Federalist Society

God, guns, and freedom U.S. Politics

Starting arguments over Thanksgiving dinner

Reform Party Tim Kaine Todd Akin United States politics Dana Rohrabacher Tom DeLay Colin Powell

Persons of interest

Greg Abbott John Brennan Roy Cohn Betsy DeVos Jonah Goldberg Fred Karger v - t - e

“”In many ways, the progressive education establishment is akin to a leftist "Hive"-people who think and speak alike and move in concert, even without centralized control or an active conspiracy. The education Hive exercises power and influence in every state and nearly all Western countries. From the Department of Education, to congressional education committees, to state departments of education, to colleges of education, to the numerous and multiplying individuals and private foundations that dump money and theory into questionable education reform efforts, the Hive is enormous and remarkably monolithic. There are differences, to be sure, on topics such as charter schools, but about the fundamentals there is no disagreement.

—Contributor Jane Robbins June 17, 2016 claiming education isn't a liberal conspiracy while being a conspiracy

The Centralist Federalist Society is a right-wing society of "legal" "professionals" and law students run by executive director Eugene Meyer. Advocates wish to reform the current order by influencing who will become lawyers, judges, and government officials in the United States to only promote their right-wing views. They say those views are the original correct interpretation of the Constitution and that liberal judges have used their position to make laws instead of interpretate them. To counter this they wish to strike down opposing opinions, change laws, and make new laws.

The group also works to provide a network so more of their crony fellows get jobs while rejecting anyone they might consider left wing or of differing opinion.

Positions

Their positions are unsurprisingly nearly identical to other right-wing organizations, where they get most of their funding. Including the repeal of major portions of:

• Civil rights laws
  • Including promotion of telling doctors how to treat LGBTQ patients.
  • Liberals, minorities, women wanting equal rights, and anyone who doesn't agree with their views is a parasite.
  • Ideas that make the North Carolina "religious freedom" law look tame because we need a Freedom Restoration Act, which was of course what the Constitution was meant to be. So much for being originality of the Constitution when it starts being changed.
• Reproductive choice
• Labor and employment regulations
  • Disney was not at fault for failing to put up signs that could have stopped a child from getting eaten by an alligator because it could happen anywhere.
• Environmental protections
• Democracy itself, gradually

all while pushing:

• Bizarre views on "progressive education"
  • Memorization is more important than critical thinking
  • Projects in schools instead of repetition hurts poor children
  • Thinking that schools with enough of a budget to teach arts classes can do so while schools that lack the budget cannot is elitist. Claiming this is a progressive idea instead of failing to fund the programs or removing it for more time to teach to the tests required by No Child Left Behind.
• Guns for all everywhere for all time
• Excessive unintentionally hilarious machismo while calling others sissies.
• Being against premarital sex from a group that hates being told what to do.
• Not eating meat at every opportunity, or being for the ethical treatment of animals, means you have never met a farmer and are clueless about how food gets to your table. An odd combination to speak out against.

2016 Presidential Election

Donald Trump has vowed to delegate his appointment powers to the Federalist Society and movement conservatives without review if elected. To his credit, this is a promise he has largely kept during his subsequent presidency. The only qualifications for Trump's judges was being a member of the Federalist Society, despite several being deemed unqualified for their positions.

The effects of this vow can best be seen in the appointment of Supreme Court justices with all three Trump appointees being Federalist Society contributors. Neil Gorsuch was one of nine Federalist Society–connected members listed on a Federalist Society Supreme Court checklist and celebrated his appointment by speaking at a Federalist Society dinner. Brett Kavanaugh followed this trend, celebrating his appointment at a Federalist Society dinner even while protestors rallied at the building holding the event over the sexual assault charges he was accused of. The most recent GOP appointee, Amy Coney Barrett, has had connections to the Federalist Society since law school, with colleagues saying she was groomed as a Supreme Court candidate by the Society.

Bush Jr. Era

They were very active in stacking the George W. Bush administration and federal courts including notable officials:

• Former Attorney General John Ashcroft
• Former Secretary of the Department of Energy Spencer Abraham
• Former Secretary of the Department of Interior Gale Norton
• Former Solicitor of Labor Eugene Scalia (Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia's son)
• Former General Counsel of the Department of Education Brian Jones
• Former Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson
• Former Solicitor General Ted Olson
• Former Assistant Attorney General for Legal Policy Viet Dinh
• Former Inspector General of Department of Defense Joseph E. Schmitz
• Former Asst. Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources Thomas L. Sansonetti
• Former Solicitor General Paul Clement
• Failed presidential candidate Ted Cruz
• Former Director of National Institute of Justice Sarah V. Hart
• Former Associate White House Counsel Bradford Berenson
• Former Associate White House Counsel Noel Francisco
• Samuel Alito, confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court
• John Roberts, confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court
• Janice Rogers Brown, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
• Miguel Estrada, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit [withdrawn]
• Brett Kavanaugh, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, later confirmed to U.S. Supreme Court under Trump
• D. Brooks Smith, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Michael Chertoff, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, currently Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
• William Haynes, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• Edith Brown Clement, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Priscilla R. Owen, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
• Henry Saad, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [withdrawn]
• Susan Neilson, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Deborah Cook, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Jeffrey Sutton, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• David W. McKeague, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• Diane Sykes, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• Steven Collonton, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Raymond Gruender, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
• Carlos Bea, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Carolyn B. Kuhl, nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit [withdrawn]
• Jay Bybee, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Harris L. Hartz, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Michael McConnell, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• Timothy M. Tymkovich, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
• William Pryor, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Thomas B. Griffith, confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit

See also

• Peter Thiel — Right-wing billionaire who was president of Stanford's Federalist Society chapter.