Why There's No Liberal Federalist Society

[brooklynite]

Politico:

Over the past three decades, the Federalist Society has ascended from modest origins to become one of the most influential legal organizations in American history, with intellectual reach and political clout that no other legal group can match. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump effectively outsourced his Supreme Court picks to Federalist Executive Vice President Leonard Leo, and the group has enjoyed a near-lockdown on new appointments to the federal bench under Trump, most notably on the Supreme Court, where Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch each had long-standing Federalist ties prior to their nominations.

So where’s the response from the left?

As liberals anxiously watch Trump populate the federal bench with one dyed-in-the-wool conservative after another, it’s only natural for them to ask why there’s no heavyweight progressive organization to counter its influence. There are some academic groups with a progressive bent, such as the Law and Society Association, but they generally don’t venture outside of scholarship. Last year, Hillary Clinton’s former spokesperson Brian Fallon helped create a new activist group called Demand Justice to spearhead political advocacy against conservative judges. None of these groups, however, have anywhere near the breadth of ambition of the Federalist Society, which both builds a roster of prospective conservative judges and sustains the intellectual regime that fosters new ones.

There actually is one liberal analog to the Federalist Society, but chances are you haven’t heard of it: the American Constitution Society, founded in 2001, after the Supreme Court decision that effectively handed the presidency to George W. Bush. In the wake of what ACS President Caroline Fredrickson calls the “Aha! moment,” ACS was launched as a conscious response to the Federalist Society. Their operations are mirror images: conferences, chapters of law students and practicing attorneys, and education projects.

But the playing field is decidedly not level. The Federalist Society has more student chapters, more than twice as many lawyer chapters and a huge fundraising edge. In 2016, ACS had total revenues of approximately $6.5 million, while the Federalist Society took in $26.7 million. And the relative impact of the organizations can hardly be compared. The federal and state judiciaries are filled with Federalist judges, but there are no “ACS” judges to be found on the Supreme Court or the federal benches. It’s just not a thing.

[DBoon]

1. Not enough liberal billionaires to fund these front organizations

These groups are designed to push the politics of the wealthiest 0.1% of the population

Rising wealth and income inequality has strengthened the power of this small group while making it very difficult for the rest of this to counter

[unblock]

2. the problem is the right-wing is a sound business investment, at least for short-sighted bastards.

the republican party and the right-wing in general has a built-in advantage in that businesses and rich people view it as a profitable investment. a business can put $1 million into lobbying for something and reap a profit of $100 million due to more favorable tax laws or other regulations, weaker enforcement, etc.

i'm not making up that ratio -- a 100-to-1 return on investment is what's typically described in articles about why businesses lobby.



the return on investment isn't nearly as clear-cut and obvious for the left. first, it's usually not businesses or rich people, so there's not as much money available to donate in the first place. second, getting something like equal rights for lgbtq people is a much longer and larger struggle. it's not just a little loophole that can be snuck into the latest tax law.


the advantage the federalist society has is ultimately the same advantage the right wing has elsewhere in politics. we allow money to roll over the will of the majority.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

4. +1

Good info.

[manor321]

3. I've known about ACS for years, and have watched them on C-SPAN

We need to pay more attention to these types of groups.

[anarch]

5. as long as capitalism is the de facto state religion, it's going to be difficult

to increase the number of left-leaning judges in federal courts. Eventually, maybe, the political will of the majority of citizens will overcome the influence of capitalists, but really that's what Citizens United was all about--making sure corporate interests are prioritized over everything else. Things are set up now to maintain the capitalist system, which basically means ensuring that the American people are treated as resources for the wealthy elite to exploit, and not as citizens whose welfare the state is supposed to look after.

[Gothmog]

6. I have been to ACS events and worked with this group on voter protection

I have been to a couple ACS events on voting rights. I believe in partisan voter protection where you work with a candidate or party but this group is a good group of lawyers