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About Dr. John C. Eastman
St. James Anglican Church has retained Dr. John C. Eastman to lead the effort asking the Supreme Court of the United States to review this case.
Dr. Eastman, currently the Dean and Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, is a nationally-known constitutional law scholar and Supreme Court specialist, having previously served as a law clerk to Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. As the founding director of the Claremont Institute’s Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Dr. Eastman has been involved in more than forty cases in the Supreme Court of the United States over the past decade, including such landmark religion-related cases as Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the school vouchers case), Newdow v. U.S. Congress (the Pledge of Allegiance case), and Van Orden v. Perry (the Ten Commandments case). A more extensive biography follows.
Dr. John Eastman, Dean
Chapman University School of Law
Dr. John Eastman, Dean and Donald P. Kennedy Chair in Law at Chapman University School of Law, joined the Chapman law faculty in August 1999, specializing in Constitutional Law, Legal History, and Property. He was named Interim Associate Dean of Administration in August 2006, and appointed Dean in June 2007.
He also serves as the Director of the Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, a public interest law firm affiliated with the Claremont Institute that he founded in 1999. He has a Ph.D. in Government from the Claremont Graduate School and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School, and is Chairman of the Federalist Society’s Federalism & Separation of Powers practice group.
Prior to joining the Chapman law faculty, Dr. Eastman served as a law clerk to the Honorable Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, and to the Honorable J. Michael Luttig, Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He practiced law with the national law firm of Kirkland & Ellis, representing major corporate clients in federal and state courts and with respect to State Attorneys General investigations, in complex commercial contract litigation and in consumer litigation.
Dr. Eastman has also represented numerous clients in important constitutional law matters, including Nevada State Legislators and taxpayers in Angle v. The Legislature of the State of Nevadaand Guinn v. The Legislature of the State of Nevada, challenging the validity of the Nevada Supreme Court’s mandamus to the legislature to ignore the 2/3 vote requirement for tax increases contained in the Nevada Constitution; The Lincoln Club of Orange County’s successful First Amendment challenge to the City of Irvine’s campaign finance ordinance in The Lincoln Club v. Irvine; Pastor Rick Warren’s successful defense of the parsonage exemption against an Establishment Clause challenge in Warren v. Commissioner; the Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation in its successful appeal in Southwest Center v. Berg reversing a district court denial of its motion to intervene in environmental litigation involving the property rights of its members; and the Town of Castle Rock, Colorado before the U.S. Supreme Court in Castle Rock v. Gonzales, defending against a claim that government officials can be held constitutionally liable for failure to prevent private violence by others.
On behalf of the Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, he has participated as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and State Supreme Courts in numerous cases of constitutional significance, including Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, United Statesv. Morrison, Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (the school vouchers case), Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger (the Michigan affirmative action cases), Newdow v. U.S. Congress (the Pledge case), Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, and Van Orden v. Perry (the 10 Commandments case).
Dr. Eastman has appeared as an expert legal commentator on numerous television and radio programs, including C-SPAN, Fox News, PBS, The O’Reilly Factor, OCN, NPR, KNX in Los Angeles, KFWB in Los Angeles, WABC in New York, the Michael Reagan Show, the Jane Chastain Show, the Michael Jackson show, Airtalk with Larry Mantle, and LA Live with Duffy, and has presented testimony before the U.S. Congress, including before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence regarding news media liability for publication of classified information. His November 2000 testimony before the Florida Select Joint Committee on the Manner of Appointment of Presidential Electors was carried live by C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC, and numerous other networks throughout the world.
He provided commentary on the Supreme Court’s decision in the Boy Scouts case that was carried by CBS Radio in New York, CNS Radio, The Associated Press, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fox Television and Reuters News Service, among others. He has a weekly segment on the nationally-syndicated Hugh Hewitt show debating current legal issues with UCI Law School Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, publishes an occasional column entitled “First Principles” in the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals, and has published numerous op-eds in newspapers around the country, including the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Los Angeles Times, and the Orange County Register.
Dr. Eastman also serves as an Assistant Scoutmaster in his son’s Boy Scout Troop.
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