Michael P. Farris (born August 27, 1951) is an American lawyer. He is a founder of the

Home School Legal Defense Association The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) is a United States-based organization that seeks to aid homeschooling families through legal representation. HSLDA describes itself as a " Christian organization." HSLDA is organized as a 501 ...

(HSLDA) and

Patrick Henry College Patrick Henry College (PHC) is a private liberal arts non-denominational conservative Christian college located in Purcellville, Virginia. Its departments teach classical liberal arts, government, strategic intelligence in national security, econ ...

, which share a campus in Purcellville (

Loudoun County Loudoun County () is in the northern part of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. In 2020, the census returned a population of 420,959, making it Virginia's third-most populous county. Loudoun County's seat is Leesburg. Loudoun C ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. From 2017 through 2022, he was CEO of and general counsel for

Alliance Defending Freedom Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF, formerly Alliance Defense Fund) is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that works to curtail rights for LGBTQ people; expand Christian practices within public schools and in government; and ...

Early life and education

Farris graduated,

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

, with Bachelor of Arts degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

from

Western Washington University Western Washington University (WWU or Western) is a public university in Bellingham, Washington. The northernmost university in the contiguous United States, WWU was founded in 1893 as the state-funded New Whatcom Normal School, succeeding a pri ...

(formerly Western Washington State College). He then earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

Gonzaga University School of Law The Gonzaga University School of Law (also known as Gonzaga Law or GU Law) is the professional school for the study of law at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Established in 1912, the Jesuit-affiliated law school has been fully accredi ...

. Farris received an LL.M. in public international law from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 2011.

Career

In 1983, Farris founded the Home School Legal Defense Association, serving as chairman and

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

. Farris founded

, a Christian college, in 2000. He held the positions of

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and professor of government from 2000 to 2006. Farris resigned his position as president of HSLDA to take on these new roles. In March 2006, Farris stepped down from the position of president to become

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the college. In January 2017, Farris retired from the position of chancellor but retained the title of "chancellor emeritus."

Legal and political career

As a lawyer, Farris' cases include over 40 reported decisions as lead counsel. These decisions were given by the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, five U.S. circuit courts of Appeal, seven state Supreme Courts, and five state Courts of Appeal. Farris has argued for the petitioners in 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 ...

cases ''

Witters v. Washington Department of Services For the Blind ''Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind'', 474 U.S. 481 (1986), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court ruled that the Establishment Clause did not prevent the state of Washington from pro ...

'' in 1985–1986 and ''

National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra ''National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra'', 585 U.S. ___ (2018), was a case before the Supreme Court of the United States addressing the constitutionality of California's FACT Act, which mandated that crisis pregnancy centers ...

'' in 2018. In 1993, Farris ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor of Virginia and was defeated by

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

Don Beyer Donald Sternoff Beyer Jr. (; born June 20, 1950) is an American businessman, diplomat, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, his district is in the heart of Northern Virginia and in ...

, 54–46 percent. However, fellow

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

and

James Gilmore James Stuart Gilmore III (born October 6, 1949) is an American politician, diplomat, statesman, and former attorney who was the 68th Governor of Virginia from 1998 to 2002 and Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 2001. A native V ...

were elected on the same ballot as

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, respectively. Farris' close connection to conservative leaders like

Jerry Falwell Jerry Laymon Falwell Sr. (August 11, 1933 – May 15, 2007) was an American Baptist pastor, televangelism, televangelist, and conservatism in the United States, conservative activist. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, ...

of the former

Moral Majority Moral Majority was an American political organization associated with the Christian right and Republican Party. It was founded in 1979 by Baptist minister Jerry Falwell Sr. and associates, and dissolved in the late 1980s. It played a key role in ...

Pat Robertson Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson (born March 22, 1930) is an American media mogul, religious broadcaster, political commentator, former presidential candidate, and former Southern Baptist minister. Robertson advocates a conservative Christian ...

of the Christian Coalition and

Phyllis Schlafly Phyllis Stewart Schlafly (; born Phyllis McAlpin Stewart; August 15, 1924 – September 5, 2016) was an American attorney, conservative activist, author, and anti-feminist spokesperson for the national conservative movement. She held paleocons ...

of the

Eagle Forum Eagle Forum is a conservative interest group in the United States founded by Phyllis Schlafly in 1972 and is the parent organization that also includes the Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund and the Eagle Forum PAC. The Eagle Forum has ...

stirred deep-seated feelings about religion and politics. These concerns, inflamed by negative ads by Beyer to portray him even more radically, likely caused alienation of enough moderate voters to cause his defeat. In 2009 and 2010, Farris represented the plaintiffs in ''Clemons, John T., Et Al. v. Dept. of Commerce, Et Al.'', which was dismissed on appeal to the Supreme Court. Apportionment.us brought the case in attempt to apply the "One Man, One Vote" principle of ''

Baker v. Carr ''Baker v. Carr'', 369 U.S. 186 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question under the Fourteenth Amendment, thus enabling federal courts to hear Fourteen ...

'' to the relative size of congressional districts across state lines. That would have had the effect of expanding the size of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

beyond its current 435 members. Along with Mark Meckler, Farris was co-founder of the Convention of States Project, founded in 2013 to encourage a convention to propose amendments to the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of Legal entity, entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When ...

. He served as senior fellow for constitutional studies for the project's parent organization,

Citizens for Self-Governance Citizens for Self-Governance (CSG) is a conservative American nonprofit political organization. In 2015, it launched a nationwide initiative calling for a convention to propose amendments to the United States Constitution to reduce federal spendi ...

, and as a member of CSG's legal board of reference.

announced that Farris would become its CEO and general counsel in January 2017. After Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election and refused to concede while making claims of fraud, Farris worked behind the scenes on legal documents filed by Texas attorney general

Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a t ...

to overturn the election results. On October 1, 2022, Kristen Waggoner succeeded Farris as CEO and President of ADF, retaining her role as General Counsel.

Personal life

He married in 1971 and has 10 children and 22 grandchildren. (see:

Quiverfull Quiverfull is a Christian theological position that sees large families as a blessing from God. It encourages procreation, abstaining from all forms of birth control, as well as natural family planning, and sterilization. Some sources have referr ...

)

References

External links

Michael P. Farris, Esq.
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Farris, Michael P. 1951 births Alumni of the University of London Alliance Defending Freedom people American legal scholars Baptist ministers from the United States Gonzaga University School of Law alumni Governmental studies academics Homeschooling advocates Living people Patrick Henry College faculty People from Purcellville, Virginia Presidents of Patrick Henry College Virginia lawyers Virginia Republicans Western Washington University alumni Baptists from Virginia American political activists Conservatism in the United States