Anya Bidwell

Listen to Anya, Adam Liptak, and John Malcolm discuss qualified immunity on Intelligence Squared. 

Listen to Anya discuss policing on the New Yorker Radio Hour.  

Anya Bidwell (née Cherkasova) leads IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability (“PIA”). Through this project, Anya works to promote judicial engagement and ensure that government officials are held to account when they violate individuals’ constitutional rights. Anya also serves as an adviser on the American Law Institute’s Restatement of the Law, Constitutional Torts project.

Anya’s most recent focus has been on First Amendment retaliation. In the span one year, Anya got the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse two bad circuit-court precedents, making it easier for victims of retaliatory arrests to sue their tormentors and restore their good name. Anya personally argued the first case, Gonzalez v. Trevino, before the Court. In the second case, Murphy v. Schmitt, the Court granted the petition, vacated the Eighth Circuit’s denial of the retaliation claim, and remanded the case back to the Eighth Circuit, ordering it to reconsider the critic’s complaint in light of Gonzalez.

Anya appeared before the Supreme Court two additional times. She second-chaired Brownback v. King (an excessive force case) and Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Association v. Thomas (a commerce clause case) in November 2020 and January 2019 respectfully.

Anya spent her childhood in Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. At 16, she left her family behind and came to America on a university scholarship. Her upbringing motivated her to study law and become an advocate for a strong, independent judiciary.

Anya’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Guardian. She is also the host of live recordings of our Short Circuit podcast and a co-producer of our documentary-style podcast Bound by Oath.