David B. Kopel

David B. Kopel, JD is Research Director of the Independence Institute in Golden, Colorado, Associate Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute, in Washington, D.C. and an adjunct professor of Advanced Constitutional Law at Denver University, Sturm College of Law. He has written hundreds of opinion articles for outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Denver Post. He is the author of 12 books, including "No More Wacos: What’s Wrong with Federal Law Enforcement, and How to Fix It," "Antitrust After Microsoft," "The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy: Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies?" as well as 72 scholarly articles published in journals such as the Michigan Law Review, University of Pennsylvania Law Review, SAIS Review, and the Brown Journal on World Affairs.  

Kopel’s work focuses on constitutional law, international law, criminal justice, technology, antitrust, media issues, and environmental policy. His research has been cited by eight state supreme courts, three federal circuit court of appeals, and over five hundred law review articles. In 2008, he appeared before the United States Supreme Court as part of the team presenting the oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller. His Heller amicus brief for a law coalition of law enforcement organizations and district attorneys was cited four times in the Court’s Heller opinions. His brief in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) was cited by Justice Alito’s plurality opinion, and twice by Justice Stevens’ dissent. He has testified numerous times before Congress and state legislatures, including before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the Supreme Court nominations of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. Kopel earned his JD, magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan, and his BA, with Highest Honors in History, from Brown University.

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