FedSoc Forums

On June 30, the Supreme Court held in Trump v. Barbara that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are citizens at birth. But questions remain about the decision’s reasoning and its legal and policy implications. The decision has not ended the debate. The administration and other proponents of a narrower understanding of birthright citizenship are now testing the decision’s boundaries....

On September 18, President Trump announced that he was "banning" CNN, MS NOW, and Politico from the White House, citing what he characterized as false reporting by the outlets. Journalists from all three organizations were subsequently denied access to the White House grounds and had their credentials revoked. The outlets have sued, arguing that the administration's actions have violated their Fir...

As America celebrates its 250th birthday, it also remembers the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The attacks were an inflection point in U.S. history and profoundly affected American law, policy, security, and culture. Join us for an engaging discussion of how 9/11 changed law and policy on terrorism and national security more broadly over the past 25 years, both in th...

As the nation marked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, renewed attention has turned to what our Constitution, ratified just over a decade later, said about slavery. Critics have long argued that the Framers—by ratifying the Fugitive Slave Clause, the Slave Trade Clause, and the Three-Fifths Compromise—entrenched slavery in the Constitution. Yet others point to t...

As the nation marked the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, renewed attention has turned to what our Constitution, ratified just over a decade later, said about slavery. Critics have long argued that the Framers—by ratifying the Fugitive Slave Clause, the Slave Trade Clause, and the Three-Fifths Compromise—entrenched slavery in the Constitution. Yet others point to the anti-slav...

For decades, the First Amendment has protected the rights of individuals, associations, and businesses to participate in public debate on matters of public concern. Yet a growing number of governments are pursuing novel legal theories that seek to impose liability for, compel, or otherwise restrict corporate speech. This panel will examine emerging efforts to regulate corporate expression through...

Recent litigation has resurfaced longstanding debates over the scope of First Amendment protections for members of the armed forces. While service members retain constitutional rights, the unique demands of military service have long permitted restrictions on speech and conduct that would not be permissible in civilian life. This panel will examine the historical development of First Amendment pro...

Recent litigation has resurfaced longstanding debates over the scope of First Amendment protections for members of the armed forces. While service members retain constitutional rights, the unique demands of military service have long permitted restrictions on speech and conduct that would not be permissible in civilian life. This panel will examine the historical development of First Amendment pro...

On June 30, the Supreme Court held in Trump v. Barbara that nearly all children born on U.S. soil are citizens at birth. But questions remain about the decision’s reasoning and its legal and policy implications. The decision has not ended the debate. The administration and other proponents of a narrower understanding of birthright citizenship are now testing the decision’s boundaries....

Gordon S. Wood, who passed away in June, was one of the nation’s most influential historians of the American Revolution and the early Republic. For more than half a century, his scholarship has shaped how Americans—including legal scholars and the judiciary—understand the Revolution, the Founding, and the Constitution. In landmark works, including the Bancroft Prize-winning The C...

For nearly fifty years, the Presidential Records Act has governed the preservation, ownership, and eventual disclosure of presidential records. But in April, the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the Act is unconstitutional and that “the President need not further comply with its dictates.” OLC argued that the statute exceeds Congress&...

The 1963 Supreme Court case United States v. Philadelphia National Bank established a "structural presumption": if a merger creates a single entity controlling 30% or more of a market, it is legally presumed to lessen competition in violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, U.S. antitrust law’s merger statute. U.S. federal and state antitrust enforcers challenging mergers have relied on thi...

In Louisiana v. Callais, a divided Supreme Court narrowed the circumstances in which states may use race as a factor in drawing election districts. The Court, in an opinion authored by Justice Alito, held that compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act can justify the use of race in redistricting only when the circumstances give rise to a strong inference that the State intentionally denie...

When an AI system fabricates damaging claims about a real person, is the AI company liable for defamation? Just last week, in Keene v. Google, a federal court confronted this question for the first time, holding that allegedly false Google AI search summaries could be viewed as potentially defamatory factual assertions – and that “actual malice” on Google’s part could be sh...

When an AI system fabricates damaging claims about a real person, is the AI company liable for defamation? Just last week, in Keene v. Google, a federal court confronted this question for the first time, holding that allegedly false Google AI search summaries could be viewed as potentially defamatory factual assertions – and that “actual malice” on Google’s part could be shown if Google’s AI kept...

In September 2026, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia preliminarily enjoined the EPA from sending four Clean Air Act waivers to Congress for potential repeal under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). These waivers have allowed California to enact its own vehicle emission standards. Judge Beryl Howell held the CRA's bar on judicial review does not reach an agency's threshold deter...

The annual Mike Lewis Memorial Forum honors the life and legacy of Mike Lewis, a former naval aviator and leading scholar of international law. Mike wrote and spoke extensively on the use of force and the law of armed conflict and served on the Executive Committee of the Federalist Society’s International & National Security Law Practice Group. Mike passed away from cancer in 2015 at age...

Jurisdictions increasingly require attorneys to complete CLE credits addressing bias, diversity, and inclusion in the legal profession. These requirements are often justified as tools to help lawyers reduce bias and ensure competent representation of clients from varied backgrounds. But these mandatory programs also raise significant and unsettled questions about how the profession may regulate bi...

Shortly after retaking office, President Trump signed executive orders reorienting the federal government’s approach to civil rights. Those orders directed agencies to identify and eliminate unlawful diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and other practices involving race- or sex-based discrimination, while emphasizing equal treatment, individual merit, and nondiscrimination. In Ap...

In this Federalist Society America 250 series, experts analyze modern legal and policy debates through the lens of the Founding generation. The Founders gave us the tools to answer many contemporary questions; join us as we explore those answers. American lawyers have long been defined by a commitment to represent even the most unpopular clients—a tradition that traces back to the Founding....

In 2022, Florida enacted the Stop WOKE (Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees) Act, prohibiting indoctrination of race and gender ideology in a variety of educational and employment contexts. The law’s K-12 provisions remain in effect, but addressing a challenge to its higher education provisions, an Eleventh Circuit panel recently held “if the First Amendment offers any boundary of protect...

Public schools across the country are increasingly the site of debates over the role of parents in their children’s education. The public school system in Loudoun County, Virginia has become one of the most visible examples, drawing national attention over disputes involving curriculum, student privacy, and gender identity policies. Join us for a panel discussion focusing on Loudoun County a...

This summer, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Faster Labor Contracts Act, a bill that would transform how unions and employers negotiate their first agreements. It would impose quick deadlines for negotiations, after which it would send the parties to mediation and eventually binding arbitration, where a panel of arbitrators would hear evidence and write the agreement themselves. Suppo...

Assisted suicide is a contested issue in American law and medicine, raising questions over individual autonomy, patient rights, medical ethics, and government interests in protecting life. Federal law prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for services intended to cause or assist a death, but this prohibition does not apply to ordinary palliative care. With several states legalizing physician-a...

How far can states go in regulating conduct that has effects outside their borders? At the Founding, the states entered a constitutional union in part because the Articles of Confederation proved incapable of managing interstate conflicts and preventing individual states from imposing burdens on their neighbors. At the same time, many of the Framers grew concerned that unchecked state legislatures...