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Support the American Constitution Society, the Progressive Counterpart to the Federalist Society

This post originally appeared on OTYCD in January 2018.

 

Support the American Constitution Society (ACS), the progressive counterpart to the right-wing Federalist Society.

 

You might have heard of the Federalist Society. Founded in 1982, it’s a rightward-tilting organization that promotes and fosters like-minded judges.

 

In recent years it has become the de facto selector of Supreme Court candidates and other federal judges by Republicans. John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch all have ties to the Federalist Society.

 

You might be wondering if there’s a progressive counterpart to the Federalist Society. Why yes, yes there is.

 

The American Constitution Society (ACS), founded in 2001, was deliberately designed to serve as a counterweight to the Federalist Society.

 

Being younger than that group, it’s not as far along in its evolution, but it is building a network of progressive-minded lawyers who will defend, per its purpose, “individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, access to justice, democracy and the rule of law.”

 

See its website:

Homepage

 

 

Read its blog:

ACS Blogs

 

 

Find an ACS chapter near you:

https://www.acslaw.org/chapters

 

Subscribe to One Thing You Can Do by clicking the blue button on the upper right or checking the About & Subscribe page. And tell your friends about the blog!

 

Like the ACS on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/acslaw/

 

 

Follow it on Twitter:

@acslaw

 

 

Donate to the ACS:

https://donate.acslaw.org/donate?campaign=homepage

 

 

Read a 2008 New York Times piece on the ACS:

 

Read about the rise and the doings of the Federalist Society:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/01/how_the_federalist_society_became_the_de_facto_selector_of_republican_supreme.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/03/23/grilling-gorsuch-and-fearing-the-federalist-society/?utm_term=.81e8b9c2b091