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Featured Panelists:
James M. Lapeyre, Jr. (Jay) is president of Laitram, LLC. Laitram is a diversified global manufacturer of plastic conveyor belting, high-speed package sorting, shrimp processing equipment, and space-saving stairs. Jay is the current chair of the Cato Institute and The Atlas Society Boards in Washington, D.C. He is a past board chair of Tulane University, The Business Council of New Orleans, The Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, The New Orleans Crime Coalition, and the Isidore Newman School Board of Governors. After Hurricane Katrina, Jay has been actively engaged in efforts to reform and improve local and state government to improve flood safety, including Orleans assessors, Orleans Sewerage and Water governance, charter schools, criminal justice, and the Orleans Inspector General and Independent Police Monitor. Jay earned his BA from the University of Texas and his MBA and JD from Tulane University. He and Sally have three married children and seven grandchildren.
Bob Levy is chairman emeritus at the Cato Institute. He earned a PhD at age 24, then founded CDA Investment Technologies, a financial services firm. After CDA was acquired, Bob entered George Mason law school, graduated at age 54 as class valedictorian, clerked on two federal courts, and then joined Cato as senior fellow in constitutional studies. Bob also taught at the Georgetown University Law Center, published widely, and appeared often on radio and TV. He was co-counsel in the groundbreaking Supreme Court gun case, District of Columbia v. Heller. Bob was a recent FFDI presenter, "Can the Supreme Court Protect our Democracy?" (Click To Watch).
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