FedSoc Events

On September 11, 2001, at the age of 45 and at the height of her professional and personal life, Barbara Olson was murdered in the terrorist attacks against the United States as a passenger on the hijacked American Airlines flight that was flown into the Pentagon. The Federalist Society believes that it is most fitting to dedicate an annual lecture on limited government and the spirit of freedom t...

Concern with “the regulatory state" often focuses on reforms to formal institutional structures and legal doctrines such as Chevron deference. But arguably these formal constraints only touch the tip of the iceberg regarding the issues of individual liberty and the rule of law raised by concerns about the regulatory state, because they fail to appreciate the myriad ways in which regulators e...

Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered this address at the 2017 National Lawyers Convention in Washington, DC. He was introduced by former Attorney General Ed Meese. Hon. Jeff Sessions, United States Attorney General Introduction: Hon. Ed Meese, former United States Attorney General

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt delivered this address at the 2017 National Lawyers Convention in Washington, DC. He was introduced by Ambassador C. Boyden Gray. Hon. Scott Pruitt, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency Intoduction: Hon. C. Boyden Gray, Founding Partner, Boyden Gray & Associates

We have seen two consecutive years of an alarming increase in violent crime, at least in some major urban areas. This comes after an entire generation of decreasing crime, to the point that crime rates are half what they were in the early 1990's. Why has crime started to rise again, and what should be done about it? Are incarceration rates a factor? Dr. John S. Baker, Jr., Visiting Professor, Geor...

As an advisor to Woodrow Wilson, Louis Brandeis observed that “We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." Concerns about market concentration – with particular focus on the tech sector and such issues as use of, and access to, consumer data – have generated renewed interest in a Brandeisian approach, which ha...

President Trump's administration has helped renew interest in federalism among Democrats and liberals. Is there now more opportunity for cross-ideological support for this important structure of the Constitution? Or do continuing divisions on the nature of federalism such as the debate between competitive and cooperative federalism make this an unpromising alliance? Prof. John Eastman, Henry Salva...

Statutory administrative law judges (ALJ) located within each agency adjudicate administrative law cases brought by agency enforcement personnel, located in the same building as the judges. These judges do not enjoy tenure during good behavior or an irreducible salary. Their rulings are often appealable only to the administrative agency itself and only later to an Article III Court, and then only...

Senator Tom Cotton opened the 2017 National Lawyers Convention on November 16 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. He was introduced by Dean Reuter, Vice President & Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society. Hon. Tom Cotton, United States Senate Introduction: Mr. Dean A. Reuter, Vice President & Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

Through regulation and enforcement, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board and U.S. Department of Labor can have a significant negative or positive impact on our economy. The Trump Administration had a quick start on addressing regulatory reach by issuing three executive actions in its first month to freeze regulations and reduce regulatory costs. But, the pace...

Many are noting an increased use of antitrust enforcement by foreign governments, particularly in Asia, to regulate intellectual property licensing activity of U.S. companies. The U.S. economy relies on longstanding principles of private markets and competition – are Asian competition authorities using antitrust powers in protectionist ways to devalue U.S. intellectual property to benefit th...

EPA regulatory power, voting rights and redistricting, federal directives regarding transgender persons, the constitutionality of ACA provisions, and seized execution drugs. Texas, often joined by other states, sued the federal government at least forty-eight times during the Obama administration. Suits are currently pending against the Trump Administration pertaining to the Emoluments Clause and...

Keynote: Senator John Cornyn, U.S. Senator, TXIntroduction: Charles Eskridge, Partner, Quinn Emanuel

The greater the power of the Executive, the greater the imperative to adhere to the highest ethical standards in the execution of the Executive’s duties. A proposition likely to garner widespread support in theory; but as they say, the devil is in the details. This panel examines the legal and practical bases from which Executive Branch ethics are derived, as well as the role and function of...

What is the constitutional and statutory scope of the Executive Branch’s power in the area of immigration? And how does the Executive’s enforcement, or lack of enforcement, of immigration law impact states and local cities? This panel is a discussion from federal and state perspectives on the current status of the Executive’s implementation of immigration law and the scope of the...

On Wednesday, October 4th at noon in the Moot Court Room the GW Federalist Society Chapter will host a timely debate on the Statutory Authority of Sexual Assault inspired by the ongoing discussion of how the Department of Education is pursuing sexual assault cases on college campuses. Featuring: Wendy Murphy, Adjunct Professor of Sexual Violence Law at New England Law|Boston Stuart Taylor, Contrib...

The Federalist Society and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company presentShakespeare’s Measure by Measure and the Art of Judging. The Federalist Society, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and McCarter & English, LLP present their 15th Annual Shakespeare and the Law program featuring a staged reading of Measure by Measure followed by a discussion of the legal and political issues addressed in t...

October 2nd will mark the first day of oral arguments for the 2017 Supreme Court term. The Court's docket already includes major cases involving Federal Courts, redistricting, the First Amendment, election law, business law, class actions, international and immigration issues, Alien Tort Statute, and the Fourth Amendment. -- The full list of cases granted thus far for the upcoming term can be view...

The Yale Federalist Society presents a conversation and Q&A on income inequality. Is it fair or unfair? -- Featuring: Dr. Yaron Brook, Executive Chairman, Ayn Rand Institute and Author, "Equal Is Unfair" -- and -- Prof. Daniel Markovits, Guido Calabresi Professor of Law, Yale Law School and Author, "Snowball Inequality"

Each year, the U.S. Congress is responsible for developing a federal budget and must pass 12 bills to appropriate the next year’s discretionary federal spending. These bills reflect the priorities of the Members and the Congressional budget process is intended to allow for separate inspection and approval of proposed expenditures. -- For the first two hundred years of our nation’s history nearly e...

The George Washington University Law School (GW) Federalist Society Chapter presents a conversation with United States Senator Rand Paul moderated by GW Professor Orin Kerr. Senator Paul will discuss Congressional authority under Article I and will field questions from the audience. -- Speakers: Professor Orin Kerr, Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law...

Every state has laws or regulations that require individuals seeking to offer a certain service to the public first to obtain approval from the state before they may operate in the state. Recent years have seen a significant proliferation of such laws, with less than 5% of jobs in the American economy requiring a license in the 1950’s to between 25-30% today. Although licensing in some occupations...

On July 13, 2017, Miguel Estrada of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP delivered the Annual Supreme Court Round Up at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

What kind of war power does the Constitution grant the President and Congress? What limitations apply to each branch concerning the power to declare war and the use of military force? Over time, how has the Framers’ understanding been followed and in what ways has it been ignored? Do the founding principles regarding these topics still have application to our modern era? Join us for an insightful...