Jump to content

Joseph Tartakovsky

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Joseph Tartakovsky
Tartakovsky in 2018
Deputy Solicitor General of Nevada
In office
2015–2018
Attorney GeneralAdam Paul Laxalt
Preceded byPosition created
Succeeded byJordan T. Smith
Personal details
Born (1981-12-10) December 10, 1981 (age 43)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Barbara (BA)
Fordham Law School (JD)

Joseph Tartakovsky (/frʌm/; born December 10, 1981) is an American lawyer, writer, and historian, and the former Deputy Solicitor General of Nevada. Tartakovsky is presently an Assistant United States Attorney in the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California in San Francisco where he prosecutes criminal cases.

He is the author two books: The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds that Shaped America’s Supreme Law (2018)[1] and No Way Home: The Crisis of Homelessness and How to Fix It with Intelligence and Humanity (2021). His book, The Lives of the Constitution, became a #1 bestseller on Amazon.com in the three areas: constitutional law, legal history, and legal biography.

His writings have appeared in publications that include the New York Times,[2][3] Wall Street Journal,[4][5][6] the Los Angeles Times,[7][8] National Review,[9] The New Criterion,[10] Commentary Magazine, and Forbes.[11] He has been a guest on C-SPAN's Washington Journal.[12] C-SPAN's Book TV featured a book release event for The Lives of the Constitution in Washington, D.C.[13]

Career history

[edit]

Joseph Tartakovsky served as a law clerk to Judge Paul K. Kelly, Jr., of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was an associate at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLC, an international law firm, in San Francisco, where he practiced in criminal defense and civil litigation.

Magazine editor

[edit]

At the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy, he was an editor at the Claremont Review of Books and later the James Wilson Fellow in Constitutional Law.[14]

Nevada Deputy Solicitor General

[edit]

In 2015, he was appointed Nevada's first Deputy Solicitor General[15] by Adam Laxalt. He served until 2018. In that position he helped oversee Nevada's legal strategy for major litigation in state and federal courts, and advised the Nevada Attorney General and Nevada Governor on matters of statewide importance.

He also helped handle Nevada's docket in the United States Supreme Court and other appeals courts. He has argued and litigated cases on a variety of issues that include education,[16] public lands, free speech,[17] ERISA,[18] gun background checks, and elections. He argued numerous appeals in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Nevada Supreme Court.

He has been counsel of record in the United States Supreme Court, including with a brief he filed on behalf of 30 states in a criminal case.[19]

In 2016 he co-authored an amicus brief joined by 18 states in support of the petitioner in the U.S. Supreme Court case Trinity Lutheran v. Comer.[20] The Supreme Court agreed with the petitioner, holding that Missouri violated the rights of Trinity Lutheran Church under the Free Exercise Clause by denying the church an otherwise available public benefit on account of its religious status.

Private practice and author

[edit]
Tartakovsky speaking at a 2020 Pacific Research Institute conference

In 2018, his book, The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds that Shaped America's Supreme Law, was published.

Tartakovsky later returned to the appellate and constitutional practice at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in San Francisco, where he practiced constitutional law. While there, he was part of the team challenging, before the U.S. Supreme Court, the decision in Martin v. Boise, in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that held that anti-camping laws, under certain circumstances, violate the Cruel and Unusual Punishments Clause.[21] The decision remains the subject of debate in cities across the West.[22][23][24]

In 2019 he was named the Pacific Research Institute's Adjunct Fellow in Legal Studies.[25]

In March 2021, he contributed to the book, No Way Home: The Crisis of Homelessness and How to Fix It with Intelligence and Humanity, as one of four co-authors.[26]

Federal prosecutor

[edit]

As a federal prosecutor, he has handled cases involving organized crime, drug trafficking,[27][28] firearms,[29] cyberstalking,[30] theft of endangered species, embezzlement,[31] and child sexual exploitation,[32] among other offenses.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Lives of the Constitution". Encounter Books. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  2. ^ Tartakovsky, Joseph (February 6, 2012). "Dickens vs. Lawyers". New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  3. ^ Tartakovsky, Joseph (March 28, 2009). "Pun for the Ages". New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  4. ^ Tartakovsky, Joseph (July 2, 2008). "In Praise of Political Insults". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Tartakovsky, Joseph (October 7, 2008). "Oval Objects of Desire". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Tartakovsky, Joseph (July 2, 2018). "The Culture that Sustains America's Constitution". Wall Street Journal. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  7. ^ "A muse in the bottle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  8. ^ "Vodka, elixir of the masses". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  9. ^ "Rise to Global Power". National Review. June 3, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
  10. ^ "Articles by Joseph Tartakovsky". The New Criterion. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  11. ^ "Math Wrath". Forbes. Forbe. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  12. ^ "Joseph Tartakovsky on Key Figures Who Shaped the Constitution". C-Span. C-Span. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  13. ^ "Joseph Tartakovsky on The Lives of the Constitution". C-Span. C-SPAN's Book TV. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  14. ^ "Joseph Tartakovsky". Claremont Institute. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  15. ^ "Attorney General top staff now Nevada lawyers". Nevada Appeal. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  16. ^ "Nevada's New Educational Savings Account" (PDF). Educate Nevada Now. Office of Attorney General, State of Nevada. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  17. ^ "Moonin v. Tice" (PDF). USCourts.gov. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  18. ^ "Glazing Health v. Chambers" (PDF). USCourts.gov. United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  19. ^ "Davila v. Davis, Brief of the State of Nevada and 29 States as Amici Curiae in Support of Respondent" (PDF). Scotusblog. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  20. ^ "Trinity Lutheran v. Comer, Brief of the State of Nevada and 18 States as Amici Curiae in Support of Petitioner" (PDF). Scotusblog. Retrieved January 27, 2025.
  21. ^ "City of Boise, Idaho v. Martin". Scotusblog. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  22. ^ "Supreme Court decision on homeless case is a blow to cities wanting more policing powers". Los Angeles Times. December 16, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  23. ^ "How a federal court ruling on Boise's homeless camping ban has rippled across the west". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  24. ^ "Homeless people could lose the right to sleep on sidewalks if Western cities have their way". Los Angeles Times. September 25, 2019. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  25. ^ "Joseph Tartakovsky". Pacific Research Institute. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
  26. ^ Jackson, Kerry; Rufo, Christopher F.; Tartakovsky, Joseph; Winegarden, Wayne (2021). No way home: the crisis of homelessness and how to fix it with intelligence and humanity (First American ed.). New York London: Encounter Books. ISBN 9781641771641.
  27. ^ "Northern District of California | San Francisco Drug Dealer Sentenced To More Than 13 Years In Prison | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. September 30, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  28. ^ "Northern District of California | Tenderloin Drug Dealer Sentenced To 46 Months For Fentanyl Sales | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. June 8, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  29. ^ "Northern District of California | San Francisco Resident Sentenced To Six Years In Prison For Possession Of Guns, Ammunition, And Drugs | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. September 20, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  30. ^ "Northern District of California | Former San Francisco Resident Sentenced To More Than Three Years In Prison For Multi-Year Campaign Of Cyberstalking | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. January 10, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  31. ^ "Northern District of California | Accountant Charged With Defrauding Two Marin Car Dealerships Of $1.7 Million | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. February 22, 2022. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  32. ^ "Northern District of California | San Francisco Daycare Center Employee Charged With Possession Of Child Pornography | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. April 14, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
Retrieved from "http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Tartakovsky&oldid=1274966265"