Scott Bullock joined the Institute for Justice at its founding in 1991 and serves as a senior attorney.  Although he has litigated in all of the Institute's areas, his current litigation primarily focuses on property rights and free speech cases in federal and state courts.

In property rights, Scott has been involved in a number of cases challenging the use of eminent domain for private development.  He was co-counsel in and argued the landmark case, Kelo v. City of New London, one of the most controversial and widely discussed U.S. Supreme Court decisions in decades.  He was also counsel along with Dana Berliner in the first state Supreme Court case to address eminent domain abuse after Kelo, where the Supreme Court of Ohio in July 2006 unanimously stopped the use of eminent domain for private development.  Scott has worked with property owners in scores of other cities, including spearheading the litigation that saved the land and homes of the Archie family in Canton, Mississippi.  For that accomplishment, he was awarded in 2002 the top civil rights prize by the state chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Among his work on other constitutional issues, Scott served as lead counsel in the Institute's First Amendment lawsuit to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's campaign against investment newsletters, computer software and websites, establishing one of the first federal precedents extending free speech guarantees to Internet and software publishers.   He has also led successful lawsuits challenging rental inspection laws on behalf of tenants, the abuse of civil forfeiture laws, and he has been involved in several cases advocating greater protection for commercial speech and parental rights.

His articles and views on constitutional issues have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, 60 Minutes, ABC Nightly News, National Public Radio, and many other publications and broadcasts.

Scott’s volunteer activities include serving on the board of directors of HR-57, a Washington, D.C.-based music and cultural center dedicated to the preservation of jazz and on the board of a national, grass-roots civil forfeiture reform organization.

Scott was born in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He received his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his B.A. in economics and philosophy from Grove City College.