United States Senator, Tennessee
U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn was sworn in to the Senate in January 2019. Marsha Blackburn was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018, and is currently serving her first term representing the state of Tennessee. Before her election to the Senate, Marsha represented Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District.
Marsha’s public service is dedicated to promoting opportunities for women and making America a more prosperous place to live. Marsha’s leadership philosophy is based on her experiences in the private sector as a small business woman and author, as well as being a mother and grandmother.
Marsha went to college on a 4-H scholarship and worked her way through school selling books for the Southwestern Company as one of their first female sales associates, and later as one of their first female sales managers.
She then became Director of Retail Fashion and Special Events for the Castner Knott Company, which was a Nashville-based regional department store. Later, Marsha founded her own business, Marketing Strategies, which focused on the retail marketplace, as well as electronic and print media.
Marsha began her career in public service in 1995 when she was named executive director of the Tennessee Film, Entertainment, and Music Commission. In 1998, she was elected to the Tennessee State Senate. In the state legislature, she earned a reputation for fiscal responsibility and government accountability by identifying waste and offering realistic solutions to Tennessee’s budget challenges.
While serving in the Tennessee Senate, Marsha led a statewide grassroots campaign to defeat a proposed state income tax. The tax was defeated, and Marsha’s leadership earned her a reputation as an anti-tax champion. In 2014, the people of Tennessee passed an amendment to the state constitution to expressly prohibit a state income tax – a fitting cap to a 14-year battle.
In 2002, Marsha was elected to represent the people of Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District based on her record in the state legislature. She brought her Tennessee values to Washington, DC, and became a leader in the fight for small, efficient federal government that is accountable to its citizens. As a Congressman, Marsha was often selected by her colleagues to lead the charge for principled conservativism. Her congressional career was also noted for her Chairmanship of the Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, as well as bipartisan expertise in defending songwriters’ and performers’ rights.
Marsha is a member of numerous charitable organizations and is an active member of her church, Christ Presbyterian.
Marsha and her husband Chuck live in Williamson County, Tennessee. They have two children, Mary Morgan (Paul) Ketchel and Chad (Hillary) Blackburn, and two grandsons. Originally from Laurel, Mississippi, Marsha is a graduate of Mississippi State University.
Partner, Holtzman Vogel
Andrew Gould is a partner at Holtzman Vogel and focuses his practice on Appellate, Commercial Litigation and Constitutional Law.
Prior to joining the firm, Andrew was a Justice to the Arizona Supreme Court from 2016 to 2021. After retiring from the bench in 2021, he worked as a Senior Counsel for First Liberty Institute litigating religious liberty cases throughout the United States. He also served as a Judge on Division One of the Arizona Court of Appeals from 2011 to 2016 where he authored over 400 opinions, and served as a Judge of the Superior Court in Yuma County for 11 years.
Founder, CEO, State Armor
Michael Lucci is the founder, CEO, and Chairman of State Armor, which he created to develop and enact state solutions to global security threats. Mr. Lucci believes that a whole-of-government American response is needed to counter unprecedented global threats and ensure a free and peaceful 21st century. State Armor advances state policies to protect state critical infrastructure, build the supply chains of freedom, and cease malicious foreign influence operations. At State Armor, Mr. Lucci synthesizes a unique understanding of global affairs with deep experience in state policymaking. He works with both state and federal leaders to achieve State Armor’s mission.
Mr. Lucci has worked in state policy politics for more than a decade. He has been a Senior Policy Advisor to State Policy Network and a Senior Tax Advisor to Platte Institute. Mr. Lucci previously served as a presidential appointee on the Federal Services Impasse Panel and as the Chief of Policy to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner. He has been the Vice President of State Projects at Tax Foundation and the Vice President of Policy at Illinois Policy Institute. Mr. Lucci is a proud graduate of the University of Notre Dame and lives in Texas with his family.
Senior Fellow, Law and Justice, America First Policy Institute
Chad Mizelle serves as a senior fellow for law and justice at AFPI. Mizelle most recently served as chief of staff and acting associate attorney general at the Department of Justice (DOJ). He previously served as acting general counsel at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where he managed more than 2,200 lawyers and directed all legal activities related to the agency's broad mission. Before that, he was chief of staff at DHS. Mizelle also served at the White House as associate counsel to the president and at the DOJ as counsel to the deputy attorney general.
Mizelle clerked for the Honorable David B. Sentelle of the D.C. Circuit. He received his J.D. from Cornell Law School and his B.A. from the University of Florida. He lives in Florida with his wife and children.
Research Director, Civitas Institute
Michael Toth is the research director at the Civitas Institute, where he focuses on the legal and policy developments reshaping global markets, from energy to emerging technology. His work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Bloomberg, among other major outlets. A graduate of Stanford and the University of Virginia, his analysis is informed by his firsthand experience as general counsel to several early-stage companies, where he navigated the complex regulatory environments at the core of today’s policy debates.
Professor Emeritus, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
In memoriam
Dr. John Baker is Professor Emeritus of Law, and previously the Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, at Louisiana State University Law School. He is currently Visiting Professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law (via Zoom) and has been Visiting Professor at The Center for the Constitution, Georgetown Law School (2013-2020). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Oriel College, the University of Oxford (2012-2014) and taught at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford in 2014. Dr. Baker has also been an adjunct Fellow at the Heritage Foundation (Spring, 2008) and a Distinguished Scholar at the Catholic University of America Law School (2011-12). He has taught at Tulane Law School, George Mason Law School, Pepperdine Law School, New York Law School, Hong Kong University, and the University of Dallas, School of Management and also taught and/or lectured in 17 foreign countries. Notable among his foreign visits are the
following: Visiting Professor at the University of Lyon III (France) (1999-2011); Visiting Professor at the Universidad de los Andes, Chile (2012), as a Fulbright Specialist (2006); and a Fulbright Scholar at various universities in the Philippines. Dr. Baker received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Dallas. He also earned a Ph.D. in Political Thought from the University of London. Baker has taught over a dozen different subjects, mostly courses in public law. His main areas of interest are Constitutional Law (particularly federalism and separation of powers), Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law, International Law, Health Care Law, Mediation, and Comparative Law.
In addition to law review articles and book chapters, Dr. Baker’s academic publications include Hall's Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (with Benson, Force and George; 5th ed. Michie, 1993); An Introduction to the Law of the United States (ed. with Levasseur; University Press of America, 1992). He has also published on Forbes.com, FoxNews.com, in The Washington Times, and a number of times in The Wall Street Journal. He argues in federal court, including two oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court. For many years, he co-taught courses for the Federalist Society on separation of powers with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In September 2016, he co-taught a Supreme Court seminar in China with Justice Samuel Alito. Following law school, he served as a law clerk in federal district court and as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans before joining LSU in 1975. While a professor, he has been as a consultant to USAID, USIA (since rolled into the State Department), the Justice Department, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, and the Office of Planning in the White House. He served on an ABA Task Force which issued the report, The Federalization of Crime (1998) and later as a consultant to the “Bi-Partisan Task Force on the Over- federalization of Crime” (2012-2014) created by the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. Dr. Baker was a co-founder of the first iteration (1995) of Stratfor Inc., a global intelligence agency. He co-authored its first book: The Intelligence Edge (with Friedman, Friedman and Chapman; Crown Books/Random House 1997). In 2022, he began a short, weekly video podcast available on YouTube and Rumble, The Baker Brief.
National Affairs Columnist, National Review
John Fund is National Affairs Columnist for National Review magazine and a on-air analyst on the Fox News Channel. He is considered a notable expert on American politics and the nexus between politics and economics.
He previously served as a columnist and editorial board member for The Wall Street Journal. He is the author of several books, including Who's Counting: Bow Fraudsters and Bureaucrats Put Your Vote At Risk (Encounter Books, 2012); Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy (Encounter Books, 2008) and The Dangers of Regulation Through Litigation (ATRA Press, 2008). He worked as a research analyst for the California Legislature in Sacramento before beginning his journalism career as a reporter for the syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak.
Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, called him "the Tom Paine of the modern Congressional reform movement." He has won awards from the Institute for Justice, The School Choice Aliance and the Warren Brooks award for journalistic excellence from the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Professor Emeritus, Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University
In memoriam
Dr. John Baker is Professor Emeritus of Law, and previously the Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, at Louisiana State University Law School. He is currently Visiting Professor at Peking University School of Transnational Law (via Zoom) and has been Visiting Professor at The Center for the Constitution, Georgetown Law School (2013-2020). He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Oriel College, the University of Oxford (2012-2014) and taught at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford in 2014. Dr. Baker has also been an adjunct Fellow at the Heritage Foundation (Spring, 2008) and a Distinguished Scholar at the Catholic University of America Law School (2011-12). He has taught at Tulane Law School, George Mason Law School, Pepperdine Law School, New York Law School, Hong Kong University, and the University of Dallas, School of Management and also taught and/or lectured in 17 foreign countries. Notable among his foreign visits are the
following: Visiting Professor at the University of Lyon III (France) (1999-2011); Visiting Professor at the Universidad de los Andes, Chile (2012), as a Fulbright Specialist (2006); and a Fulbright Scholar at various universities in the Philippines. Dr. Baker received his J.D., with honors, from the University of Michigan Law School and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Dallas. He also earned a Ph.D. in Political Thought from the University of London. Baker has taught over a dozen different subjects, mostly courses in public law. His main areas of interest are Constitutional Law (particularly federalism and separation of powers), Criminal Law, Anti-Terrorism Law, International Law, Health Care Law, Mediation, and Comparative Law.
In addition to law review articles and book chapters, Dr. Baker’s academic publications include Hall's Criminal Law: Cases and Materials (with Benson, Force and George; 5th ed. Michie, 1993); An Introduction to the Law of the United States (ed. with Levasseur; University Press of America, 1992). He has also published on Forbes.com, FoxNews.com, in The Washington Times, and a number of times in The Wall Street Journal. He argues in federal court, including two oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court. For many years, he co-taught courses for the Federalist Society on separation of powers with the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. In September 2016, he co-taught a Supreme Court seminar in China with Justice Samuel Alito. Following law school, he served as a law clerk in federal district court and as an assistant district attorney in New Orleans before joining LSU in 1975. While a professor, he has been as a consultant to USAID, USIA (since rolled into the State Department), the Justice Department, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Separation of Powers, and the Office of Planning in the White House. He served on an ABA Task Force which issued the report, The Federalization of Crime (1998) and later as a consultant to the “Bi-Partisan Task Force on the Over- federalization of Crime” (2012-2014) created by the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime. Dr. Baker was a co-founder of the first iteration (1995) of Stratfor Inc., a global intelligence agency. He co-authored its first book: The Intelligence Edge (with Friedman, Friedman and Chapman; Crown Books/Random House 1997). In 2022, he began a short, weekly video podcast available on YouTube and Rumble, The Baker Brief.
Associate, Wiley Rein LLP
Krystal represents and advises clients in a variety of complex litigation and appellate matters in state and federal courts. She has served in legal capacities in both public and private entities, including the U.S. Department of Justice and federal trial and appellate courts, and has extensive litigation experience ranging from pre-complaint investigations and discovery disputes to critical motions practice, trial preparation, and appeals. Krystal specializes in providing creative litigation solutions to give her clients a strategic advantage, both in and out of the courtroom.
Her experience spans a wide variety of practice areas, including government contracts, intellectual property, environment and product regulation, telecommunications, health care, as well as election law and government ethics. Krystal’s appellate work, including before the U.S. Supreme Court, has focused on significant First Amendment issues.
Krystal served as a law clerk for the Honorable Mark S. Davis on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (the “Rocket Docket”). In addition, she served as a law clerk for the Honorable Alice M. Batchelder on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Krystal also maintains an active pro bono practice, and for two consecutive years has won firm awards for her contributions. Most recently, she briefed and argued a multi-issue appeal of a trial verdict in the Ninth Circuit, and successfully obtained remand from the Board of Immigration Appeals after her client was denied protection under the U.N. Convention Against Torture.
Vice President for Legal Strategy, Stand Together
Casey Mattox is Vice President for Legal Strategy at Stand Together and Senior Advisor at
Americans for Prosperity. In these roles he advocates for and creates strategies and
partnerships to ensure a constitutionally limited government that protects the civil liberties of all
Americans. Prior to joining Stand Together and AFP Casey’s legal career focused on defending
the First Amendment rights of students, faculty, healthcare workers and religious organizations.
Casey has a J.D. from Boston College School of Law and an undergraduate degree from the
University of Virginia. You can find him on Twitter at @CaseyMattox_ and on LinkedIn at
@Casey-Mattox-ST.
Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Brian Hodges is a Senior Attorney at PLF’s Pacific Northwest office in Bellevue, Washington. Brian focuses his practice on defending of the right of individuals to make reasonable use of their property, free of unnecessary and oppressive regulations.
In 2013, Brian second-chaired Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District before the U.S. Supreme Court, a case that placed constitutional limits on the government’s common practice of demanding that landowners fund unrelated public projects in exchange for a permit approval. And in the 2008 case, Citizens’ Alliance for Property Rights v. Sims, Brian successfully challenged a Seattle-area ordinance that required all rural property owners to dedicate at least half their land as conservation areas as a mandatory condition of any new development without any showing that rural development would impact the environment.
Brian graduated from Seattle University of Law in 2001 with honors. After which, he served as a judicial clerk at the Washington State Court of Appeals, then entered private practice where he focused on appellate advocacy for several years before joining PLF in 2006.
Brian came to the liberty movement by an uncommon route: the arts. Brian played guitar and keyboards in several Seattle-area bands before eventually studying music composition and literature at the University of Washington—earning two Bachelor’s Degrees and a Master of Arts. Through that experience, he came to firmly believe that the goal of art—indeed, the goal of any creative ambition—is to maximize individual freedom and expression, tempered by personal responsibility and ownership, rather than outside oversight or arbitrary restriction. Carrying that philosophy into law school naturally led him to fight for individual rights.
Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
Chris Kieser practices in PLF’s property rights and equality before the law practice groups.
His property rights clients include Cedar Point Nursery, which challenged a California regulation requiring them to allow union organizers to invade their private property, as well as Randall and Kimberley Pavlock, who are fighting back against Indiana’s beachfront land grab along Lake Michigan.
Under equality before the law, Chris represents coalitions of Asian-American parents challenging discriminatory admissions policies for selective K-12 schools in New York City; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Fairfax County, Virginia. He also represents a parent organization in Connecticut challenging a racial quota that prevents many Black and Hispanic students from enrolling at the state’s magnet schools.
Chris has published law review articles in the William & Mary Environmental Law Review and the Federalist Society Review. His op-eds have appeared in the New York Daily News, National Review, The Blaze, the Daily Journal, and SCOTUSblog.
Chris clerked for the Honorable Daniel A. Manion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Honorable Thomas D. Schroeder of the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. He holds a B.A., cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and graduated magna cum laude from Notre Dame Law School in 2013. At Notre Dame, he was an articles editor of the Notre Dame Law Review.
Growing up on Long Island, Chris developed a deep passion for limited government and individual liberty, arguing with his more numerous progressive classmates. This experience made him deeply skeptical that government tinkering at the expense of individual rights ever works, whether it be denying a property owner the use of his land or a student a seat at her desired school because of her race. He chose PLF because it is the national leader in litigation that furthers individual liberty.
When he’s not working, you’re likely to find Chris rooting for the Mets and Fighting Irish or debating some arcane point of law (because apparently that doesn’t happen enough at work).
Chris is currently licensed to practice in California and admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeal for the Second, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Central Districts of California, the Northern District of Indiana, and the Northern District of Illinois.
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