Frank Garrison is an attorney in Pacific Legal Foundation’s Separation of Powers practice. He primarily litigates cases on the Clean Water Act, the Antiquities Act, and commercial fishing, among other issues.
Frank was inspired to become a constitutional litigator in law school when he read Professor Randy Barnett’s book, Restoring the Lost Constitution, which describes how the Supreme Court during the New Deal eviscerated the Constitution’s protection of private property rights and all but abandoned the Constitution’s separation of powers. Frank decided from that moment to dedicate his career to restoring the Constitution’s protections of individual freedom.
His commitment to constitutional rights led him to a clerkship with PLF after law school, where he discovered his passion for litigating environmental law cases. During his time at PLF, he saw firsthand how federal administrative agencies use broad delegations in environmental statutes like the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Water Act to invade peoples’ property rights. Frank then worked as a legal associate in the Cato Institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies, where he authored amicus curiae briefs before the United States Supreme Court. He then defended the individual rights of employees as a staff attorney with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation. Frank returned to PLF because it is the nation’s most relentless organization fighting against unconstitutional government overreach.
Frank was born on a small farm in Indiana and earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University (go Hoosiers!). He also obtained a J.D. from St. Thomas University College of Law and an LL.M in environmental law from American University’s Washington College of Law.
When he is not fighting for liberty, Frank enjoys watching and playing sports, reading, traveling, and listening to the Grateful Dead.
Frank is a member of the bar only in the state of Indiana.
