Schmitz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of
John G. Schmitz, former
California State Senator, member of the
U.S. House of Representatives, and U.S. presidential candidate in 1972. Schmitz attended Catholic schools as a child, and
Georgetown Preparatory School for high school, a time period in which his father also served in Congress. He holds a
Bachelor of Science (1978) from the
United States Naval Academy in
Annapolis, Maryland, where he was on the wrestling team, and a
Juris Doctor (1986) from
Stanford University. He was one of seven children in his family. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, Schmitz served in the U.S. Navy for approximately four years, including a stint as an exchange officer with the
German Navy. After leaving active duty, Schmitz went to law school, and was in the
Naval Reserve until 2001. He clerked with
James L. Buckley,
circuit judge for the
D.C. Circuit Court, and was a special assistant to
Attorney General Edwin Meese III during the
Reagan Administration. Schmitz entered the private sector in 1987, eventually joining the
Patton Boggs law firm in Washington, D.C. He was also an adjunct professor of law at
Georgetown University in the 1990s, and founded his own firm, Joseph E. Schmitz, PLLC, in 2008. Schmitz is a member of the
Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He co-authored the book
Shariah: The Threat To America by the
Center for Security Policy, of which he is a senior fellow, and has been on the Advisory Board of the American Freedom Law Center, which is run by
David Yerushalmi. Because of his involvement with these groups, he has been described as anti-Muslim by the
Southern Poverty Law Center and
Hope not Hate. ==Inspector General of the Department of Defense==