for defending our 2nd Amendment and religious liberties.
Todd’s successful private-sector experience enables him to bring a fresh perspective to public service. He previously practiced law for several years, including serving as General Counsel and Principal at Apex Benefits. In addition, he serves in multiple leadership positions on the boards of publicly traded and private companies.
Todd and Kathy’s oldest son, Teddy, has Angelman Syndrome — a complex and severe genetic disorder — and Kathy serves as President of the National Angelman Syndrome Foundation along with being a Partner at a large CPA firm. Todd and Kathy, who are raising their family in Hendricks County, know that every life is precious and each can change the world.
Indiana Supreme Court Upholds Law Banning Most Abortions, Establishes Right To Life-Saving Abortion
Julia Payne Koon
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,[1] Indiana...
Opening Remarks
Todd Rokita
Featuring: The Honorable Todd Rokita, Attorney General, State of Indiana
Opening Remarks
Todd Rokita
Featuring: The Honorable Todd Rokita, Attorney General, State of Indiana
Opening Remarks
2023 Midwestern Regional Conference
Indianapolis, INJameel Jaffer and Laura Murphy Testimony Before The House Committee on the Judiciary Oversight Hearing on The Administration’s Use of FISA Authorities
Laura W. Murphy, Jameel Jaffer
Before The House Committee on the Judiciary Oversight Hearing on The Administration’s Use of...
Crawford v. Marion County
David J. Becker, Allison R. Hayward
Crawford v. Marion County, argued in front of the Supreme Court on January 9th 2008, challenges...