2013 Annual Report

The year 2013 was a good one for the Federalist Society as an insitution, in terms of both financial and programmatic growth. The Student Chapters in particular are stronger than ever, not only numerically but also anecdotally. Even as law schools themselves are beginning to suffer the effects of the economic downturn — first year enrollment has not been this low since the 1970s — our chapters' events continue to draw consistently high crowds of students. This indicates a genuine hunger for the intellectual stimulation that Federalist Society programming affords. And we have seen demand for our programming rise not only among the Student Chapters but also in the Lawyers Chapters and Practice Groups as well, and in our Faculty and State Courts activities.

We have responded to this rising demand with more extensive and effective programming every year. Over time I truly believe that our work will be of immeasurable benefit both to the legal community and to the culture of freedom and responsibility which the law is designed to help preserve. During the past year, as part of our efforts towards this end, the Society has significantly expanded its use of social media and technology through Teleforums, Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and even an online video—the first in an online education series which is currently being planned. We hope that this increase in programmatic variety will enable us to convey the constitutional ideas we have discussed for decades to a wider ranging audience than ever before.

For of course that is the purpose of the Federalist Society: to ensure that these constitutional ideas are heard, in the belief that our Founding Fathers conceived the best structure of government human beings have ever devised, and with the confidence that this government's principles — that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be — will lead to a freer and better society.

Sincerely,

Eugene B. Meyer
President