Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Professor of Law, Belmont University College of Law
Don Cochran teaches Evidence, Trial Advocacy and Criminal Law courses. Prior to joining Belmont’s faculty, he served as the Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed United States Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee from September 2017 to February 2021. Prior to becoming U.S. Attorney, he was a law professor at Belmont University College of Law and the Cumberland School of Law in Birmingham, Alabama where he taught courses in criminal procedure, evidence, criminal law, and trial advocacy. From 1998 to 2002 Professor Cochran was an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of Alabama. During that time, Professor Cochran prosecuted criminal cases involving white collar crimes, public corruption, and violent crimes, including successful prosecution of the final defendant charged with the historic 1963 bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama that killed four girls. Professor Cochran began his prosecutorial career in the District Attorney’s Office in Birmingham where he prosecuted homicides, sexual assaults, and other violent crimes. Professor Cochran clerked for Judge Julie E. Carnes of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School.
Professor Cochran teaches Evidence Law, Trial Advocacy, and Criminal Law at Belmont Law.
Associate Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice
Steve Cook currently serves as Associate Deputy Attorney General in the United States Department of Justice. In March of 2017, he was appointed to serve as the Deputy Attorney General’s point person on the Task Force for Crime Reduction and Public Safety—a task force created at the direction of the President to develop a nationwide strategy to reduce crime. He now serves as the Director of Law Enforcement Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice. Prior to his current appointment, he served as the chief of the Criminal Division in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee where he had been an Assistant United States Attorney for 30 years. During those 30 years, he worked in the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force; the General Crimes Section handling white-collar crime, fraud, and public corruption; and was the deputy criminal chief in the Narcotics and Violent Crime Section. In those positions, he received dozens of awards and letters of commendation including the Directors Award for Superior Performance in connection with his work prosecuting violent gang members. He is also the immediate past president of the National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys.
Prior to coming to the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Cook clerked for a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and before that worked as a deputy sheriff and then as a police officer for seven years in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. Cook earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Tennessee in 1984, with high honors, and was a member of the Tennessee Law Review.
Mr. Cook was chosen as one of The Politico’s 50 in 2017 for his work on national criminal justice issues. He has testified multiple times before Congress in connection with proposed criminal justice legislation including bills involving the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and sentencing reform. He has appeared as a guest on numerous radio and television programs with regional and national audiences (including the O’Reilly Factor and Sean Hannity Show) and has appeared as a frequent panelist on forums and discussion panels (including programs hosted by the Washington Post, Atlantic Magazine, and Hastings Law Journal).
Finally, Mr. Cook has served as a speaker or instructor at hundreds of events across the country ranging from events with international audiences to local police training.
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Attorney General of Tennessee
Jonathan Skrmetti was sworn in to an eight-year term as Tennessee’s Attorney General and Reporter on September 1, 2022.
Prior to his current role, General Skrmetti served as Chief Counsel to Governor Bill Lee and as Chief Deputy Attorney General to his predecessor, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery.
Before working for the State of Tennessee, General Skrmetti was a partner at Butler Snow LLP in Memphis. His legal career began with nearly a decade as a federal prosecutor. He worked at the Civil Rights Division at Main Justice and then at the Memphis U.S. Attorney’s Office and prosecuted sex traffickers, corrupt government officials, and violent white supremacists. In addition, General Skrmetti taught cyberlaw as an adjunct professor at the University of Memphis.
General Skrmetti earned honors degrees from George Washington University, the University of Oxford, and Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. Following law school, Jonathan clerked for Judge Steven Colloton on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. He lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife and four children.
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County
George R. La Noue is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has served as a trial expert in twenty cases involving public procurement preferences. For thirty years, he was Director of the Project on Civil Rights and Public Contracts at UMBC which recently contributed 289 public contracting disparity studies to the Library of Congress. He has been a consultant to nine governments and trial expert in thirty cases where the validity of disparity studies was at issue.
Prof. La Noue can be reached by email at glanoue@umbc.edu.
Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy, Univ. of Maryland Baltimore County
George R. La Noue is Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Professor Emeritus of Public Policy at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has served as a trial expert in twenty cases involving public procurement preferences. For thirty years, he was Director of the Project on Civil Rights and Public Contracts at UMBC which recently contributed 289 public contracting disparity studies to the Library of Congress. He has been a consultant to nine governments and trial expert in thirty cases where the validity of disparity studies was at issue.
Prof. La Noue can be reached by email at glanoue@umbc.edu.
UC Foundation Assistant Professor, U.T. Chattanooga
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Paul J. Schierl Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School
Professor Richard W. Garnett teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law, the First Amendment, and law and religion. He is a leading authority on questions and debates regarding religious freedom and church-state relations, and is the founding director of Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State, and Society.
Garnett clerked for the late Chief Justice of the United States, William H. Rehnquist, and also for the late Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Richard S. Arnold. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995 and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Duke University in 1990. He joined the faculty in 1999 after practicing law in Washington, D.C. with Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin.
Shareholder, Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, PC
Alan Jackson practices in a variety of areas in state and federal courts. Prior to joining Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, P.C. in 2013, he served for two years as law clerk for the Honorable Walter E. Johnson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Vice President and Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Lori Windham is vice president and senior counsel at Becket, where she has represented clients on cutting-edge religious freedom issues since 2005. She has represented parties before the Supreme Court, arguing Becket’s unanimous victory on behalf of foster families in Fulton v. Philadelphia, as well as working with the Becket team on its Supreme Court victories in Hosanna-Tabor, Hobby Lobby, and Little Sisters of the Poor. She won a victory for the world’s largest religious media network in EWTN v. Azar, staving off millions of dollars in government fines under unlawful the HHS mandate. She has won more than a dozen victories in federal appellate courts, including successful defense of cities and school districts sued for accommodating religion, victories for houses of worship facing discrimination in the land use process, and overturning a multimillion-dollar judgment against a major evangelical ministry. She recently won a first-in-the-nation injunction for an adoption agency threatened with shutdown for its religious beliefs.
Recognized in Washington as an expert on religious freedom issues, Lori has testified in Congressional oversight hearings before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Outside Washington, Lori is sought-after speaker on First Amendment law, including appearances at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Central European University, and many others.
In addition to these venues, Lori also defends her clients in the media, including television appearances on CBS This Morning, Hardball, CNN Tonight, On the Record, America’s Newsroom, Opinion Journal, and many others. Her work has been covered by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and dozens of other papers. She is also a regular guest on radio, with appearances on shows ranging from Sean Hannity to NPR.
Lori has successfully represented a wide array of clients, including a Santeria priest prohibited from making animal sacrifices, synagogues prohibited from building on their own land, and religious student organizations penalized for their religious speech. One of her most challenging cases involved travel to a remote farming community to ensure that members of the local Amish community were not jailed for using their traditional building methods.
Lori is a graduate of Harvard Law School and earned her B.A. summa cum laude at Abilene Christian University. She has served on the Board of Visitors of Abilene Christian University and received the ACU Young Alumnus of the Year award for her work at Becket. She sits on the board of Dominion Christian School and the visiting committee of the Fund for American Studies’ Summer Law Fellowship.
UC Foundation Assistant Professor, U.T. Chattanooga
Judge, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
On December 23, 2020, Katherine A. Crytzer was sworn in as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee following confirmation by the United States Senate. Judge Crytzer sits in Knoxville, Tennessee. Prior to her confirmation, Judge Crytzer served as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy in Washington, D.C., where she provided legal and policy advice to the Assistant Attorney General and Department of Justice Leadership. Before joining the Department of Justice’s Main Office, Judge Crytzer served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. In advance of entering public service, Judge Crytzer was a litigator at Kirkland & Ellis LLP. She began her legal career as a law clerk to The Honorable Raymond W. Gruender on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Judge Crytzer earned her Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, from George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law and her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, from Middle Tennessee State University.
Paul J. Schierl Professor of Law, University of Notre Dame Law School
Professor Richard W. Garnett teaches and writes in the areas of constitutional law, criminal law, the First Amendment, and law and religion. He is a leading authority on questions and debates regarding religious freedom and church-state relations, and is the founding director of Notre Dame Law School’s Program on Church, State, and Society.
Garnett clerked for the late Chief Justice of the United States, William H. Rehnquist, and also for the late Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Richard S. Arnold. He earned his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995 and his B.A., summa cum laude, from Duke University in 1990. He joined the faculty in 1999 after practicing law in Washington, D.C. with Miller, Cassidy, Larroca & Lewin.
Shareholder, Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, PC
Alan Jackson practices in a variety of areas in state and federal courts. Prior to joining Spears, Moore, Rebman & Williams, P.C. in 2013, he served for two years as law clerk for the Honorable Walter E. Johnson of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
Vice President and Senior Counsel, The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Lori Windham is vice president and senior counsel at Becket, where she has represented clients on cutting-edge religious freedom issues since 2005. She has represented parties before the Supreme Court, arguing Becket’s unanimous victory on behalf of foster families in Fulton v. Philadelphia, as well as working with the Becket team on its Supreme Court victories in Hosanna-Tabor, Hobby Lobby, and Little Sisters of the Poor. She won a victory for the world’s largest religious media network in EWTN v. Azar, staving off millions of dollars in government fines under unlawful the HHS mandate. She has won more than a dozen victories in federal appellate courts, including successful defense of cities and school districts sued for accommodating religion, victories for houses of worship facing discrimination in the land use process, and overturning a multimillion-dollar judgment against a major evangelical ministry. She recently won a first-in-the-nation injunction for an adoption agency threatened with shutdown for its religious beliefs.
Recognized in Washington as an expert on religious freedom issues, Lori has testified in Congressional oversight hearings before the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Outside Washington, Lori is sought-after speaker on First Amendment law, including appearances at Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Stanford Law School, Georgetown University Law Center, Central European University, and many others.
In addition to these venues, Lori also defends her clients in the media, including television appearances on CBS This Morning, Hardball, CNN Tonight, On the Record, America’s Newsroom, Opinion Journal, and many others. Her work has been covered by the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and dozens of other papers. She is also a regular guest on radio, with appearances on shows ranging from Sean Hannity to NPR.
Lori has successfully represented a wide array of clients, including a Santeria priest prohibited from making animal sacrifices, synagogues prohibited from building on their own land, and religious student organizations penalized for their religious speech. One of her most challenging cases involved travel to a remote farming community to ensure that members of the local Amish community were not jailed for using their traditional building methods.
Lori is a graduate of Harvard Law School and earned her B.A. summa cum laude at Abilene Christian University. She has served on the Board of Visitors of Abilene Christian University and received the ACU Young Alumnus of the Year award for her work at Becket. She sits on the board of Dominion Christian School and the visiting committee of the Fund for American Studies’ Summer Law Fellowship.
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