FedSoc Events

This panel will discuss the operation and effects of rules assigning third party liability for sexual misconduct to universities or other organizations, whether the rules come from tort law or regulation. Panelists: Ellen Bublick, University of Arizona College of Law Gail Heriot, University of San Diego School of Law Eugene Volokh, UCLA School of Law Moderator: Brad Areheart, University of Tenness...

The winners of our Young Legal Scholars Paper Competition will present their papers, and various other attendees will invite feedback on works they have in progress. Jud Campbell, University of Richmond School of Law: “The Invention of First Amendment Federalism” Jonathan Mitchell, Stanford Law School: “The Writ-of-Erasure Fallacy” Lochlan Shelfer, Gibson Dunn: “Inter...

This debate will discuss when congressional authorization is required for the use of military force, and whether that authorization must be both specific to a conflict and explicit. John Harrison, University of Virginia School of Law John Yoo, UC Berkeley School of Law Moderator: Jide Nzelibe, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law

The panel will discuss what reforms Congress should or should not make to the administrative state. Topics will include the REINS Act, the position of independent agencies, and rules of deference to the administrative state, including Chevron and Auer. Panelists: Jack Beermann, Boston University School of Law Kathryn Kovacs, Rutgers Law School Michael Rappaport, University of San Diego School of L...

The Constitution does not explicitly grant Congress the authority to conduct inquiries or investigations of the Executive branch. However, oversight authority is inherent in many facets of the Legislature's duties and responsibilities. The Supreme Court confirmed this in McGrain v. Daugherty, 273 U.S. 135 (1927) stating: A legislative body cannot legislate wisely or effectively in the absence of i...

"The philosophic fight for the future of America" is how John Allison describes the force driving much of today's partisan and social divide. The former BB&T and Cato Institute CEO, now an executive in residence at Wake Forest University, described the fight during a speech Tuesday, October 3, 2017, to the Triangle Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society. Footage courtesy of CarolinaJournal.com....

Congressional redistricting is the process by which voter district boundaries are drawn for the election of representatives to the U.S. House of Representatives. Historically Congressional districts have been based on numerous factors including population, geography, ethnic groupings, voting records, and the preferences of political parties. Manipulation of districts for partisan gain, or gerryman...

Advocates of limited government are sometimes accused of being blind to issues of race and sex. Here's one way in which that might be true: Over the last few decades our legal system has been increasingly shaped by identity politics. Legislation often contains numerous benefits aimed at one or more identity groups. But perhaps even more strikingly, race and sex increasingly permeate the activity o...

The Internet has dynamically changed the way we live. It touches every sector of the U.S. and global economies. For two decades, it flourished in an environment devoid of heavy-handed regulatory oversight, resulting in $1.5 trillion in investments by Internet Service Providers. However, the FCC dramatically changed course in 2015 when it reclassified broadband as an old style utility regulated und...

This panel will examine the history of the emergence of the Administrative State and will ask whether even in a reformed fashion such a state can ever be consistent with the separation of powers. The panelists will each comment on the separation of powers challenge to modern Administrative Law. Can modern Administrative Law be made consistent with the Framers' Constitution of 1787? The Framers env...

How much leeway do agencies have in implementing federal law? What is the source of this leeway? In whom is it vested? What is the remedy for exceeding it? What are the consequences of exceeding it? Administrative agencies are comprised of numerous components and employ tens of thousands of individuals with different ideas about what the law requires and what policies best serve the public interes...

Multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) accounts for nearly half of all civil cases in federal courts. Although MDLs were designed to be efficient mechanisms for “coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings,” in some instances they have become one-sided forums known for lacking the basic protections afforded to all other cases by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), t...

Multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) accounts for nearly half of all civil cases in federal courts. Although MDLs were designed to be efficient mechanisms for “coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings,” in some instances they have become one-sided forums known for lacking the basic protections afforded to all other cases by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), t...

Multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) accounts for nearly half of all civil cases in federal courts. Although MDLs were designed to be efficient mechanisms for “coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings,” in some instances they have become one-sided forums known for lacking the basic protections afforded to all other cases by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), t...

Multidistrict litigation (“MDL”) accounts for nearly half of all civil cases in federal courts. Although MDLs were designed to be efficient mechanisms for “coordinated or consolidated pretrial proceedings,” in some instances they have become one-sided forums known for lacking the basic protections afforded to all other cases by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), t...

Libel law leads two lives. Most famously, there is the life of presidential candidates and the New York Times; of celebrities and the National Enquirer; of exposes in Rolling Stone. The rules here seem settled, with the “actual malice" standard and public/private figure distinctions. President Trump seems to be questioning whether they were settled right -- were they? But there is also the l...

Today, every bar, restaurant, sidewalk, road and bridge anywhere in the world has become a terrorist target. Attacks are often conducted by lone wolves or small cells. This makes the acquisition and sharing of intelligence by government agencies an urgent priority. Yet nations must find a balance between surveillance and privacy. The panelists have faced these issues at the highest levels of their...

It has long been understood that broad congressional delegations of rulemaking authority have empowered administrative agencies to play a robust role in setting policy priorities for many subjects, including the environment. This phenomenon is even more evident when realizing that most of the major environmental laws were passed several decades ago and have seen little updating since. Has Congress...

At its August 2016 meeting in San Francisco, the American Bar Association approved a major change to its Rules of Professional Conduct that will affect all lawyers if adopted by their licensing states. In pertinent part, the new Rule 8.4(g) would make it professional misconduct for a lawyer to “harass or knowingly discriminate against persons on the basis of race, sex, religion, national ori...

RESOLVED: Lochner v. New York: Still Crazy After All These Years. The Tenth Annual Rosenkranz Debate was held on November 18, 2017, during The Federalist Society's 2017 National Lawyers Convention. Prof. Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School Prof. Randy E. Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse Professor of Legal Theory, Georgetown University Law Center Moderator: Prof. Nicholas Quinn R...

Christopher J. Scalia and Edward Whelan have published a definitive collection of beloved Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's finest speeches. The book, Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived, covers a breadth of topics, including law, faith, virtue, the justice's pastimes, and his heroes and friends. Prof. Rachel E. Barkow, Segal Family Professor of Regulatory Law and Po...

In recent decades, the President has sought to control the regulatory state through the Office of Management and Budget and through the office within OMB known as OIRA. This panel will discuss whether that is a positive development, and whether presidential review powers should apply to independent as well as executive branch agencies, which could be accomplished by allowing removal of independent...

At both the federal and state levels, bureaucrats wield power to make decisions that substantially impact the exercise of religion. From interpreting and enforcing public accommodations laws to administering vast regulatory regimes and deciding how all of these laws interact with RFRAs, agencies headed by political appointees are often charged with determining --- at least in the first instance --...

In 2011, Congress created a new administrative tribunal in the U.S. Patent Office with the power to cancel previously granted patents, called the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB). The PTAB has become a flashpoint of controversy. Some companies and organizations defend it as an important tool for eliminating invalidly issued patents. Critics have highlighted a wide range of concerns, includin...