2025 Western Chapters Conference

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Tavern Debate

co-sponsored by the Institute for Justice and the Los Angeles Lawyers Chapter

If you’re coming to the Federalist Society’s Western Chapters Conference, then please arrive a night early for this fun-filled and stimulating night of debate, witty repartee, and constitutional merriment.
For the third year in a row, and once again in the tradition of the Chicago Lawyers Chapter’s long-beloved Tavern Debates, the Federalist Society and the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement invite you to this Oxford-style Tavern Debate.

All conference attendees are welcome to join us on Friday, January 24, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. at the Westlake Yacht Club, a 15-minute drive from where the conference will take place the next day, for an extemporaneous debate where anyone can speak their mind on the following:

Resolved: Limited government, not right government.

For years conservatives and libertarians have pushed for limited, constitutional government: a federal government which exists to protect our rights and liberties, provide for a common defense, and build a few post roads, but little else. Certainly not to enforce the will of elites or the majority or anyone else upon the unwilling. Our government exists to protect individuals, not the other way around. "That government is best which governs least," as Thoreau wrote. Or per Ronald Reagan: the "nine most terrifying words in the English language" are "I'm from the Government, and I'm here to help." The Constitution created a limited federal government and federal courts to enforce those limits.

And yet, how's that going? How many agencies did George W. Bush eliminate? How much spending have we cut? How long have Thoreau and Reagan been gone? Wickard v. Filburn looks as precedential as ever. There’s finally a majority of originalists on the Supreme Court and all they can manage is rearranging administrative deck chairs. What should conservatives and libertarians do? Stand athwart history, yelling "Stop!"—in obeisance to dead heroes—and lose? Maybe it's time to play to win, to forge a government of our liking. The Constitution’s just a piece of paper. Perhaps we should stop being losers and take our country back!

What do you think? Come have a drink or two while listening to the opening statements for and against, and then let us all know! After hearing all the voices—with the appropriate amount of respectful heckling—we will, at the debate’s conclusion, take a vote on the resolution to settle it once and for all.

The Westlake Yacht Club is located on the way from Los Angeles to Simi Valley, just 4 minutes from the Hyatt Regency Westlake and 15 minutes from the Reagan Library. Conference registration includes entry into the event; food and drink provided.

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https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2025-annual-western-chapters-conference#panel-1-how-can-conservatives-win
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Description

Conservatives have always faced questions about both ends and means–what goals should conservatives strive for, and how best can they achieve them? In 1968 and 1976, Ronald Reagan challenged established conservatives on both fronts, and by the end of the 1980s he had redefined conservatism in important ways. Now, 40 years after Reagan’s second term as President began, political and legal conservatives face similar questions. What does victory look like, and how do we get there? This panel will focus on the latter question–a question about methods. In both the political and legal spheres, can conservatives win through persuasion that shapes the culture by changing minds? Or should conservatives adopt a more assertive posture that prioritizes action over debate?

Featuring:

• Mike Berry, Executive Director, Center for LItigation, America First Policy Institute
• Gregg Nunziata, Executive Director, Society for the Rule of Law
• Judd Stone, Stone Hilton, Founding Partner
• Moderator: Hon. Ken Lee, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

Michael D. Berry

Kenneth Kiyul Lee

Gregg Thomas Nunziata

Judd Stone

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https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2025-annual-western-chapters-conference#panel-2-has-the-right-lost-the-argument-for-small-government
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One of the chief divisions in the legal right is whether government laws and regulations aimed at reining in actors who collaborate and act as “agents” for the left are “anti-conservative” in that the implementation of these laws and regulations cuts against traditional conservative principles of smaller government. Recent examples of this are laws aimed at regulating social media outlets by governors in red states from censoring conservative speech on their platforms and laws aimed at curbing transgender procedures. Traditional small government conservatives argue that the government should not regulate private businesses or interfere with parental rights. This tension begs the questions as to what “small government” even means and whether it is still a goal the Right should aspire to or whether the Right should accept or lean into “big government” to achieve its legal and policy objectives. This panel will explore the debate amongst members of the Right regarding big and small(er) government and whether the Right should continue to strive for “smaller government” or should instead embrace “big government” policies as a requirement for good governance.

Featuring:

• Anastasia Boden, Senior Attorney, Pacific Legal Foundation
• Dan Stewart, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLC
• Eric Tung, Partner, Jones Day Los Angeles
• Moderator: Hon. Dan Bress, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

Anastasia P. Boden

Daniel Bress

Daniel H. Stewart

Eric C. Tung

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https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2025-annual-western-chapters-conference#keynote-address-luncheon-16
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Featuring:

• Prof. Steven G. Calabresi, Clayton J. and Henry R. Barber Professor of Law, Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law
• Modertor: Hon. Carolyn B. Kuhl, Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles

There will be copies of the book available for sale and signature at the conference! 

Speakers

Steven G. Calabresi

Carolyn B. Kuhl

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https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2025-annual-western-chapters-conference#panel-3-changes-in-the-role-of-the-judiciary-restraint-vs-activism
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A generation ago, conservative jurists often viewed their roles as minimalists. They did not regard themselves as activists; rather, they believed in “judicial restraint,” deferential to the political branches. Some more recent appointees to the bench have strayed from this traditional view, being more likely to overturn precedent and not adhere to stare decisis in displays of activism. They view “restraint” as passivism. Judicial selection has changed as well, with more attention displayed to a nominee’s written record, demonstrable examples of courage, and judicial fortitude in earlier writings and legal roles. And litigation has changed too, with activist lawyers on the left moving into increasingly bold and aggressive strategies and overt “lawfare” against political and ideological opponents. Changes in view of the role of the judiciary have brought with them changes in how judges should evaluate history. Panelists will discuss these changes, as well as will discuss how changes in the nominations process–from the non-use of blue slips on the circuit level to the use of the “nuclear option” in confirmations–has affected the makeup of the federal judiciary.

Featuring:

• Judge Jay S. Bybee, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
• Adam Feldman, Author, SCOTUSBlog
• Rob Luther, Distinguished Professor of Law, Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University
• Kannon Shanmugam, Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
• Moderator: Hon. Patrick Bumatay, Judge, United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Speakers

Patrick J. Bumatay

Jay S. Bybee

Adam Feldman

Robert Luther

Kannon K. Shanmugam

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https://fedsoc.org/conferences/2025-annual-western-chapters-conference#optional-library-tour
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