Federalist Society information

Federalist Society
	Society logo featuring a silhouette of James Madison
Formation	April 23, 1982; 41 years ago
Founded at	University of Chicago
Legal status	501(c)(3) nonprofit
Purpose	Legal advocacy
Professional title	Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Location	1776 I Street, NW; Washington, D.C. 20066, United States;
Coordinates	38°54′04″N 77°02′28″W / 38.901°N 77.041°W
Membership	≈70,000 (2019)
President	Eugene B. Meyer
Budget	Revenue: $20,415,064; Expenses: $18,233,577; (FYE September 2017)
Website	FedSoc.org

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.^[4]^[5]^[6] 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.^[1] 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.^[7] It is one of the most influential legal organizations in the United States.^[8]^[9]

The Federalist Society was founded in 1982 by a group of students from Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, and The University of Chicago Law School with the aim of challenging liberal or left-wing ideology within elite American law schools and universities. The organization's stated objectives are "checking federal power, protecting individual liberty and interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning",^[1] and it plays a central role in networking and mentoring young conservative lawyers.^[5] According to Amanda Hollis-Brusky, the Federalist Society "has evolved into the de facto gatekeeper for right-of-center lawyers aspiring to government jobs and federal judgeships under Republican presidents."^[8] It vetted President Donald Trump's list of potential U.S. Supreme Court nominees; in March 2020, 43 out of 51 of Trump's appellate court nominees were current or former members of the society.^[10]

In January 2019, The Washington Post wrote that the Federalist Society had reached an "unprecedented peak of power and influence." Of the current nine members of the Supreme Court of the United States, at least five are current or former members of the organization—Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Amy Coney Barrett.^[1]^[11] Chief Justice John Roberts previously served as a member of the steering committee of the Washington, D.C., chapter, but denies ever being a member.^[12] Politico wrote that the Federalist Society "has become one of the most influential legal organizations in history—not only shaping law students' thinking but changing American society itself by deliberately, diligently shifting the country's judiciary to the right."^[13]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Montgomery, David (January 2, 2019). "Conquerors of the Courts". Washington Post Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
^ "Our Purpose". Federalist Society. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
^ "Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies". Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference hollis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Montgomery, David (January 2, 2019). "Conquerors of the Courts". The Washington Post Magazine. The conservative and libertarian society for law and public policy studies has reached an unprecedented peak of power and influence.
^ Rosen, Jeffrey (May 10, 2013). "Packing the Courts". Sunday Book Review. New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
^ ^a ^b Fletcher, Michael (July 29, 2005). "What the Federalist Society Stands For". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
^ Farrell, Henry (May 17, 2017). "Trump's values are abhorrent to the Federalist Society of conservative lawyers. That doesn't stop them from helping him". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
^ Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Gebeloff, Robert; Eder, Steve; Protess, Ben (2020-03-16). "A Conservative Agenda Unleashed on the Federal Courts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
^ "'She's been groomed for this moment': Amy Barrett's Supreme Court preparation began early". Politico. Retrieved 2020-09-27.
^ Lane, Charles (July 25, 2005). "Roberts Listed in Federalist Society '97–98 Directory". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
^ Cite error: The named reference kruse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[montgomery-1] Montgomery, David (January 2, 2019). "Conquerors of the Courts". Washington Post Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.

[about-2] "Our Purpose". Federalist Society. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2019.

[3] "Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies". Nonprofit Explorer. ProPublica. 9 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.

[:2-4] Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[hollis-5] Cite error: The named reference hollis was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[6] Montgomery, David (January 2, 2019). "Conquerors of the Courts". The Washington Post Magazine. The conservative and libertarian society for law and public policy studies has reached an unprecedented peak of power and influence.

[nyt-7] Rosen, Jeffrey (May 10, 2013). "Packing the Courts". Sunday Book Review. New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.

[farrell-8] Fletcher, Michael (July 29, 2005). "What the Federalist Society Stands For". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2015.

[9] Farrell, Henry (May 17, 2017). "Trump's values are abhorrent to the Federalist Society of conservative lawyers. That doesn't stop them from helping him". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2018.

[10] Ruiz, Rebecca R.; Gebeloff, Robert; Eder, Steve; Protess, Ben (2020-03-16). "A Conservative Agenda Unleashed on the Federal Courts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-27.

[:6-11] "'She's been groomed for this moment': Amy Barrett's Supreme Court preparation began early". Politico. Retrieved 2020-09-27.

[12] Lane, Charles (July 25, 2005). "Roberts Listed in Federalist Society '97–98 Directory". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.

[kruse-13] Cite error: The named reference kruse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

Federalist Society information

and 26 Related for: Federalist Society information

Federalist Society

Federalist

Leonard Leo

Brett Kavanaugh

Citizens for Global Solutions

Federalist Party

American Constitution Society

Federalism

The Federalist Papers

Kathryn Hackett King

Carrie Campbell Severino

Sarah Isgur

Samuel Alito

Emily Compagno

John Birch Society

Steven Calabresi

George Conway

Aileen Cannon

Sandra Segal Ikuta

Charlie Korsmo

Project 2025

John Roberts

Antonin Scalia

John Roberts Supreme Court nominations

Josh Hammer

John Ashcroft

Society logo featuring a silhouette of James Madison
Formation	April 23, 1982; 41 years ago (1982-04-23)
Founded at	University of Chicago
Legal status	501(c)(3) nonprofit
Purpose	Legal advocacy
Professional title	Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies
Location	1776 I Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20066, United States
Coordinates	38°54′04″N 77°02′28″W / 38.901°N 77.041°W / 38.901; -77.041
Membership	≈70,000 (2019)^[1]
President	Eugene B. Meyer^[2]
Budget	Revenue: $20,415,064 Expenses: $18,233,577 (FYE September 2017)^[3]
Website	FedSoc.org

Conservatism in the United States
This article is part of a series on

Schools Compassionate Fiscal Fusion Libertarian Moderate Movement Neo Paleo Progressive Social Traditionalist
Principles American exceptionalism Anti-communism Christian nationalism Classical liberalism Constitutionalism Familialism Family values Federalism States' rights Judeo-Christian values Individualism Law and order Limited government Militarism Moral absolutism Natural law Patriotism Republicanism Right to bear arms Rule of law Tradition
History Conservative coalition Conservative Democrat Conservative Manifesto Loyalists McCarthyism Modern timeline New Right Old Right Overview Reagan Doctrine Reaganomics Stalwart Republicans Southern Agrarians
Intellectuals Babbitt Boorstin Bozell Jr. Buchanan Buckley Burnham Chambers Dolan Eliot George Goldberg Gottfried Hanson Hazony Hoppe Jaffa Kirk Kirkpatrick Kreeft Kristol (Bill) Kristol (Irving) Kuehnelt-Leddihn Laffer Lasch Lodge Lovecraft Lukacs Mansfield Meese Meyer Nisbet Nock Podhoretz Ransom Santayana Sowell Strauss Viereck Voegelin Washington Weaver Will
Politicians Abbott Adams Quincy Adams Agnew Buchanan Bush (George H. W.) Bush (George W.) Cantor Cheney (Dick) Cheney (Liz) Clay Cleveland Coolidge Cruz DeSantis Dole Fillmore Forbes Gingrich Goldwater Graham Haley Hamilton Harding Hawley Helms Hoover Huckabee Johnson Jordan Lodge Luce Massie McCain McCarthy (Joseph) McCarthy (Kevin) McConnell McDonald Meadows Nixon Palin Paul (Rand) Paul (Ron) Pence Quayle Reagan Romney Rubio Rumsfeld Ryan Santorum Scalise Scott (Rick) Scott (Tim) Sessions Seymour Sherman Taft (Robert) Taft (William) Thurmond Tilden Trump Vance Wolfowitz
Jurists Alito Barrett Bork Burger Butler Colson Goldsmith Gorsuch Harlan II Kavanaugh Leo Meese O'Connor Parker Rehnquist Scalia Sessions Sanford Sutherland Van Devanter Taft Thomas
Commentators Bannon Beck Bartiromo Bongino Breitbart Buchanan Buckley Carlson Coulter Crowder D'Souza Dreher Drudge Elder Grant Hannity Hodgetwins Huckabee Ingraham Jones Kirk Klavan Knowles Krauthammer Lahren Levin Limbaugh North Novak O'Reilly Owens Palin Peterson Podhoretz Prager Robertson Rubin Santorum Schlafly Shapiro Tatum Walsh Watters Weyrich White Will Woods
Activists Bozell III Dobson Falwell Feulner Gabriel Graham Horowitz Kirk LaHaye (Beverly) LaHaye (Tim) Owens Park Prager Reed Rufo Schlafly (Andrew) Schlafly (Phyllis) Shapiro Thiel Washington Weyrich Wurzelbacher
Works Democracy and Leadership (1924) Our Enemy, the State (1935) The Managerial Revolution (1941) Ideas Have Consequences (1948) God and Man at Yale (1951) The Conservative Mind (1953) The Conscience of a Conservative (1960) A Choice Not an Echo (1964) Roots of American Order (1974) A Conflict of Visions (1987) The Closing of the American Mind (1987) A Republic, Not an Empire (1999) Hillbilly Elegy (2017) The Benedict Option (2017) The Right Side of History (2019)
Parties Active American Party American Independent Party Conservative Party of New York State Constitution Party Reform Party Republican Party Defunct Anti-Masonic Party Constitutional Union Party Federalist Party Law and Order Party of Rhode Island National Republican Party Native American Party Whig Party
Think tanks Acton Institute Alexis de Tocqueville Institution American Enterprise Institute American Compass Center for Security Policy Center for the National Interest Charles Koch Institute Claremont Institute Competitive Enterprise Institute David Horowitz Freedom Center Discovery Institute Ethics and Public Policy Center Family Research Institute Gatestone Institute Heartland Institute The Heritage Foundation Hoover Institution Hudson Institute Intercollegiate Studies Institute Leadership Institute Manhattan Institute Mises Institute Pacific Research Institute Project for the New American Century Ripon Society R Street Institute Rockford Institute State Policy Network Tax Foundation
Other organizations Economics American Liberty League Americans for Tax Reform Club for Growth Freedom Partners FreedomWorks John M. Olin Foundation National Federation of Independent Business National Taxpayers Union Tea Party Patriots United States Chamber of Commerce Gun rights Gun Owners of America National Rifle Association Second Amendment Caucus Identity politics ACT for America Concerned Women for America Council of Conservative Citizens Independent Women's Forum Log Cabin Republicans Nationalism Federation for American Immigration Reform Liberty Lobby NumbersUSA Oath Keepers Religion Alliance Defending Freedom American Center for Law & Justice American Family Association The American TFP Arlington Group Chalcedon Foundation Christian Coalition of America Christian Voice Eagle Forum Family Research Council The Fellowship Focus on the Family Foundation for Moral Law Liberty Counsel Moral Majority National Organization for Marriage National Right to Life Committee Parents Television and Media Council Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Thomas More Law Center Traditional Values Coalition Watchdog groups Judicial Watch Media Research Center Youth/student groups Turning Point USA Young America's Foundation Young Americans for Liberty Youth for Western Civilization Miscellaneous American Conservative Union The Conservative Caucus Council for National Policy Faith and Freedom Coalition Freedom Caucus John Birch Society National Conservative PAC Philadelphia Society Republican Study Committee Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal Other ConservAmerica Federalist Society Pacific Justice Institute Regnery Publishing Republican Main Street Partnership
Media Newspapers Chicago Tribune Dallas Morning News The Epoch Times New Hampshire Union Leader New York Observer New York Post The Spotlight The Wall Street Journal (editorial board) The Washington Times Journals American Affairs The American Conservative The American Spectator American Thinker City Journal Claremont Review of Books Commentary Chronicles The Dispatch First Things The Imaginative Conservative Jewish World Review Modern Age National Affairs The National Interest National Review The New American The New Criterion Newsmax Policy Review Spectator USA Washington Examiner The Weekly Standard TV channels CBN Fox Business Fox News Newsmax TV One America News Network Websites Babylon Bee Breitbart News The Bulwark Campus Reform Conservative Review Daily Caller Daily Signal Daily Wire Drudge Report The Federalist FrontPage Magazine Gateway Pundit Human Events Independent Journal Review InfoWars Jihad Watch LifeZette NewsBusters PJ Media Rare RedState Taki's Magazine Townhall Twitchy Washington Examiner The Washington Free Beacon The Western Journal WorldNetDaily Other Alternative media Blaze Media PragerU RSBN The Rubin Report Sinclair Broadcast Group
Movements Asian and Pacific Islander Black Christian right Dark Enlightenment Female Green LGBT Libertarian Republicans Militia movement Patriot movement Radical Right Tea Party movement Trumpism Christian
See also American nationalism Barstool conservatism Bibliography Conservative talk radio CPAC Founding Fathers Libertarianism List Prominent people Political parties
Conservatism portal United States portal
v t e

Libertarianism in the United States
This article is part of a series on

Schools Agorism Anarcho-capitalism Austro Autarchism Bleeding-heart Christian Consequentialist Feminist Fusionism Geo Green Market anarchism Minarchism Natural-rights Neo Paleo Panarchism Paternalist Propertarianism Techno Transhumanist Voluntaryism
Principles Anti-imperialism Civil libertarianism Constitutionalism Counter-economics Decentralization Departurism Economic freedom Evictionism Free banking Free market Free-market environmentalism Free migration Free trade Free will Freedom of association Freedom of contract Freedom of speech Homestead principle Individuality Individualism Liberty Limited government Localism Marriage privatization Natural rights and legal rights Non-aggression principle Non-interventionism Non-politics Non-voting Open border Polycentric law Private defense agency Private property Public choice theory Restorative justice Right to bear arms Rugged Individualism Self-ownership Single tax Small government Spontaneous order Stateless society Tax resistance Title-transfer theory of contract Voluntary association Voluntary society
History Age of Enlightenment Abolitionism in the United States Classical liberalism Anti-Federalism Transcendentalism Individualist anarchism in the United States Old Right New Left Freedom School
Economics Austrian School Economic liberalism Fiscal conservatism Georgism Laissez-faire Neoliberalism Supply-side economics
People Amash Andrews Barnett Block Brennan Burt Chamberlain Caplan Carson Chartier Chodorov Cleveland Coolidge Epstein D. Friedman M. Friedman P. Friedman R. Friedman Galambos Garrett George Gillespie Goldwater Greene Gutfeld Harper Hazlitt Heinlein Hess Heywood Hoppe Hospers Huemer Jacobs Jillette Johnson Jorgensen Kinsella C. Koch D. Koch Konkin C. Lane R. Lane LeFevre Machan McElroy Mencken Mises Napolitano Nock Nolan Nozick Paterson Paul Postrel Pugsley Rand Read Rockwell Rothbard Sarwark Schulman Sciabarra Scott Smith Sowell Skousen Spooner Stossel Swartz Szasz Taleb Teller Thiel Thoreau Tucker Ventura Warren Wilder Williams Wilson Woods
Issues Abortion Capital punishment Criticism Foreign affairs Immigration Intellectual property Internal debates LGBT rights Objectivism Political parties Politics State Theories of law
Culture Come and take it Gadsden flag Libertarian science fiction Ron Swanson
Organizations Cato Institute Federalist Society Free State Project Foundation for Economic Education International Alliance of Libertarian Parties Libertarian Party Liberty International Mises Institute Reason Foundation Students for a Democratic Society Students for Liberty
Works The Anarchist Cookbook Anarchy, State, and Utopia The Betrayal of the American Right Civil Disobedience Conceived in Liberty Defending the Undefendable The Discovery of Freedom End the Fed The Ethics of Liberty For a New Liberty Free to Choose The God of the Machine Liberty The Machinery of Freedom Man, Economy and State The Moon is a Harsh Mistress The Mainspring of Human Progress The Market for Liberty No, They Can't No Treason New Libertarian Manifesto Our Enemy, the State The Problem of Political Authority Progress and Poverty Protection or Free Trade Radicals for Capitalism Seeing Like a State To Serve and Protect The Unconstitutionality of Slavery
Related topics American militia movement Boogaloo movement Conservatism in the United States Dark Enlightenment Left-libertarianism Liberalism in the United States Libertarian conservatism Libertarian Democrat Libertarian Republican Libertarian socialism Libertarianism in Hong Kong Libertarianism in South Africa Libertarianism in the United Kingdom New Right Objectivism On Democracy in America Outline of libertarianism Right-libertarianism Sovereign citizen movement
Liberalism portal Conservatism portal Libertarianism portal United States portal
v t e