Scott G. Bullock is an American lawyer who focuses on

property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership) is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely and is typically ...

issues such as

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

and

civil forfeiture Asset forfeiture or asset seizure is a form of confiscation of assets by the government, authorities. In the United States, it is a type of Criminal justice financial obligations, criminal-justice financial obligation. It typically applies to the ...

. He has been President and General Counsel at the

Institute for Justice The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a libertarian non-profit public interest law firm in the United States. It has litigated ten cases before the United States Supreme Court dealing with eminent domain, interstate commerce, public financing for ...

since 2016, a nonprofit

libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

public interest law Public interest law refers to legal practices undertaken to help poor, marginalized, or under-represented people, or to effect change in social policies in the public interest, on 'not for profit' terms ( ''pro bono publico''), often in the fields ...

firm. He represented Susette Kelo in ''

Kelo v. City of New London ''Kelo v. City of New London'', 545 U.S. 469 (2005), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private owne ...

'', an eminent domain case decided by the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in 2005. Bullock was a senior attorney before becoming the president of the institute and directed many cases on state and federal level. In 1994 he represented the institute in a forum on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United Stat ...

Education

Bullock was born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and grew up in suburban

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

. He received his B.A. in economics and philosophy from

Grove City College Grove City College (GCC) is a private, conservative Christian liberal arts college in Grove City, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1876 as a normal school, the college emphasizes a humanities core curriculum and offers 60 majors and 6 pre-professional ...

and his

J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...

degree from the

University of Pittsburgh School of Law The University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law) was founded in 1895. It became a charter member of the Association of American Law Schools in 1900. Its primary home facility is the Barco Law Building. The school offers four degrees: Master ...

. Bullock joined the

at its founding in 1991.

Career

Bullock was lead co-counsel in the 2005 Supreme Court case ''

''. After the decision by the high court to allow the City of New London to seize the homes and businesses of current residences to make room for a "90-acre office, hotel, and housing complex", Bullock said that it was "a sad day for the country and a sad day for the Constitution." Bullock has also been successful in winning cases of lawsuits in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

as well as in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mis ...

. Bullock has advocated against government use of

. He has said that when the police pull drivers over for minor traffic infractions and seize their cash, they do not "respect fundamental notions of due process." He represented Russ Caswell when the police tried to seize Caswell's motel in

Tewksbury, Massachusetts Tewksbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. Its population was 31,342 as of the 2020 United States Census. History Tewksbury was first settled in 1637 and was officially incorporated on December 17, 1734, from Bil ...

after incidents of illegal drug activity on the premises. He called the practice of

equitable sharing Equitable sharing refers to a United States program in which the proceeds of liquidated seized assets from asset forfeiture are shared between state and federal law enforcement authorities. The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 set up the ...

, in which state and federal law enforcement share the proceeds of seized assets, a violation of

federalism Federalism is a combined or compound mode of government that combines a general government (the central or "federal" government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial, or other sub-unit governments) in a single po ...

. He has been involved in

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

and commercial speech cases. He is an advocate for

parental rights A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male ...

. Bullock has shared his views on constitutional issues in publications such as ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' and ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' as well as in broadcast media such as ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

'', ''ABC Nightly News'', and

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from othe ...

References

External links

Scott Bullock profile page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullock, Scott Year of birth missing (living people) University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Grove City College alumni Lawyers from Pittsburgh Living people American libertarians American civil rights lawyers Human rights lawyers Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Trial lawyers Public defenders