Jeff Mateer is the Chief Legal Officer of First Liberty Institute, where he serves as a member of the executive leadership team and oversees and directs First Liberty’s legal operations, including its litigation, media/communications, and external affairs teams. He rejoined First Liberty Institute in October 2020 after serving as First Assistant Attorney General of Texas from March 2016 through October 2020.

Jeff has served in the legal field for over 30 years, and in addition to having received an A-V rating by Martindale-Hubbell, Jeff has been honored as a Texas Rising Star and Texas Super Lawyer. He received his undergraduate education at Dickinson College, where he graduated with honors in 1987, and his legal education at Southern Methodist University, where he graduated with honors in 1990. While in law school, he served as an editor of the law review. He is licensed to practice law by the state of Texas and is admitted to practice before all Texas State and Federal District Courts, the 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th and 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Merrill Matthews, Ph.D., is a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation, a research-based, public policy “think tank.” He is a health policy expert and weekly contributor at Forbes.com. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Dr. Matthews is a past president of the Health Economics Roundtable for the National Association for Business Economics, the largest trade association of business economists. Dr. Matthews also served for 10 years as the medical ethicist for the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Institutional Review Board for Human Experimentation, and has contributed chapters to several books, including Physician Assisted Suicide: Expanding the Debate and The 21st Century Health Care Leader and, in 2009, Stop Paying the Crooks (on Medicare fraud).

He has been published in numerous journals and newspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, Investor’s Business Daily, Barron’s, USA Today, Forbes magazine and the Washington Times. He was an award-winning political analyst for the USA Radio Network.

Dr. Matthews received his Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Texas.

Parents have a right to opt their children out from teaching that violates their sincere religious beliefs.

By the Editorial Board - wsj.com - October 2, 2024 Both vice-presidential candidates put on a better, more informed, debate than their presidential running mates. Mr. Vance in particular helped the ticket and himself. The ...

The very youngest voters — 18-to-24-year-olds — say they're more conservative than the cohort that's just older.

The FBI’s report on violent crime in 2023 shows a 3.0 percent decrease compared to 2022, but the National Crime Victimization Survey and Council on Criminal Justice surveys show that violent …  

Time for a little history lesson so that people know what we’re dealing with, and have been dealing with – more or less – since 1979.

By: Aaron Zitner, Jon Kamp, and Brian McGill - wsj.com - September 30, 2024 An aging population and economic distress have increased dependence on federal and state support. Here’s why that matters for the 2024 election. ...

By: Rachel Wolfe - wsj.com - September 28, 2024 Men in their 20s and early 30s are much more likely than their female peers to live with their parents, and many say they feel aimless ...