COURSE PLANNER
Stephen P. Halbrook, Ph.D., Attorney at Law / Fairfax
“Stephen Halbrook is an attorney with extensive knowledge of the historical underpinnings of the Second Amendment and practical knowledge of litigating in this rapidly evolving area of law. His writings include topics as diverse as Gun Control in the Third Reich and The Founders’ Second Amendment, and he was heavily involved in Heller and McDonald.” — U.S. District Judge Michael J. Reagan, in Shepard v. Madigan, 2014 WL 4825592, *7 (S.D. Ill. 2014) (awarding attorney’s fees). See further http://stephenhalbrook.com/.
Mr. Halbrook has been engaged in civil litigation and criminal defense since 1978. He is a member of the Virginia State Bar, District of Columbia Bar, U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Courts of Appeals—all circuits, other federal courts. He has testified in U.S. Senate and House Committees on numerous firearm bills and on the nominations of executive branch and Supreme Court nominees. Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. (1978); Florida State University, Ph.D. Philosophy (1972). Assistant Professor of Philosophy 1972-81, George Mason University, Howard University, Tuskegee University. Senior Fellow, The Independent Institute.
Mr. Halbrook argued and won Castillo v. U.S., 530 U.S. 120 (2000); Printz v. U.S., 521 U.S. 898 (1997); U.S. v. Thompson/Center Arms Co., 504 U.S. 505 (1992). Co-counsel in Small v. U.S., 544 U.S. 385 (2005), and for NRA in McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010). Counsel for amici curiae 55 Senators, the Senate President, and 250 Representatives in D.C. v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008).
Books authored:
• The Right to Bear Arms: A Constitutional Right of the People or Privilege of the Ruling Class? (Post Hill Press 2021).
• Firearms Law Deskbook: Federal and State Criminal Practice (Thomson/West 2020).
• Gun Control in Nazi-Occupied France: Tyranny and Resistance (2018).
• Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and “Enemies of the State” (2013).
• The Founders’ Second Amendment (2008, new ed. 2019). Cited in McDonald v. Chicago.
• Freedmen, the Fourteenth Amendment, and the Right to Bear Arms (1998). New edition: Securing Civil Rights (2010). Cited in McDonald v. Chicago and DC v. Heller.
• That Every Man Be Armed: The Evolution of a Constitutional Right (1984, new edition 2013). Cited in Printz v. U.S.
FACULTY
Justice Stephen R. McCullough, Supreme Court of Virginia / Richmond
Justice Stephen R. McCullough has served as a Justice on the Supreme Court of Virginia since 2016. He began his legal career as a law clerk for Justice (later Chief Justice) Leroy R. Hassell, Sr. After clerking, McCullough joined the Virginia Office of the Attorney General as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Litigation Section, where he handled criminal appeals and defended convictions from collateral attack.
In 2007, he was promoted to Deputy Solicitor General and later to Solicitor General. The Solicitor General Section in the Attorney General’s Office represents Virginia in non-capital cases before the United States Supreme Court, defends state statutes and regulations against constitutional challenge, and handles high-profile cases as assigned by the Attorney General. He was awarded a United States Supreme Court Fellowship with the National Association of Attorneys General and received two "Best Brief" awards from the National Association of Attorneys General for briefs he authored in the United States Supreme Court. McCullough next served as Senior Appellate Counsel and Opinions Counsel in the Office of the Attorney General.
In 2011, the General Assembly of Virginia elected McCullough to a judgeship on the Court of Appeals of Virginia.
Justice McCullough has served on a number of committees and commissions, including the Access to Justice Commission, the Boyd Graves Conference, and the Virginia Bar Association Board of Governors. He currently chairs the Virginia Model Jury Instructions Committee. He has written and lectured extensively on appellate procedure and criminal law.
Justice McCullough is a graduate with high distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, of the University of Virginia. He obtained his J.D. with honors from the University of Richmond Law School, where he was selected for the law review and the moot court board.