Anne Marie Schubert, Former Sacramento County District Attorney

Anne Marie Schubert is the former Elected District Attorney for Sacramento County. She has over 32 years of experience as a career prosecutor. She was elected District Attorney for Sacramento in 2014 and served in this capacity until December 2022. As District Attorney, she managed one of California’s largest prosecutorial offices, including attorneys, investigators, advocates, support staff and a state-of-the-art crime laboratory. As District Attorney, she set policy for the office, managed a multi-million-dollar budget, engaged in public policy, legislative advocacy and community engagement.

Prior to her election, Ms. Schubert was a well-respected trial attorney, prosecuting some of California’s most violent cases, including sexual assault and murder. Ms. Schubert is a nationally recognized expert in forensic DNA and has advanced cutting-edge DNA technologies for over three decades. In 2002, she formed Sacramento’s Cold Case Prosecution Unit, and served as its first prosecutor, solving, and prosecuting several high-profile cases including the rape and murder of Deborah Chandler by convicted serial killer Wilbur Jennings aka “The Ditch Bank Killer.”

Notably, in 2018, Ms. Schubert led the investigation and prosecution of Joseph DeAngelo, the “Golden State Killer using Forensic Investigative Genetic Genealogy (FIGG). Since the arrest of DeAngelo, her team used FIGG to identify the NorCal Rapist, unidentified human remains and partnered with the California Innocence Project to exonerate Ricky Davis after 15 years of wrongful conviction. She has taught extensively across the country and internationally on the use of genealogy to solve violent crime.

Ms. Schubert has been a leader in advancing victims’ rights and sound public safety. Notably, in 2016, she was the statewide co-chair for the “Yes on 66” ballot initiative to maintain the death penalty in California. In 2024, Ms. Schubert was the statewide co-chair for the “Yes on 36” ballot initiative to address the theft, drug and homelessness crisis in California. Both initiatives were approved by California voters.

Anne Marie has been recognized with the Prosecutor of the Year Award and the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Instructor of the Year Award.

Kent S. Scheidegger

Kent Scheidegger has been the Legal Director of the CJLF since December 1986. He has written over 150 briefs in cases in the United States Supreme Court. He is the Past Chairman of the Criminal Law and Procedure Practice Group of the Federalist Society and has served on the group’s executive committee since 1996. His articles on criminal and constitutional law have been published in law reviews, national legal publications and Congressional reports. His legal arguments have been cited in the Congressional Record and incorporated in several precedent-setting U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

After receiving a degree in physics with honors from New Mexico State University in 1976, Mr. Scheidegger served for six years in the United States Air Force as a Nuclear Research Officer.

He took his law degree with distinction from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1982 and practiced civil law in Northern California. He was general counsel of California Cooler, Inc. from 1984 until 1986, when he joined CJLF.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS AND CASES
Rebutting the Myths About Race and the Death Penalty, 10 Ohio St. J. Crim. L. 147 (2012)
Habeas Corpus, Relitigation, and the Legislative Power, 98 Colum.L.Rev. 888 (1998)
Overdue Process: A Study of Federal Habeas Corpus in Capital Cases and a Proposal for Reform (1995)
A Guide to Regulating Panhandling (1993)
Rethinking Habeas Corpus (1989)
Capital Punishment in 1987: The Puzzle Nears Completion, 15 West.St.L.Rev. 95 (1987)
Teague v. Lane, 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U.S. 467 (1991)
Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
Tuilaepa v. California, 512 U.S. 967 (1994)
Sandin v. Conner, 515 U.S. 472 (1995)
Williams v. Taylor, 529 U.S. 362 (2000)
Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003)
Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S. 343 (2003)
Rumsfeld v. Padilla, 542 U.S. 426 (2004)
Cullen v. Pinholster, 131 S.Ct. 1388 (2011)