FedSoc Events

On August 13, 1999, the Federalist Society's Criminal Law & Procedure Practice Group sponsored a panel at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The panel considered the question "Did the Law Cause Columbine?". Featuring: Introduction: Justice George Nicholson, California Court of Appeal, Third District Moderator: Troy Eid, Chief Counsel to Gov. Bill Owens (CO) Chief Judge J. Harvie Wilkin...

Attorney General Richard Thornburgh offered a keynote address to conclude the first day of the conference. Featuring: Introduction: William Bradford Reynolds, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice Richard L. Thornburgh, Attorney General of the United States

On June 23, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Vega v. Tekoh. In a 6-3 decision, the Court reversed and remanded the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Court held that a violation of the prophylactic rules described in Miranda v. Arizona does not provide a basis for a claim under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the Court. Justice Kagan filed...

On June 13 and 15, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Denezpi v. United States and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v. Texas respectively. Both cases dealt with issues of Native American law. In Denezpi, a 6-3 Court ruled that the double jeopardy clause does not bar successive prosecutions of distinct offenses arising from a single act, in a case where a man was prosecuted in both a federal district court and a...

Whether in academia, on Capitol Hill, among federal and state enforcers, or in the plaintiff and defense bars, few topics are debated as hotly as the future of antitrust law. The Biden administration's ambitious competition policies and enforcement goals are evolving against the backdrop of this larger debate – and to strong fanfare in some quarters. Certain academics, practitioners, and pol...

Nearly fifty years ago, Alexander Solzhenitsyn released the text of a four-page essay titled Live Not By Lies. The account of his eight-year imprisonment as a political dissident in a Russian gulag had just been published in the West. In retaliation, the Russian government exiled Solzhenitsyn to Zurich. The day before his expulsion from Russia, Solzhenitsyn released the text and eventually made hi...

We recognize the risks of agency overreach when rulemaking seeks to impose ESG considerations on business. But to what extent have private banks and institutional investors also been able to leverage their economic power to shape firm behavior on climate and other ESG questions – outside of the democratic process? And if we worry that the administrative state lacks political accountability f...

On June 21, 2022, the Supreme Court decided Carson v. Makin. In a 6-3 opinion, the Court reversed and remanded the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The Court held that Maine's "nonsectarian" requirement for otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments to parents who live in school districts that do not operate a secondary school of their own violates the fr...

This event is sold out. We will take walk-ins at the door if room becomes available. Cryptocurrency. Decentralized finance. Nonfungible tokens. Once only experts on the cutting edge of financial services were familiar with these terms. Now, with the emergence of digital assets within the global financial system, crypto, DeFi, and NFTs are becoming part of the mainstream financial services lexicon....

Cryptocurrency. Decentralized finance. Nonfungible tokens. Once only experts on the cutting edge of financial services were familiar with these terms. Now, with the emergence of digital assets within the global financial system, crypto, DeFi, and NFTs are becoming part of the mainstream financial services lexicon. The rapidly emerging crypto ecosystem faces uncertainty within a regulatory regime d...

On May 5, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a new "Comprehensive Environmental Justice Strategy." One piece of this new strategy was an Interim Final Rule reintroducing the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) in environmental enforcement action settlements. As defined by the Biden administration, SEPs are "local projects that defendants can agree to undertake as...

The “Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act” amended the Federal Arbitration Act to bar mandatory employment arbitration agreements covering sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. This program will feature Prof. Alexander J.S. Colvin and G. Roger King who testified before Congress as the legislation was being considered (see here and here respective...

On January 30-31, 1987, the Federalist Society hosted its first-ever national lawyers convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The conference featured an address by Dr. Thomas Sowell on "Judges and the Law" Featuring: Introduction: William Bradford Reynolds, Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice Dr. Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institute

We recognize the risks of agency overreach when rulemaking seeks to impose ESG considerations on business. But to what extent have private banks and institutional investors also been able to leverage their economic power to shape firm behavior on climate and other ESG questions – outside of the democratic process? And if we worry that the administrative state lacks political accountability f...

Featuring: Anthony LoCoco, Deputy Counsel, Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) Colin T. Roth, Partner, Stafford Rosenbaum LLP Ryan J. Walsh, Partner, Eimer Stahl LLP Moderator: Hon. Shelley A. Grogan, Judge, District II, Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Featuring: Prof. Christopher W. Schmidt, Professor of Law & Co-Director of ISCOTUS, Chicago-Kent College of Law Daniel Suhr, Senior Attorney, Liberty Justice Center Misha Tseytlin, Partner, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP Moderator: Hon. Maria S. Lazar, Judge-Elect, District II, Wisconsin Court of Appeals

Deference doctrines utilized by the federal Judiciary when federal agencies act is the subject of substantial debate and attention. Chevron deference, Skidmore deference, and Kisor/Auer deference are recognizable to many. But less attention is paid to how state legislatures and judiciaries calibrate the balance of separated powers on the same score. In this webinar, Professor Aram Gavoor will lead...

On March 24, 1998, the Federalist Society's student chapter at Cardozo School of Law in New York City, New York, hosted a lecture by Dean James Huffman of Lewis & Clark Law School which covered "Judicial Activism and the Role of the Judiciary." Featuring: Dean James Huffman, Lewis & Clark Law School

In midst of the pandemic, among the many urgent public demands, Chicago took the time to assess the propriety of monuments to historical figures like Abraham Lincoln. Cities across the country are grappling with the legacy of such figures, many of whom did not live perfect lives. Chicago's effort was part of a larger social movement to remove from sight, or to hold accountable, historical and cont...

Leading the charge for abolition during the Civil War-era, among others, were abolitionists with deeply held religious beliefs. Today, virtually everyone supports religious liberty and virtually everyone opposes discrimination. But how do we handle the hard questions that arise when exercises of religious liberty seem to discriminate unjustly? Or when anti-discrimination laws unjustly constrain re...

The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868, dramatically changed constitutional law. How are we to understand these changes? How would an originalist understand these changes? Did the Fourteenth Amendment change our Federalism and, if so, how much? Does the Fourteenth Amendment protect unenumerated rights? Speakers: Prof. Evan D. Bernick, Assistant Professor, Northern Illinois University College of...

On October 9, 1996, the Federalist Society's student chapter at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans, LA hosted its annual James Madison Lecture, featuring former attorney general Edwin Meese III as the keynote speaker. Featuring: Moderator: Justice Harry T. Lemmon, Louisiana Supreme Court Introductory Remarks: Harvey C. Koch, Partner, Koch & Rouse Introduction: Verne Spears, Member,...

Across the country, states are looking at how to handle the privacy rights of their citizens regarding "big tech." Illinois, Virginia, California, and Florida have their versions. Ohio is trying to tackle this issue through HB 376. HB 376 is being described as a consumer protection bill, which will protect the selling of data by "big tech" companies and allow recourse for citizens when their data...

Law in the form of regulation is increasingly made, enforced, and adjudicated by administrative agencies, e.g. the OSHA vaccine mandate. Does this growth in administrative law threaten individual liberties or is it a more efficient and expert-driven way to govern? Featuring: Clegg Ivey, Director of Engagement, New Civil Liberties Alliance Prof. William S. Jordan III, C. Blake McDowell, Jr. Profess...

Featuring: Hon. William H. Pryor, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit Introduction given by: Hon. Chad A. Readler, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit