Note from the Editor: The Federalist Society takes no positions on particular legal and public policy matters. Any expressions of opinion are those of the author. We welcome responses to the views presented here. To join the debate, please email us at info@fedsoc.org.
The Federalist Society was born on law school campuses as a venue for debates and discussions that were considered taboo and weren’t taking place. This provided the seedbed for the resurgence of long dormant constitutional principles and liberties. This rich history of debate is alive and well today as the Student Division is stronger than ever.
In the fall semester of 2015, the Federalist Society hosted over five hundred events, reaching nearly thirty thousand students. Supreme Court Justices, leading advocates, and world-class scholars made the Federalist Society the premier student group on law school campuses across the country. The Federalist Society presented ideas and debated issues that would otherwise not get a hearing in our nation’s often ideologically narrow law schools. Our student leaders initiate and organize all of these events playing a vital role on law school campuses.
To offer a look back and acknowledge the hard work of our students, here are the Top Ten (by way of attendance) events of the Fall 2015 Semester:
10. Harvard Law School: Hon. Paul Clement, “Lawyering in the Roberts Court: Ten Lessons from Ten Years.”
9. Harvard Law School: Justice Anthony Kennedy, “A Conversation with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.”
8. University of Toledo College of Law: Professor David Harris, “A Conversation on Policing & Race in Post-Ferguson America.”
7. University of Texas School of Law: Dr. Ryan Anderson v. Professor Larry Sager, “Religious Liberty Post-Obergefell.”
6. The University of Arkansas School of Law: Professor William Otis v. Ben Jones, “The Death Penalty in Arkansas: Should it be Abolished?”
5. The J. Reuben Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University: Maggie Gallagher v. Professor Fred Gedicks, “Obergefell v. Hodges”
4. Regent University School of Law: Judge Leslie Southwick, “The Judiciary”
3. Harvard Law School: Justice Elena Kagan & Dean Martha Minow, “Q&A with Elena Kagan”
2. The University of Michigan Law School: Justice Tom Lee, “Corpus Linguistics as an Interpretive Tool”
1. Vanderbilt Law School: Professor James Blumstein, Professor Brian Fitzpatrick, Professor Jim Rossi, & Professor Suzanna Sherry, “A Supreme Court Roundup.”
