Harry Litman

Harry P. Litman (born c. 1958)[1] is an American lawyer, law professor and political commentator. He is a former U.S. Attorney and Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Litman is the legal affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times Opinion page; a professor of Constitutional Law at UCLA and UCSD; a legal commentator in network news reports on the CBS Evening News, CBS This Morning and on NPR; a commentator on MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News; a lawyer in private practice; and the creator, host, and executive producer of the Talking Feds podcast.

Harry Litman
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
In office
1998–2001
PresidentBill Clinton
Deputy Assistant Attorney General
In office
1993–1998
PresidentBill Clinton
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California

Early life and education

Litman grew up in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and was named a Presidential Scholar upon graduation from high school in 1976.[1][2] He received his BA degree from Harvard College in 1980 and worked as a sports reporter for the Associated Press.[1] He received his JD degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1986, where he was editor-in-chief of the California Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif.[1][2][3]

Early career

Litman served as a law clerk to Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall[2] and Anthony Kennedy[2] during the 1988–1989 term.[4][5]

Following his clerkships, Litman became an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of California. While an Assistant U.S. Attorney, he was detailed to the Department of Justice's main office in Washington, D.C., to work on several national cases, including the federal re-prosecution of the Los Angeles police officers[6] in the Rodney King case.

From 1993 to 1998 he was a Deputy Assistant Attorney General[7] under Janet Reno[2] in the Department of Justice, coordinating the department's work on a number of issues and advising the Attorney General and other officials on questions of constitutional law and prosecutorial policy. Simultaneously, he was a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. In that capacity, he was co-counsel for Operation Underhand, prosecuting a narcotics ring that smuggled drugs into prison under the guise of providing religious counseling.[2]

In 1998, he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania[2][3] by President Bill Clinton. As U.S. Attorney, Litman in 1999 announced that the U.S. Attorney would not charge the five officers involved in the death of Jonny Gammage.[6] Litman's office also said they lacked evidence to prosecute officers alleged to have used inappropriate force against Jordan Miles.[6]

Litman developed a nationally recognized gun-violence reduction initiative known as Operation Target, and personally litigated cases in the district court and the court of appeals. In July 2000, President Clinton nominated Litman for a judgeship on the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, but the Senate adjourned without considering the nomination.[8] While in government, Litman also taught at Berkeley Law School, Georgetown Law School and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

After leaving government, Litman was appointed a Distinguished Visitor and Fellow at Princeton University's School of Law and Public Affairs. He taught at Princeton and Rutgers University while working in private practice, with specialties in constitutional law and the federal False Claims Act.

Litman served as Pennsylvania state counsel to the Kerry-Edwards campaign in 2004 and post-election counsel for Western Pennsylvania to the Obama-Biden presidential campaign in 2008.

As of 2020 Litman was associated with the law firm Constantine Cannon in San Francisco, where he focuses on False Claims Act cases.[9] He is listed in "Best Lawyers of America" in the categories "Commercial Litigation", "White Collar Criminal Defense", and "Qui Tam Law".

Other activities

Litman is the legal affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times.[10] He previously wrote for The Washington Post.[10] He has contributed opinion commentary to the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, and Lawfare.

He has appeared as a legal expert in network news reports on the CBS Evening News and CBS This Morning.[11] Currently Litman is a regular commentator on legal issues on National Public Radio (NPR)[12] and for cable television networks including MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. Litman provides legal and political analysis on BBC News and France 24.

Teaching

Litman teaches Constitutional Law and National Security Law at UCLA School of Law[3] and University of California, San Diego School of Political Science.[13] He previously taught at Berkeley Law School, Georgetown Law School, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, and Rutgers University–Camden Law School.

Talking Feds podcast

In March 2019, Litman launched the podcast Talking Feds, a round-table of former federal officials discussing the legal issues of the day. Litman serves as host and executive producer. In March 2020 Marie Claire named it the second-best political podcast in the US to prepare listeners for the upcoming presidential lection.[14]

Personal life

Litman lives in La Jolla with his wife, Julie Roskies Litman, and their three children.[10] Litman's parents, David and Roslyn Litman, were also both lawyers as well as civil liberties advocates.[15] Litman's sister, Jessica Litman, is a lawyer and copyright scholar at the University of Michigan.

See also
  • List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States

References
  1. "Harry Litman, Esq". duq.edu. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  2. Ove, Torsten (April 17, 2001). "U.S. Attorney Litman to depart April 27". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on November 22, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  3. "Harry Litman". UCLA. Archived from the original on December 24, 2017. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  4. Meuller, Kimberly J. (May 2019). "Justice Kennedy, Teacher" (pdf). UC Davis Law Review Online. UC Davis School of Law. 52: 341. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  5. Garrow, David J. (March 1999). "Lowest Form of Animal Life?: Supreme Court Clerks and Supreme Court History" (pdf). Cornell Law Review. Cornell University Law Library. 84 (3): 881–2. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2020. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  6. Bowling, Andrew Conte and Brian. "Video doesn't guarantee civil rights charges against police officers". TribLIVE.com. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  7. "Independent Counsel Structure & Function, February 19, 1998 | Video | C-SPAN.org". C-SPAN.org. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  8. Smolkin, Rachel; Ove, Torsten (September 8, 2001). "Federal bench in Western Pa. may lose another judge". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  9. "Harry Litman". Constantine Cannon. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  10. Stone, Ken (April 25, 2020). "Harry Litman at Home: CNN Talking Head Adds 'Talking Feds' Podcast to Portfolio". Archived from the original on May 26, 2020.
  11. May 2, CBS News; 2018; Am, 7:09. "Robert Mueller reportedly considering subpoenaing Trump in Russia investigation". cbsnews.com. Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved September 3, 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. Martin, Michel (June 20, 2020). "Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Addresses Clash Over Geoffrey Berman". NPR. Archived from the original on June 26, 2020.
  13. "Professor Harry Litman" (PDF). UC San Diego. 2018.
  14. Jones, Alexis; Rodriguez, Bianca (March 5, 2020). "The Best Politics Podcasts to Help You Cut Through the Noise". Marie Claire. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  15. Roberts, Sam (October 8, 2016). "Roslyn Litman, Antitrust Lawyer and Civil Liberties Advocate, Dies at 88". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 8, 2018. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
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