Jonathan F. Mitchell
Jonathan Mitchell | |
|---|---|
| 5th Solicitor General of Texas | |
| In office December 10, 2010 – January 5, 2015 | |
| Attorney General | Greg Abbott |
| Preceded by | James C. Ho |
| Succeeded by | Scott A. Keller |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jonathan Franklin Mitchell September 2, 1976 Upland, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Wheaton College (BA) University of Chicago (JD) |
Jonathan Franklin Mitchell (born September 2, 1976) is an American lawyer, academic, and legal theorist who served as the Solicitor General of Texas from 2010 to 2015. He has argued eight cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Mitchell has served on the faculties of Stanford Law School, the University of Texas School of Law, the George Mason University School of Law, and the University of Chicago Law School. In 2018, he opened a private solo legal practice in Austin, Texas.
Mitchell devised the novel enforcement mechanism in the Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as Senate Bill 8 (or SB 8), which outlaws abortion after cardiac activity is detected and avoids judicial review by prohibiting government officials from enforcing the statute and empowering private citizens to bring lawsuits against those who violate it. On September 1, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to enjoin the enforcement of SB 8, marking the first time that a state had successfully imposed a pre-viability abortion ban since Roe v. Wade.
Mitchell also represented former president Donald Trump in the case Trump v. Anderson, when Colorado tried to exclude him from the 2024 presidential ballot.