American Constitution Society

Last updated

American Constitution Society
Formation2001;23 years ago (2001) [1]
Founded at Georgetown University
TypeLegal
Legal status 501(c)(3) nonprofit
PurposePolitical advocacy
Location
Coordinates 38°54′00″N77°01′52″W / 38.900°N 77.031°W / 38.900; -77.031
President
 Russ Feingold [2] (until April 2025)
Website acslaw.org

The American Constitution Society (ACS) is a progressive legal organization. ACS was created as a counterweight to, and is modeled after, the Federalist Society, and is often described as its progressive counterpart. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Contents

ACS hosts conferences, sponsors chapters of law students and practicing attorneys, engages in education projects, and advocates for progressive judicial nominations. [8]

Founded in 2001 following the U.S. Supreme Court decision Bush v. Gore , ACS is headquartered in Washington, D.C. [1] Former Democratic U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has served as the organization's president since 2020. Feingold announced he would step down as president effective April 1, 2025. [9]

The group's stated mission is "to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that redress the founding failures of our Constitution, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and realize the promise of equality for all, including people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and other historically excluded communities." [10]

History and leadership

The American Constitution Society was founded in 2001 by Peter J. Rubin, [11] [12] a jurist who served as counsel to Al Gore in the legal battle over the 2000 election. The group was originally known as the Madison Society for Law and Policy. The organization was formed as a counterweight to the conservative Federalist Society. It was founded in order to build a network of progressive lawyers and foster new avenues of progressive legal thought. [1] [13] ACS received its initial funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. [1] [14] The Democracy Alliance lists ACS as a recommended funding recipient. [15] [16]

In 2008, ACS's executive director, Lisa Brown, went on leave to serve on the Barack Obama transition team. She headed the president-elect's agency review team and later served as the first White House Staff Secretary in the Obama White House. [17]

Members of the organization's board of directors have included David Halperin, a speechwriter in the Bill Clinton administration who also served as the organization's founding executive director from 2001 to 2003; and Eric Holder, former Attorney General of the United States. [1] [14] Among the organization's former board chairs is California Supreme Court Judge Goodwin Liu. [18]

Activities

In 2009, ACS published Keeping Faith with the Constitution by Pamela S. Karlan, Goodwin Liu, and Christopher H. Schroeder. It was re-issued by Oxford University Press in 2010. The book serves as a primer for progressives interested in promoting liberal constitutionalism. [19]

On November 14, 2018, the American Constitution Society released a letter signed by over 1,600 attorneys nationwide calling for lawmakers and Justice Department officials to protect the special counsel's Russia probe in light of Matthew Whitaker's appointment as acting attorney general. [20] The signatories call for Whitaker to recuse himself or "otherwise be removed from overseeing the Mueller investigation as a result of his profound ethical conflicts." [20]

In 2019, Politico magazine published an article by legal academic Evan Mandery titled "Why There's No Liberal Federalist Society." The article noted that while the ACS's operations mirror the Federalist Society's, "The playing field is decidedly not level. The Federalist Society has more student chapters, more than twice as many lawyer chapters and a huge fundraising edge. In 2016, ACS had total revenues of approximately $6.5 million, while the Federalist Society took in $26.7 million. And the relative impact of the organizations can hardly be compared. The federal and state judiciaries are filled with Federalist judges, but there are no 'ACS' judges to be found on the Supreme Court or the federal benches. It's just not a thing." [8] Mandery writes that the liberal legal academy "hasn't come up with an easily digestible rival idea" to the originalism of the Federalist Society, and that the ACS's "focus on outcomes rather than first principles immediately colors it with politics." [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federalist Society</span> American conservative legal organization

The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies (FedSoc) is an American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., it has chapters at more than 200 law schools and features student, lawyer, and faculty divisions; the lawyers division comprises more than 70,000 practicing attorneys in ninety cities. Through speaking events, lectures, and other activities, it provides a forum for legal experts of opposing conservative views to interact with members of the legal profession, the judiciary, and the legal academy. It is one of the most influential legal organizations in the United States.

A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separate the area in which court business is done from the viewing area for the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Bar Association</span> American association of lawyers

The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students; it is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. As of fiscal year 2017, the ABA had 194,000 dues-paying members, constituting approximately 14.4% of American attorneys. In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA. In 2016, less than one third of the 1.3 million lawyers in the U.S. were included in the ABA membership of 400,000, with figures largely unchanged in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme Court of California</span> Highest judicial court in the U.S. state of California

The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts. Since 1850, the court has issued many influential decisions in a variety of areas including torts, property, civil and constitutional rights, and criminal law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roy McMurtry</span> Canadian politician (1932–2024)

Roland Roy McMurtry was a Canadian lawyer, judge and politician in Ontario. He was a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1985, serving in the cabinet of Bill Davis as Attorney General and as Solicitor General. After leaving politics, McMurtry was High Commissioner of Canada to the United Kingdom between 1985 and 1988. He became a judge in 1991 and was appointed Chief Justice of Ontario in 1996. McMurtry retired from the bench in 2007 and returned to the private practice of law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Lawyers Guild</span> American association of lawyers

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is a progressive public interest association of lawyers, law students, paralegals, jailhouse lawyers, law collective members, and other activist legal workers, in the United States. The group was founded in 1937 as an alternative to the American Bar Association (ABA) in protest of that organization's then exclusionary membership practices and conservative political orientation. They were the first predominantly white US bar association to allow the admission of minorities to their ranks. The group sought to bring more lawyers closer to the labor movement and progressive political activities, to support and encourage lawyers otherwise "isolated and discouraged," and to help create a "united front" against Fascism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance for Justice</span> Progressive judicial advocacy group

The Alliance for Justice (AFJ) is a progressive judicial advocacy group in the United States. Founded in 1979 by former president Nan Aron, AFJ monitors federal judicial appointments. AFJ represents a coalition of 100 politically liberal groups that have an interest in the federal judiciary. The Alliance for Justice presents a modern liberal viewpoint on legal issues.

The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), formerly the Alliance Defense Fund, is an American conservative Christian legal advocacy group that works to expand Christian religious liberties and practices within public schools and in government, outlaw abortion, and oppose LGBTQ rights. ADF is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, with branch offices in several locations including Washington, D.C., and New York. Its international subsidiary, Alliance Defending Freedom International, with headquarters in Vienna, Austria, operates in over 100 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akhil Reed Amar</span> American legal scholar

Akhil Reed Amar is an American legal scholar known for his expertise in U.S. constitutional law. He is the Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, where he is a leading scholar of originalism, the U.S. Bill of Rights, and criminal procedure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonard Leo</span> American lawyer (born 1965)

Leonard Anthony Leo is an American lawyer and conservative legal activist. He was the longtime vice president of the Federalist Society and is currently, along with Steven Calabresi, the co-chairman of the organization's board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Rosen (legal academic)</span> American academic and commentator on legal affairs

Jeffrey Rosen is an American legal scholar who serves as the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, in Philadelphia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela S. Karlan</span> American legal scholar (born 1959)

Pamela Susan Karlan is an American legal scholar who was the principal deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice from February 8, 2021, until July 1, 2022. She is a professor at Stanford Law School. A leading legal scholar on voting rights and constitutional law, she previously served as U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Voting Rights in the DOJ's Civil Rights Division from 2014 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lisa Brown (lawyer)</span> American lawyer (born 1960)

Elizabeth Merrill "Lisa" Brown is an American lawyer who is the current General Counsel of the United States Department of Education. She previously served as the first White House Staff Secretary in the Obama administration, assuming that post on January 20, 2009. Earlier, during the 2008–2009 presidential transition, she served as Co-Chair of Agency Review. Prior to joining the Obama Transition Team, she served as Executive Director of the American Constitution Society, a progressive legal organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janice Rogers Brown</span> American retired federal judge (born 1949)

Janice Rogers Brown is an American jurist. She served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2005 to 2017 and before that, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court from 1996 to 2005. She is a member of the Federalist Society and frequently features at events hosted by the organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom C. Clark</span> US Supreme Court justice from 1949 to 1967

Thomas Campbell Clark was an American lawyer who served as the 59th United States Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvin Benjamin Rubin</span> American judge

Alvin Benjamin Rubin was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and previously a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodwin Liu</span> American judge (born 1970)

Goodwin Hon Liu is an American jurist who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California since 2011. Before his appointment by Governor Jerry Brown, Liu was associate dean and a professor of law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Peter J. White is an American government official who was Senior Policy Analyst on the Domestic Policy Council for President Donald Trump. He reported to Stephen Miller, a former staffer of Sen. Jeff Sessions who was a Trump senior advisor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britt Grant</span> American judge (born 1978)

Britt Cagle Grant is an American attorney and judge who is a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. She is a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael H. Park</span> American judge (born 1976)

Michael Hun Park is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. He was a law clerk to Justice Samuel Alito. Prior to becoming a judge, Park was a named partner at Consovoy McCarthy, a prominent law firm in the conservative legal movement. While at the firm, Park represented the state of Kansas in its efforts to cut Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood. Judge Park was appointed by President Trump and is a member of the Federalist Society.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Savage, Charlie (December 10, 2008). "Liberal Legal Group Is Following New Administration's Path to Power". New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  2. ↑ Thomsen, Jacqueline (March 22, 2020). "Russ Feingold Takes the Helm at the American Constitution Society". Law.com. The National Law Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  3. ↑ Michael McGough, Supreme Court nomination battle spotlights legal societies and their divergent views: Newer American Constitution Society modeled on more conservative Federalist Society (August 14, 2005), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  4. ↑ Jonathan H. Adler, FedSoc v. ACS (June 19, 2010). Volokh Conspiracy.
  5. ↑ Leslie A. Gordon, Left Turn Permitted (May 1, 2011), ABA Journal.
  6. ↑ Stephanie Mencimer, The Tea Party Wants to Teach Your Kids About the Constitution (May 12, 2011). Mother Jones.
  7. ↑ Douglas W. Kmiec, Let Dawn Do It (April 13, 2009). Legal Times.
  8. 1 2 3 Mandery, Evan (January 23, 2019). "Why There's No Liberal Federalist Society". Politico Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  9. ↑ Headley, Tiana (May 28, 2024). "Feingold to Step Down as American Constitution Society President". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  10. ↑ "About Us". American Constitution Society. January 12, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Peter J. Rubin" . Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  12. ↑ "Associate Justice Peter J. Rubin | Mass.gov". www.mass.gov. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  13. ↑ Fletcher, Michael (December 7, 2008). "Legal Organization May Become Influential Beyond Its Dreams". Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  14. 1 2 Nix Hines, Crystal (June 1, 2001). "Young Liberal Law Group Is Expanding". New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  15. ↑ Prokop, Andrew (November 24, 2014). "The Democracy Alliance: How a secretive group of donors helps set the progressive agenda". Vox. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  16. ↑ Gold, Matea (September 8, 2014). "New Koch offensive puts spotlight on Democracy Alliance". Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  17. ↑ Jeffrey, Jeff (November 17, 2008). "Critical moment for liberal law group" (PDF). Legal Times. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 5, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Goodwin Liu Explains Genesis of American Constitution Society – In the News". sites.law.berkeley.edu. Retrieved January 20, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Keeping Faith with the Constitution". Oxford University Press. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  20. 1 2 Axelrod, Tal (November 14, 2018). "Over 1,600 lawyers sign letter saying Mueller probe must be protected". The Hill. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.