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[Policy Scholars](/experts) 

# Thomas A. Berry 

Director, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies

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Thomas Berry is the director of the Cato Institute’s Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies and editor in chief of the [*Cato Supreme Court Review*](https://www.cato.org/search/category/reviews-journals+supreme-court-review/type/serial-issue). Before joining Cato, he litigated at Pacific Legal Foundation and clerked for Judge E. Grady Jolly of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

His research focuses on the separation of powers, executive appointments, and the First Amendment. Berry’s academic work has appeared in journals such as the [*Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy*](https://www.law.georgetown.edu/public-policy-journal/wp-content/uploads/sites/23/2023/12/Berry-The-Constitutionality-of-Acting-Principal-Officers-Can-Eaton-and-Edmond-Be-Reconciled-.pdf), [*NYU Journal of Law and Liberty*](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f6103f36b5eee6bf0ab2c1d/t/616edc52ddc3f678f31c8f7e/1634655315937/Thomas%2BBerry%2BFormatted.pdf), and the [*Washington and Lee Law Review Online*](https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/articles/berry-washington-lee-law-review.pdf), and his op-eds have appeared in such outlets as the[ *Wall Street Journal*](https://www.cato.org/commentary/government-cant-censor-truth-about-judges), [*USA Today*](https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/policing/2023/01/12/police-arrest-men-joking-humor-parody-free-speech/11032335002/), [CNN​.com](https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/21/opinions/vacancies-act-trump-berry/index.html), the [*National Law Journal*](https://www.cato.org/commentary/impeachment-was-watershed-moment-legal-blogging), [*National Review*](https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/01/gop-senators-electoral-college-stunt-is-a-dead-end/), [*Reason*](https://reason.com/2021/11/22/the-first-amendment-protects-everyone-even-facebook-and-twitter/), and [*The Hill*](https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/judicial/594990-the-supreme-court-should-protect-citizen-journalists/).

He has testified before Congress on the Appointments Clause and his analysis of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act has been cited by federal courts. Berry earned his BA from St. John’s College and his JD from Stanford Law School, where he was a senior editor of the *Stanford Law & Policy Review* and a Bradley Student Fellow in the Stanford Constitutional Law Center.

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