Chuck Cooper | |
---|---|
United States Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel | |
In office 1985–1988 | |
President | Ronald Reagan |
Deputy | Samuel Alito |
Preceded by | Theodore Olson |
Succeeded by | Douglas Kmiec |
Personal details | |
Born | Dayton,Ohio,U.S. | March 8,1952
Political party | Republican |
Education | University of Alabama (BA,JD) |
Charles J. "Chuck" Cooper (born March 8,1952,in Dayton,Ohio) [1] is an appellate attorney and litigator in Washington,D.C.,where he is a founding member and chairman of the law firm Cooper &Kirk,PLLC. He was named by The National Law Journal as one of the 10 best civil litigators in Washington. [2] [3] The New York Times described him as "one of Washington’s best-known lawyers." [4] He has represented prominent American political figures,including Attorney General Jeff Sessions,in response to the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections; [5] Attorney General John Ashcroft; [6] and former National Security Adviser and United States Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton. [4]
Cooper has more than 40 years of legal experience in government and private practice,with numerous cases in trial and appellate court. He has argued several cases before the United States Supreme Court and been described as "one of the most prominent and aggressive Supreme Court litigators in the country." [7]
Cooper was born on March 8,1952,in Dayton,Ohio. He attended local schools and received his Bachelor of Arts in business in 1974 from the University of Alabama. He earned his J.D. degree in 1977 from the University of Alabama Law School. He was editor-in-chief of the Alabama Law Review and ranked first in his class. He passed the bar in Alabama and Washington,D.C. He had two clerkships with judges. From 1977 to 1978,he clerked for Judge Paul Roney of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit,and from 1978 to 1979,he clerked for Justice William H. Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court.
A member of the Republican Party,he started working in 1981 in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington,D.C. In 1985,during the Reagan administration,he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Counsel,United States Department of Justice,the office responsible for providing legal opinions and informal advice to the White House,the Attorney General,and Executive Branch Departments and Agencies on issues of statutory,regulatory,constitutional and international law.
At a lunch at the Old Ebbitt Grill with Attorney General Ed Meese and other administration officials,he saw documents showing the administration's role in the Iran–Contra affair of 1986. [8] He was Meese's chief aid in the so-called weekend investigation that discovered Lt. Col. Oliver North's plan to divest funds from the CIA's covert sale of missiles to Iran to the Nicaraguan Contras. [9]
After his government service,in 1988 he entered private practice in the office of McGuireWoods. In 1990 he became a partner at Shaw Pittman (now Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman),where he headed the firm's Constitutional and Government Litigation Group. He worked there until co-founding Cooper &Carvin,now Cooper &Kirk,in 1996. His practice focuses on constitutional,commercial,and civil rights litigation. [10]
Cooper led the legal team for the defendant-intervenors in Hollingsworth v. Perry, defending California Proposition 8 in 2008,which banned same-sex marriage in the state. He argued the case before the US Supreme Court. [11] He has testified before Congress or Congressional committees on more than a dozen occasions.
He received the Republican National Lawyers Association's "Edwin Meese III Award" in 2016,and the group's "Republican Lawyer of the Year Award" in 2010. [12]
Alumni of the firm Cooper founded include U.S. Senators such as Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, [13] Federal Judges such as Victor J. Wolski [14] and Howard C. Nielson Jr., [15] and a solicitor general Noel Francisco. [16]
Cooper himself was touted as a possible Solicitor General nominee. [17] During this process,a self-professed left leaning registered Democrat and Biglaw partner explained his reasons for supporting Cooper. [13] He described Cooper as “thoroughly devoted to drawing principled constitutional lines,”“an immovable rock”for upholding the rule of law,and “one of the most principled lawyers you’ll ever encounter.” [18]
Cooper has argued nine cases in front on the United States Supreme Court.
Federal Election Commission v Ted Cruz for Senate
On January 19,2022,Cooper argued on behalf of Ted Cruz in Federal Election Commission v Ted Cruz for Senate. [19] In this case,the Supreme Court considered the constitutionality of provisions of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA). [20] Cooper on behalf of Cruz contended section 304 and the corresponding regulations violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
On May 16 2022,by a vote of 6-3,in an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts,the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Ted Cruz. [21]
Virginia Uranium v. Warren
On Number 6,2018,Cooper argued Virginia Uranium v. Warren. [22] In that case,Cooper represented the owner of a uranium mine arguing that Virginia's ban on uranium mining was preempted by federal law and was therefore unenforceable. [23]
On March 26,2013,Cooper argued Hollingsworth v. Perry. [24] The substantive question in that case was whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the state of California from defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Cooper represented the proponents of Proposition 8,a ballot initiative adopted by the voters of California that defined marriage as being between one man and one woman.
South Central Bell Telephone Company v. Alabama
On January 19,1999,Cooper argued the case South Central Bell Telephone Company v. Alabama. [24] In this case,the Supreme Court considered whether Alabama's franchise tax discriminates against interstate commerce,in violation of the Commerce Clause,and whether the Alabama Supreme Court's refusal to permit the South Central Bell Telephone Company and others to raise their constitutional claims because of res judicata deprives them of the due process of law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Cooper argued the case on behalf of the State of Alabama.
On April 27,1998,Cooper argued the case Clinton v. City of New York. [25] In that case,the Supreme Court considered whether the President's ability to selectively cancel individual portions of bills,under the Line Item Veto Act,violated the Presentment Clause of Article I. Cooper argued this case on behalf of the City of New York.
This case has been called “the blockbuster separation of powers case of the Rehnquist years.” [26]
United States v. Winstar Corp.
On April 24,1996,Cooper argued the case United States v. Winstar. [27] In that case,the Supreme Court considered the question of whether the federal government can be sued by thrifts that were sent into financial trouble when Congress changed the computation of required reserves after the Federal Home Loan Bank Board encouraged actions based on the premise that the rules would not change.
This case has been described as “enormously important”and creating an “important precedent on the interpretation of Government contracts.” [28]
Federal Election Commission v. NRA Political Victory Fund
On October 11,1994,Cooper argued Federal Election Commission v. NRA Political Victory Fund [29] This case raised various questions regarding whether portions of the Federal Election Campaign Act violated the Constitutionally mandated separation of powers. Cooper represented the NRA Political Victory Fund.
On November 6,1991,Cooper argued the case Lee v. Weisman. [30] The question in that case was whether the inclusion of clergy who offer prayers at official public school ceremonies violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. This case is credited for introducing the “coercion test”that has subsequently gained greater prominence in Establishment Clause jurisprudence. [31]
Cooper has published many articles in law reviews and other scholarly publications.
Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-American justice. Prior to his judicial service,he was an attorney who fought for civil rights,leading the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Marshall was a prominent figure in the movement to end racial segregation in American public schools. He won 29 of the 32 civil rights cases he argued before the Supreme Court,culminating in the Court's landmark 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education,which rejected the separate but equal doctrine and held segregation in public education to be unconstitutional. President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Marshall to the Supreme Court in 1967. A staunch liberal,he frequently dissented as the Court became increasingly conservative.
Gideon v. Wainwright,372 U.S. 335 (1963),was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution requires U.S. states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable to afford their own. The case extended the right to counsel,which had been found under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to impose requirements on the federal government,by imposing those requirements upon the states as well.
Randy Evan Barnett is an American legal scholar. He serves as the Patrick Hotung Professor of Constitutional Law at Georgetown University,where he teaches constitutional law and contracts,and is the director of the Georgetown Center for the Constitution.
Tennessee v. Lane,541 U.S. 509 (2004),was a case in the Supreme Court of the United States involving Congress's enforcement powers under section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment.
First National Bank of Boston v. Bellotti,435 U.S. 765 (1978),is a U.S. constitutional law case which defined the free speech right of corporations for the first time. The United States Supreme Court held that corporations have a First Amendment right to make contributions to ballot initiative campaigns. The ruling came in response to a Massachusetts law that prohibited corporate donations in ballot initiatives unless the corporation's interests were directly involved.
Nix v. Whiteside,475 U.S. 157 (1986),was a United States Supreme Court decision that dealt with the effective assistance of counsel during a criminal trial.
Laird v. Tatum,408 U.S. 1 (1972),was a case in which the United States Supreme Court dismissed for lack of ripeness a claim in which the plaintiff accused the U.S. Army of alleged unlawful "surveillance of lawful citizen political activity." The appellant's specific nature of the harm caused by the surveillance was that it chilled the First Amendment rights of all citizens and undermined that right to express political dissent.
Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections,383 U.S. 663 (1966),was a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Virginia's poll tax was unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries,eleven southern states established poll taxes as part of their disenfranchisement of most blacks and many poor whites. The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1964) prohibited poll taxes in federal elections;five states continued to require poll taxes for voters in state elections. By this ruling,the Supreme Court banned the use of poll taxes in state elections.
South Dakota v. Dole,483 U.S. 203 (1987),was a case in which the United States Supreme Court considered the limitations that the Constitution places on the authority of the United States Congress when Congress uses its authority to influence the individual states in areas of authority normally reserved to the states. The Court upheld the constitutionality of a federal statute that withheld federal funds from states whose legal drinking age did not conform to federal policy.
Faretta v. California,422 U.S. 806 (1975),was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that criminal defendants have a constitutional right to refuse counsel and represent themselves in state criminal proceedings.
The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is an American nonprofit public interest legal organization established for the purpose of defending and promoting individual and economic freedom. PLF attorneys provide pro bono legal representation,file amicus curiae briefs,and hold administrative proceedings with the stated goal of supporting property rights,equality before the law,freedom of speech and association,economic liberty,and the separation of powers. The organization is the first and oldest libertarian public interest law firm,having been founded in 1973.
Cruz v. Beto,405 U.S. 319 (1972),was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court upheld a Free Exercise claim based on the allegations that the state of Texas had discriminated against a Buddhist prisoner by "denying him a reasonable opportunity to pursue his Buddhist faith comparable to that offered other prisoners adhering to conventional religious precepts."
Keller v. State Bar of California,496 U.S. 1 (1990),was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that attorneys who are required to be members of a state bar association have a First Amendment right to refrain from subsidizing the organization’s political or ideological activities.
William Hubbs Rehnquist was an American attorney and jurist who served on the U.S. Supreme Court for 33 years. Rehnquist was an associate justice from 1972 to 1986 and the 16th chief justice from 1986 until his death in 2005. Considered a staunch conservative,Rehnquist favored a conception of federalism that emphasized the Tenth Amendment's reservation of powers to the states. Under this view of federalism,the Court,for the first time since the 1930s,struck down an act of Congress as exceeding its power under the Commerce Clause.
Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez,531 U.S. 533 (2001),is a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States concerning the constitutionality of funding restrictions imposed by the United States Congress. At issue were restrictions on the Legal Services Corporation (LSC),a private,nonprofit corporation established by Congress. The restrictions prohibited LSC attorneys from representing clients attempting to amend existing welfare law. The case was brought by Carmen Velazquez,whose LSC-funded attorneys sought to challenge existing welfare provisions since they believed that it was the only way to get Velazquez financial relief.
NAACP v. Button,371 U.S. 415 (1963),is a 6-to-3 ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the reservation of jurisdiction by a federal district court did not bar the U.S. Supreme Court from reviewing a state court's ruling,and also overturned certain laws enacted by the state of Virginia in 1956 as part of the Stanley Plan and massive resistance,as violating the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. The statutes struck down by the Supreme Court had expanded the definitions of the traditional common law crimes of champerty and maintenance,as well as barratry,and had been targeted at the NAACP and its civil rights litigation.
Bounds v. Smith,430 U.S. 817 (1977),was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court tested the basic constitutional right of prison inmates’access to legal documents prior to court. Prison authorities would consequently be required to provide legal assistance or counsel to inmates,whether it be through a trained legal professional or access to a legal library. Multiple prisoners alleged that they were denied access to the courts due to lack of an adequate legal library and assistance with court related documents.
Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. FEC,518 U.S. 604 (1996),was a case heard by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Colorado Republican Party challenged the Federal Election Commission (FEC) as to whether the "Party Expenditure Provision" of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA) violated the First Amendment right to free speech. This provision put a limit on the amount of money a national party could spend on a congressional candidate's campaign. The FEC argued that the Committee violated this provision when purchasing a radio advertisement that attacked the likely candidate of the Colorado Democratic Party. The court held that since the expenditures by the committee were made independently from a specific candidate,they did not violate the campaign contribution limitations established by the FECA,and were protected under the First Amendment.
FEC v. National Conservative PAC,470 U.S. 480 (1985),was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States striking down expenditure prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA),which regulates the fundraising and spending in political campaigns. The FECA is the primary law that places regulations on campaign financing by limiting the amount that may be contributed. The Act established that no independent political action committee may contribute more than $1,000 to any given presidential candidate in support of a campaign.
Lafler v. Cooper,566 U.S. 156 (2012),was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court clarified the Sixth Amendment standard for reversing convictions due to ineffective assistance of counsel during plea bargaining. The Court ruled that when a lawyer's ineffective assistance leads to the rejection of a plea agreement,a defendant is entitled to relief if the outcome of the plea process would have been different with competent advice. In such cases,the Court ruled that the Sixth Amendment requires the trial judge to exercise discretion to determine an appropriate remedy.