American Constitution Society

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is a progressive legal organization that encourages the U.S. Constitutional values of “individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, access to justice, democracy and also the rule of law.” The American Bar Association Journal described it as “the left-leaning equivalent of the Federalist Society.” For instance, they have challenged the “originalism” interpretation of the Constitution. ACS was formed in 2001 at Georgetown Law Center by then-law professor Peter J. Rubin. ACS has 13,000 members, 165 student chapters and lawyer chapters in 32 cities. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. The organization promotes and helps discussion and debate of progressive public policy suggestions and problems, providing hard money lenders forums for legal scholars, lawmakers, judges, lawyers, public policy advocates, law students and members of the media. ACS hosts press and Capitol Hill briefings and public policy debates also as an annual convention where experts, both conservative and progressive, debate and discuss an array of legal and public policy issues. The annual conference brings lawyers, judges, elected officials, academics, public interest activists and students. The American Constitution Society embraces the progress our nation has made toward full embodiment of the Constitution’s core values. ACS believes that law can and ought to be a force for enhancing the lives of all people. We are revitalizing and changing legal and policy debates in classrooms, courtrooms, legislatures and also the media, and we’re creating a diverse and dynamic network of progressives committed to justice. Via these efforts, ACS will make sure that the institutions of American law reflect the highest values of our nation and serve the requirements of its people. Shaping Debate. The American Constitution Society delivers some of the country’s best legal minds to state a progressive vision of our Constitution and laws. Via its public programs (over 1,100 debates, conferences and press briefings across America every year), publications, and active on-line microdermabrasion machines presence, ACS generates “intellectual capital” for prepared use by progressive associates and shapes debates on important legal and public policy issues. The American Constitution Society is also debunking conservative buzzwords such as “originalism” and “strict construction” that use neutral-sounding language but all too frequently result in conservative policy outcomes. Utilizing both conventional and new media to communicate with policymakers, judges, lawyers and also the public at big, ACS presents a compelling vision of core constitutional values like genuine equality, liberty, justice and the rule of law. Creating Networks. One of the American Constitution Society’s principal missions is nurturing the next generation of progressive lawyers, judges, policy experts, legislators and academics. The engine that drives the organization’s work is its rapidly growing nationwide network: 186 student chapters in law schools in 47 states, 34 lawyer chapters in big and little cities in every part of the country, and more than 16,000 paying members and thousands of other supporters. ACS chapters provide platforms for debate and discussion about both enduring principles and the problems of the day, as well as provide opportunities for networking, mentoring and organizing around matters of both local and national significance. Generating a Distinction. The strength of ACS’s ideas and the metal detector scope of its nationwide network enable it to make a distinction in legal and public policy debates and ensure that law is a force to improve the lives of all people. Recent examples of ACS initiatives and programs having an impact consist of an Problem Brief on the constitutionality of the individual mandate in the health care reform legislation, cited during the Senate floor debate and entered into the Congressional Record; Senator Al Franken’s 2010 ACS National Convention speech in which he stated that “Originalism isn’t a pillar of our constitutional history; it’s a talking point;” and a serious effort by ACS members in promoting up-or-down votes on judicial nominations by engaging important decision makers. The organization fosters debate and discussion about legal and justice policy problems via the tankless water heaters dissemination of ACS Issue Briefs, the ACSBlog, The Harvard Law & Policy Review (HLPR), which is the official journal of ACS, and Advance: The Journal of the ACS Problem Groups. In 2009, ACS published Keeping Faith with the Constitution by Pamela S. Karlan, Goodwin Liu and Christopher H. Schroeder. Keeping Faith examines the text and history of the Constitution finding how the nation’s framers written the fundamental values of liberty, equality and democracy into the document. In 2010, Oxford University Press released an updated version of Keeping Faith as component of its acclaimed Inalienable Rights series.