JONATHAN TURLEY
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Professor Jonathan Turley is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal theory to tort law. He has written over three dozen academic articles that have appeared in a variety of leading law journals at Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Northwestern, University of Chicago, and other schools.
After a stint at Tulane Law School, Professor Turley joined the George Washington faculty in 1990 and, in 1998, was given the prestigious Shapiro Chair for Public Interest Law, the youngest chaired professor in the school’s history. In addition to his extensive publications, Professor Turley has served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, judges, members of Congress, and a wide range of other clients. He is also one of the few attorneys to successfully challenge both a federal and a state law — leading to courts striking down the federal Elizabeth Morgan law as well as the state criminalization of cohabitation.
In 2010, Professor Turley represented Judge G. Thomas Porteous in his impeachment trial. After a trial before the Senate, Professor Turley (on December 7, 2010) argued both the motions and gave the final argument to all 100 U.S. Senators from the well of the Senate floor — only the 14th time in history of the country that such a trial of a judge has reached the Senate floor. Judge Porteous was convicted of four articles of impeachments, including the acceptance of $2000 from an attorney and using a false name on a bankruptcy filing.
In 2011, Professor Turley filed a challenge to the Libyan War on behalf of ten members of Congress, including Representatives Roscoe Bartlett (R., Md); Dan Burton (R., Ind.); Mike Capuano (D., Mass.); Howard Coble (R., N.C.); John Conyers (D., Mich.); John J. Duncan (R., Tenn.); Tim Johnson (R., Ill.); Walter Jones (R., N.C.); Dennis Kucinich (D., Ohio); and Ron Paul (R., Tx). The lawsuit was before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
In November 2014, Turley agreed to serve as lead counsel to the United States House of Representatives in its constitutional challenge to changes ordered by President Obama to the Affordable Care Act. The litigation was approved by the House of Representatives to seek judicial review of the claims under the separation of powers. On May 12, 2016, the federal court handed down a historic victory for the House and ruled that the Obama Administration violated the separation of powers in ordering billions to be paid to insurance companies without an appropriation of Congress.
Other cases include his representation of the Area 51 workers at a secret air base in Nevada; the nuclear couriers at Oak Ridge, Tennessee; the Rocky Flats grand jury in Colorado; Dr. Eric Foretich, the husband in the famous Elizabeth Morgan custody controversy; and four former United States Attorneys General during the Clinton impeachment litigation. In the Foretich case, Turley succeeded recently in reversing a trial court and striking down a federal statute through a rare “bill of attainder” challenge. Professor Turley has also served as counsel in a variety of national security cases, including espionage cases like that of Jim Nicholson, the highest ranking CIA officer ever accused of espionage. Turley also served as lead defense counsel in the successful defense of Petty Officer Daniel King, who faced the death penalty for alleged spying for Russia. Turley also served as defense counsel in the case of Dr. Tom Butler, who is faced criminal charges dealing with the importation and handling of thirty vials of plague in Texas. He also served as counsel to Larry Hanauer, the House Intelligence Committee staffer accused of leaking a classified Presidential National Intelligence Estimate to the New York Times. (Hanauer was cleared of all allegations).
Among his current cases, Professor Turley represents Dr. Ali Al-Timimi, who was convicted in Virginia in 2005 of violent speech against the United States. In 2020, the federal court found that there merit in the challenges raised by Professor Turley and his co-counsel Tom Huff. Accordingly, the judge ordered his release to protect him from Covit-19 while the Court prepared a decision on the challenges. Pursuant to a court order, Dr. Al-Timimi was released from the Supermax in Colorado and the two drove across the country so that he could be placed into home confinement. He also represented Dr. Sami Al-Arian, who was accused of being the American leader of a terrorist organization while he was a university professor in Florida. Turley represented Dr. Al-Arian for eight years, much of which was in a determined defense against an indictment for criminal contempt. The case centered on the alleged violation of a plea bargain by the Justice Department after Dr. Al-Arian was largely exonerated of terrorism charges in Tampa, Florida. On June 27, 2014, all charges were dropped against Dr. Al-Arian. He also represented pilots approaching or over the age of 60 in their challenge to the mandatory retirement age of the FAA. He also represented David Murphee Faulk, the whistleblower who disclosed abuses in the surveillance operations at NSA’s Fort Gordon facility in Georgia.
Professor Turley also agreed to serve as lead counsel representing the Brown family from the TLC “Sister Wives, a reality show on plural marriage or polygamy. On December 13, 2013, the federal court in Utah struck down the criminalization of polygamy — the first such decision in history — on free exercise and due process grounds. On September 26, 2014, the court also ruled in favor of the Browns under Section 1983 — giving them a clean sweep on all of the statutory and constitutional claims. In April 2015, a panel reversed the decision on standing grounds and that decision is now on appeal.
Professor Turley was also lead counsel in the World Bank protest case stemming from the mass arrest of people in 2002 by the federal and district governments during demonstrations of the IMF and World Bank. Turley and his co-lead counsel Dan Schwartz (and the law firm of Bryan Cave) were the first to file and represented student journalists arrested without probable cause. In April 2015, after 13 years of intense litigation, the case was settled for $2.8 million, including $115,000 for each arrestee — a record damage award in a case of this kind and over twice the amount of prior damages for individual protesters. The case also exposed government destruction and withholding of evidence as well as the admitted mass arrest of hundreds of people without probable cause.
Professor Turley also served as the legal expert in the review of polygamy laws in the British of Columbia (Canada) Supreme Court. In the latter case, he argued for the decriminalization of plural union and conjugal unions. In 2012, Turley also represented the makers of “Five Wives Vodka” (Ogden’s Own Distillery) in challenging an effective ban on the product in Idaho after officials declared the product to be offensive to Mormons. After opposing to the ban on free speech and other grounds, the state of Idaho issued a letter apologizing for public statements made by officials and lifting the ban on sale for “Five Wives Vodka.”
Turley has served as a consultant on homeland security and constitutional issues, including the Florida House of Representatives. He also served as the consultant to the Puerto Rico House of Representatives on the impeachment of Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá.
Professor Turley is a frequent witness before the House and Senate on constitutional and statutory issues as well as tort reform legislation. That testimony includes the confirmation hearings of Attorney General nominees Loretta Lynch and William Barr as well as Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch. Professor Turley is also a nationally recognized legal commentator. Professor Turley was ranked as 38th in the top 100 most cited “public intellectuals” in the recent study by Judge Richard Posner. Turley was also found to be the second most cited law professor in the country. He has been repeatedly ranked in the nation’s top 500 lawyers in annual surveys (including in the latest rankings by LawDragon) – one of only a handful of academics. In prior years, he was ranked as one of the nation’s top ten lawyers in military law cases as well as one of the top 40 lawyers under 40. He was also selected in the last five years as one of the 100 top Irish lawyers in the world. In 2016, he was ranked as one of the 100 most famous (past and present) law professors.
Professor Turley is one of only two academics to testify at both the Clinton and Trump impeachment hearings. In December 2019, Professor Turley was called as the one Republican witness in the House Judiciary Committee impeachment hearings. He appeared with three Democratic witnesses. Professor Turley disagreed with this fellow witnesses in opposing the proposed articles of impeachments on bribery, extortion, campaign finance violations or obstruction of justice. He argued that these alleged impeachable acts were at odds with controlling definitions of those crimes and that Congress has historically looked to the criminal code and cases for guidance on such allegations. The committee ultimately rejected those articles and adopted the only two articles that Professor Turley said could be legitimately advanced: abuse of power, obstruction of Congress. Chairman Jerrold Nadler even ended the hearing by quoting his position on abuse of power. However, Turley opposed impeachment on this record as incomplete and insufficient for submission to the Senate. He argued for the House to wait and complete the record by seeking to compel key witnesses like former National Security Adviser John Bolton. His testimony was later relied upon in the impeachment floor debate by various House members and he was cited by both the White House and House managers in their arguments before the United States Senate in the Trump impeachment trial, including videotaped remarks played at the trial.
Professor Turley’s articles on legal and policy issues appear regularly in national publications with hundreds of articles in such newspapers as the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. He is a columnist for USA Today and writes regularly for the Washington Post. In 2005, Turley was given the Columnist of the Year award for Single-Issue Advocacy for his columns on civil liberties by the Aspen Institute and the Week Magazine. Professor Turley also appears regularly as a legal expert on all of the major television networks. Since the 1990s, he has worked under contract as the on-air Legal Analyst for NBC News, CBS News, BBC and Fox News. Professor Turley has been a repeated guest on Sunday talk shows with over two-dozen appearances on Meet the Press, ABC This Week, Face the Nation, and Fox Sunday. Professor Turley has taught courses on constitutional law, constitutional criminal law, environmental law, litigation, and torts. He is the founder and executive director of the Project for Older Prisoners (POPS). His work with older prisoners has been honored in various states, including his selection as the 2011 recipient of the Dr. Mary Ann Quaranta Elder Justice Award at Fordham University.
His award-winning blog is routinely ranked as one of the most popular legal blogs by AVVO. His blog was selected as the top News/Analysis site in 2013, the top Legal Opinion Blog in 2011 as well as prior selections as the top Law Professor Blog and Legal Theory Blog. It was also ranked in the top 20 constitutional law blog in 2018. It has been regularly ranked by the ABA Journal in the top 100 blogs in the world. In 2012, Turley has selected as one of the top 20 legal experts on Twitter by Business Insider. In 2013, the ABA Journal inducted the Turley Blog into its Hall of Fame.
Professor Turley received his B.A. at the University of Chicago and his J.D. at Northwestern. In 2008, he was given an honorary Doctorate of Law from John Marshall Law School for his contributions to civil liberties and the public interest.
For further information: Mr. Seth Tate – 202-994-0537
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mespoop7272:
You have to be truly ignorant to think that pouting that oil was $30 per barrel when clinton left office but now it is $140 accomplishes anything. You have to be truly even more ignorant to think your argument about this being Bush’s fault holds water in America. Almost 80% of Americans know the problem is production and want to drill now. Your President Clinton locked up 100 years worth of coal and oil with executive orders blocking exploration. Now here we sit. World oil use has increased by 30% in those years while production has increased only 25% largely because of Clinton and this:
June 16, 2008
Who’s to Blame for High Gas Prices?
ANWR Exploration
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed
Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed
Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed
SUMMARY
91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.
88% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.
martha h:
Just so you recall oil was $27.39 a barrel when Clinton left office. It’s now $140.00. And I will give you the sage words of George W. when asked during the election about what he would do if oil hit $30.00 a barrel. Our resident mental midget said in 1999, “I’m an oil man, if it gets too high, I ‘ll just jawbone OPEC down. That’s what Bill Clinton should have done.” Keep talking oil man. Funny how Big Oil’s profits have soared under Bush/Cheney, both acknowledged “oil men.” I wouldn’t be so hard on Mary Leon. She remembers what you choose to forget. Finally unless McCain can start raising money soon or the price of oil drops, you’d better start getting used to saying “President Obama.” I know, I know you’ll move to Australia. Can I contribute to your moving expenses oh great intellectual product of our private schools? Why not spread your conservative tripe over there?
Unity Massachusetts?
With talking points so loud, who has time to think?
Change: LOL!
Barack Obama has artfully crafted an image as an unconventional candidate, a change agent and a post-partisan politician who represents a dramatic break from the status quo. But since securing the Democratic presidential nomination, when confronted with a series of thorny issues the Illinois senator has pursued a conspicuously conventional path, one that falls far short of his soaring rhetoric.
Faced with choices on fronts ranging from public financing and town hall meetings to warrantless surveillance and the Second Amendment, Obama passed up opportunities to stay consistent with his primary speeches and promises and make striking departures from customary politics.
Instead, he has followed a familiar tack, straddling controversial issues and choosing politically advantageous routes that will ensure his campaign a cash edge, minimize damaging blowback on several highly sensitive issues, and keep him away from open debates with his opposition.
Abandoning the far left rhetoric of the primaries, and those that supported him, Obama has now begun the move to the center where the votes are. The only thing left for Obama to abandon is his committment to a fast withdrawal from Iraq.
That may have already occurred yesterday at Unity Massachusetts where the candidate made note of the necessity for a slow careful withdrawal from Iraq; virtually indistinguisable from either the Bush or McCain plan for Iraq.
mary leon: I love it when the opposition wins my arguments for me.
Your post above shows just how little thinking goes through your head. God help you if you believe even 10% of what you write. You are truly a product of the American school system of the last 20 years.
mary leon: I bet you post over with the loons here also:
http://www.democraticunderground.com
You sound just like them.
God Bless our President Bush.
Next time you’re filling your gas tank, staring at the pump and those little dials are spinning so fast you can’t even read the numbers, ask yourself: If Barack Obama is elected, will those numbers slow down?
If Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton get a filibuster-proof Democrat majority in the Senate, will gas prices fall?
These liberals, currently running Congress, have no problem with U.S. consumers sending $600-700 billion each year to Russia, Venezuela and the Middle East for oil while they stifle our nation’s ability to develop our own known vast energy resources.
That’s the choice we’re facing this coming fall.
Mr. Turley,
I want to apologize to you for my frank arguments with Percy and Russ. Sometimes I tend to go overboard with my disagreements about this White House administration.
I do this because I love this country, but I do not like what has happened to it these past 7 years. I want this country to be the way it was before Mr. Bush took over–for the People, NOT for the “haves” and the “have mores” and I cannot stay quiet while people like Percy and Russ defend this administration and their lies and crimes while our beloved troops and innocent Iraqis are dying for no reason.
Sincerely,
Mary Leon
Percy:
Well, I have to admit, you’re a real Republican. How many years have you been a member of the PNAC agenda? Do you know what the PNAC agenda is? Hint: Project for the New American Century (PNAC).
If you are a loyal Republican then you must agree 100% with this agenda that William Kristol wrote about 10 years ago. He basically decided that the United States should rule the whole world–using our military and your “compassionate conservative” morals. This nightmare agenda was approved by, amongst others: Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Jeb Bush.
The mistake that Bush made was that he thought that the Iraqis were living in the Dark Ages under Saddam Hussein’s rule, so Bush figured he could go invade Iraq; take out Saddam and steal the Iraqi’s oil, all while smiling and chewing gum at the same time because he wanted to run the US empire on earth. He failed to realize that Iraq is where civilization started and the Iraqis are smarter than he could ever be. He still thinks he can invade Iran before he leaves the White House, but I guess if he does you better go volunteer for his invasion.
Your president Bush opened up this can of worms, so whatever is happening now to our economy and our standing in the world is NOT the fault of the Democrats. They do NOT have a 2/3 majority in either the House or the Senate, so you can’t say that they are at fault.
Why don’t you ask Bush and Cheney how much money they’re making every day on their oil dividends while you, me and everyone else pays over $4 a gallon. Oh yeah, even if we drilled for oil off the coastline and in Alaska or the Arctic, we would never see a drop of it for at least 7 to 10 years from today. So how’s that supposed to help us?
When are we leaving Iraq, Percy?
Caution: Clown Congress at work
Mary Leon: additionally, the left’s PRECIOUS JOE BIDEN went to Pakistan and interferred with their elections in his effort to have Mushareff removed from power. Joe was successful and we now have militants executing people. Do you THINK IDIOT JOE BIDEN HAD A CLUE TO THE DAMAGE HE WAS ABOUT TO DO: WHO WILL CHALLENGE the lunatic Biden about a US Senator going to a foreign country during an election with the stated goal of making sure Musharef is weakened because he doesn’t like him:
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A gang of Pakistani militants executed two alleged U.S. spies in front of thousands of cheering supporters Friday as a top U.N. official expressed fears that Pakistani government peace deals with the gunmen were sparking a wave of human rights abuses.
Mary Leon, our homes are worth 25% less, our 401k’s are tanking, we are paying $4 or more per gallon of gas. All this has happened in the 18 months Democrats have controlled congress.
Nancy Pelosi said she had an easy answer to the energy shortage in October of 2006; she never told us it was for us to pay $7 per gallon for gas.
You are childish and imature to blame Bush, who can do nothing, for the state of affairs we are in with our economy. For 30 YEARS the demcoratic party has fought against drilling, coal, and nuclear energy:
June 16, 2008
Who’s to Blame for High Gas Prices?
ANWR Exploration
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed
Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed
Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed
SUMMARY
91% of House Republicans have historically voted to increase the production of American-made oil and gas.
88% of House Democrats have historically voted against increasing the production of American-made oil and gas.
You and people like you have supported the do-nothing Democrats for 30 years. I know because I use to be an idiot just like you. Grow up and face the music: your Demcoratic party is the most corrupt bunch of weasels America has known. They accomplish nothing and while our young cannot afford homes and are going broke on food that is 25% more because of their ethanol fiasco here we sit.
Greetings Professor Turley,
I have admired your comments on MSNBC for sometime now and I write to you this evening requesting a small favor. Could you glance at the complaint Jimbo’s v. USBC filed in Harrisburg District Court by clicking on the page at BowlParkLanes.com? I am in a David v Goliath situation with this as I am up against the powers that be in a $10 Billion per annum industry. The disposition of this case is important to the little guys in our industry as it refects a liftime’s work for many of us. Any suggestions, comments or help would be cherished. I thank you for your time.
jim
The price of gas is going through the roof, and Bush and Cheney are smiling at all the money they’re making every day in their offshore accounts from their oil dividends while we pay over $4 a gallon.
Something is wrong with this…
Chuck:
Are you fighting the unjust baggage aspect or are you one of those that don’t think it wrong for the public to expect pilots not to drop dead of old age at 30,000 feet?
Dear Professor Turley,
Today I discovered this website and your bio. As a member of the group fighting the bill of attainder contained in HR 4343, I am honored to have you on our side. I will continue the effort for veterans under VEVRAA and appreciate all that your efforts have accomplished. Thank you.
Chuck
ubeube:
Congrats on getting into the GW! I speak to the incoming class each year so I will see you at orientation. Turley blog readers are given a standard grade inflation in my classes, so you are covered.
As for how I keep it up, the answer is simple. I have found that if I keep the quality of my work as a professor, litigator and columnist low, I can do much more in a given day.
Once again, my congratulations on your selection for GW.
Prof Turley,
I will be attending GWU Law next year and I hope to see you there! I found your blog a few weeks ago and the eclectic mix of law-related posts are great. I was just wondering, how do you get the time to keep it up!?
PERCY,
Obviously, you are quite mistaken, as in your case, one can deduce
the seemingly ‘seriously’ disturbed quite simply and inevitably show up
-every now and again.
mary leon; seriously now, serious people don’t come here.