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Roger Pilon
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Roger Pilon

Vice President for Legal Affairs
B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies
Director, Center for Constitutional Studies

Roger Pilon is the founder and director of Cato's Center for Constitutional Studies. Established in 1989 to encourage limited constitutional government at home and abroad, the center has become an important force in the national debate over constitutional interpretation and judicial philosophy. Pilon's writings have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Legal Times, National Law Journal, Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, Stanford Law & Policy Review, and elsewhere. He has appeared on ABC's "Nightline," CBS's "60 Minutes II," National Public Radio, Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, and other media. He lectures and debates at universities and law schools across the country and testifies often before Congress. Prior to joining Cato Pilon held five senior posts in the Reagan administration, including at State and Justice. He has taught philosophy and law and was a national fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution. At present he is an adjunct professor of government at Georgetown University through The Fund for American Studies. Pilon holds a B.A. from Columbia University, an M.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. from the George Washington University School of Law. In 1989 the Bicentennial Commission presented him with the Benjamin Franklin Award for excellence in writing on the U.S. Constitution. In 2001 Columbia University's School of General Studies awarded him its Alumni Medal of Distinction.

Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: rpilon@cato.org

Speaking Topics

Roger Pilon speaks on restoring Constitutional government at Cato's 25th Anniversary Policy Day. TV

Selected Media Appearances TV

Roger Pilon discusses the flag burning amendment on MSNBC, July 5, 2005 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses the future of the Supreme Court on CNBC, July 1, 2005 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon analyzes the fight over judicial nominations on FOX News, May 23, 2005 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses the Padilla case on Fox News, December 18, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses religion and state scholarships on CNNfn, December 3, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon on the Declaration of Independence on Fox News, July 4, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses the rulings on MSNBC, June 24, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses the affirmative action decisions on CNBC, June 23, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses the Supreme Court and punitive damages on Bloomberg, April 7, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses the Supreme Court and affirmative action on MSNBC, January 14, 2003 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon discusses increased federal surveillance powers on CNN, June 2, 2002 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon debates the Office of Homeland Security on MSNBC, January 23, 2002 [Real Media].

Roger Pilon is interviewed for a package on tax revolts on CBS' 60 Minutes, April 3, 2001 [Real Media].

Selected Works by Roger Pilon

Books

"Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales: Executive Indifference, Judicial Complicity" Cato Supreme Court Review: 2004-2005, pp. 101 - 124.

Cato Supreme Court Review: 2004-2005, foreword author and contributor (2005)

Cato Supreme Court Review: 2003-2004, foreword author (2004)

Cato Supreme Court Review: 2002-2003, foreword author and contributor (2003)

"Principle and Policy in Public University Admissions Grutter v. Bollinger, Gratz v. Bollinger," Cato Supreme Court Review: 2002-2003, pp. 43 - 61.

Cato Supreme Court Review: 2001-2002, foreword author and contributor (2002)

"Tenants, Students, and Drugs: A Comment on the War on the Rule of Law," Cato Supreme Court Review: 2001-2002, pp. 227 - 251.

The Rule of Law in the Wake of Clinton, editor and contributor (2000)

"The Illegitimate War on Drugs," After Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Polices in the 21st Century (2000) pp. 23-39.

The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, Preface, author (1998)

The Politics and Law of Term Limits, Edward H. Crane and Roger Pilon, editors (1994)

Studies

"Drug Reimportation: The Free Market Solution," Cato Policy Analysis no. 521, August 4, 2004.

"How Constitutional Corruption Has Led to Ideological Litmus Tests for Judicial Nominees," Cato Policy Analysis no. 446, August 8, 2002.

"Mr. Smith, Welcome to Washington," Cato Briefing Paper no. 49, July 30, 1999.

"Reviving the Privileges or Immunities Clause to Redress the Balance among States, Individuals, and the Federal Government," Kimberly C. Shankman and Roger Pilon, Cato Policy Analysis no. 326, November 23, 1998. A version of this study also appeared in the Texas Review of Law & Politics .

Opinion and Commentary

"McCarthy Liberals," the New York Post, July 29, 2005.

"She's the Right Radical," the Legal Times, May 23, 2005.

"Nowhere Else to Go," Spectator.org, May 18, 2005.

"The Constitutional Option," the New York Sun, April 28, 2005.

"The Reimportation Blues," the Wall Street Journal, October 11, 2004.

"China's Viagra Test," Apple Daily (Hong Kong), August 11, 2004.

"Celebrating Independence Day's Principles," A Cato Daily Commentary, July 4, 2004.

"This Is Your Senate On Drugs," A Cato Daily Commentary, May 4, 2004.

"Judge Wars," the New York Post, November 12, 2003.

"Conservative Drug Split," by Edward H. Crane and Roger Pilon, Nationalreview.com, July 29, 2003.

"The Court Stumbles Again," by Roger Pilon, the New York Sun, June 24, 2003.

"Crucial Line Between Public, Private Discrimination Missing from Law," the Ann Arbor News, May 30, 2003.

"Government Shouldn't Police Morals - or Sexual Practices," the Orange County Register, April 6, 2003.

"Toward the Restoration of Law," the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal, January 17, 2004.

"Property Rights and Regulatory Takings," Chapter 15, the Cato Handbook for Congress, 108th Congress.

"Campaign Finance, Corruption, and the Oath of Office," Chapter 10, the Cato Handbook for Congress, 108th Congress.

"Congress, the Courts, and the Constitution," Chapter 3, the Cato Handbook for Congress, 108th Congress.

"The Blessings of Liberty and Law," A Cato Daily Commentary, December 23, 2002.

"Needed: Active Judges -- Not To Be Confused With Judicial Activists," Nationalreview.com, November 14, 2002.

"Libertarianism Lives," by Edward H. Crane and Roger Pilon, the Wall Street Journal, May 28, 2002.

"Reclaiming the Constitution," Nationalreview.com, May 16, 2002.

"Attorney General Ashcroft, Dissent, and Civil Liberties," Remarks at the National Press Club, December 10, 2001.

"Two Kinds of Rights," Reason magazine, December 2001.

"First Thoughts on the New Money Laundering Act," Human Rights, December 2001.

"The Purpose and Limits of Government," Cato's Letter no. 13 (1999)

"Congress, the Courts, and the Constitution," in Cato Handbook for Congress (1999)

"Property Rights and Regulatory Takings," in Cato Handbook for Congress (1999)

"Discrimination, Affirmative Action, and Freedom: Sorting Out the Issues," American University Law Review (1996)

"A Court without a Compass," New York Law School Law Review (1996)

"Restoring Constitutional Government," Cato's Letter no. 9 (1995)


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