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Contact Us
Tim Lynch
Director, Project on Criminal Justice
Under the direction of Tim Lynch, Cato's Project on Criminal Justice has become a leading voice in support of the Bill of Rights and civil liberties. His research interests include the war on terrorism, overcriminalization, the drug war, the militarization of police tactics, and gun control. In 2000, he served on the National Committee to Prevent Wrongful Executions. Lynch has also filed several amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving constitutional rights. He is the editor of In the Name of Justice: Leading Experts Reexamine the Classic Article "The Aims of the Criminal Law" and After Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century. Since joining Cato in 1991, Lynch has published articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, ABA Journal, and the National Law Journal. He has appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, and C-SPAN's Washington Journal. Lynch is a member of the Wisconsin, District of Columbia, and Supreme Court bars. He earned both a B.S. and a J.D. from Marquette University.
Media Contact: 202-789-5200
To Book a Speaking Engagement: 202-789-5226
E-Mail: tlynch@cato.org
Books and Book Chapters
In the Name of Justice: Leading Experts Reexamine the Classic Article "The Aims of the Criminal Law", editor (2009).
"Civil Liberties and Terrorism," Chapter 27 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"The War on Drugs," Chapter 33 of the Cato Handbook for Policymakers, 7th edition.
"One Cheer for United States v. Booker," Chapter 10 of the Cato Supreme Court Review, 2004-2005 Timothy Lynch, co-editor and contributor (2005)
"A Smooth Transition: Crime, Federalism, and the GOP," Chapter 15 of The Republican Revolution 10 Years Later.
Cato Studies
"Doublespeak and the War on Terrorism," Briefing Paper no. 98, September 6, 2006.
"Power Surge: The Constitutional Record of George W. Bush," by Gene Healy and Tim Lynch, White Paper, May 1, 2006.
"A Grand Façade: How the Grand Jury Was Captured by Government," by W. Thomas Dillard, Stephen R. Johnson and Tim Lynch, Policy Analysis no. 476, May 13, 2003.
"Breaking the Vicious Cycle: Preserving Our Liberties While Fighting Terrorism," Policy Analysis no. 443, June 26, 2002.
"No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident," Policy Analysis no. 395, April 9, 2001.
Articles and Newsletters
"Amending Article V to Make the Constitutional Amendment Process Itself Less Onerous," Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 78, No. 3, Spring 2011 .
"The Case Against Plea Bargaining," Regulation, Vol. 26, No. 3, 2003.
"Review Essay: The Enterprise of Law," Cato Journal, Vol. 12, No. 1, 1992.
Opinion and Commentary
"The Devil's Bargain: How Plea Agreements, Never Contemplated by the Framers, Undermine Justice," Reason, June 24, 2011
"Pot Shots at Prop 19 Fall Flat," Huffington Post, October 20, 2010
"Criminalizing Friendship: Immigration Foes Overreach," Huffington Post, May 27, 2010
"Drug Czar Should Go," Washington Times, February 6, 2010
"Get Serious about Decriminalizing Drugs; Others Are," by Tim Lynch and Juan Carlos Hidalgo, San Jose Mercury News, September 29, 2009
Cato @ Liberty Blog Posts
"New Cato Study: Tough Targets," February 2, 2012
"FDR and Executive Order 9066," January 6, 2012
"Richard Branson: Time to End the War on Drugs," December 20, 2011
"The Iraq War: 20 Years, Not 9," December 20, 2011
"Unconstitutional Patrols and Second Class Citizens," December 15, 2011
Legal Briefs
Florida v. Adkins, November 28, 2011 (PDF, 6 MB)
Florida Dept. of Corrections v. Shelton, November 2, 2011 (PDF, 342 KB)
United States v. Jones, October 3, 2011 (PDF, 191 KB)
Maples v. Thomas, May 25, 2011 (PDF, 172 KB)
Skilling v. United States, December 17, 2009 (PDF, 211 KB)
Events
"Ending the Global War on Drugs," November 15, 2011 [Conference]
"Is Liberty Losing Ground in America?," October 27, 2011 [Book Forum]
"Resolved: America Should Legalize Drugs," June 15, 2011 [Policy Forum]
"Recording the Police: Is Citizen Journalism against the Law? ," September 22, 2010 [Policy Forum]
"The Politics and Law of Immigration," July 21, 2010 [Policy Forum]
Speeches and Testimony
"Criminal Code Modernization and Simplification Act of 2011," Congressional Testimony, December 13, 2011.
"Over-Criminalization of Conduct/Over-Federalization of Criminal Law," Congressional Testimony, July 22, 2009.
"The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007," Congressional Testimony, April 17, 2007.
"Executive Branch Arrests and Trials (Military Tribunals)," Congressional Testimony, December 4, 2001.
"The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1999," Testimony Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, May 11, 1999.
Multimedia
Panel 2: The Impact on Rights and the Rule of Law in the United States with Tucker Carlson (November 15, 2011) [Events, 01:11:15]
Is Liberty Losing Ground in America? with Susan N. Herman, Paul Rosenzweig and David K. Shipler (October 27, 2011) [Events, 01:09:30]
Antonin Scalia, Federal Drug Laws, and the Judiciary (October 14, 2011) [Daily Podcast, 06:58]
Obama and Civil Liberties (October 3, 2011) [Daily Podcast, 10:14]
Panel II: Searches, Seizures, and Chemical Weapons: The Outer Bounds of Criminal Law with Orin S. Kerr, David Rittgers and John C. Eastman (September 15, 2011) [Events, 47:37]
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