Jonathan Turley

Jonathan Turley is an American attorney, legal scholar, writer, commentator, and legal analyst in broadcast and print journalism. A professor at George Washington University Law School, he has testified in United States congressional proceedings about constitutional and statutory issues. He has also testified in multiple impeachment hearings and removal trials in Congress, including the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and both the first and second impeachments of President Donald Trump. Turley is a First Amendment advocate and writes frequently on free speech restrictions in the private and public sectors. He is the author of the book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.

As an attorney, Turley has worked on notable cases in civil rights defense including the defense of Sami Al-Arian, NSA whistleblower David Faulk, protesters at the World Bank/IMF demonstrations in 2000, and the Brown family in their challenge to Utah polygamy laws. Turley has also served as counsel on prominent federal cases including the defense of Area 51 workers, and as lead counsel in the 2014 challenge to the Affordable Care Act.

Early life and education

Turley grew up in a politically active Chicago family as the youngest of five children. His father, John (Jack) Turley was an international architect, partner at Skidmore, Owens, and Merrill, and the former associate of famed modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Turley has written about his father's influence on his constitutional theories. His mother, Angela Piazza Turley, was a social worker and activist who was the former president of Jane Addams Hull-House in Chicago. He is of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is the author of the book The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.