American Constitution Society for Law and Policy

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The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is an organization to promote a progressive understanding of the United States Constitution. To accomplish this goal, it organizes chapters of both lawyers and law students, holds frequent events to educate legal professionals about the law, and coordinates issue groups that aim to synthesize and promote a progressive vision of the law.

ACS is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization. It describes itself as a national organization of "law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, policymakers, activists and other concerned individuals working to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice are accorded their rightful, central place in American law."[1]

1 The Constitution in the 21st Century Project
2 Journal
3 Speakers
4 External links

[edit] The Constitution in the 21st Century Project

According to the ACS website:

"ACS is engaged in a multi-year initiative, the Constitution in the 21st Century, to promote positive, much-needed change in our legal and policy landscape. The project brings together scholars and practitioners to formulate and advance a progressive vision of our Constitution and laws that is intellectually sound, practically relevant and faithful to our constitutional values and heritage. The centerpiece of the project is a series of issue groups focused on discrete areas of law and policy, through which a wide range of members will develop, communicate and popularize progressive ideas through papers, conferences and media outreach."

The Constitution in the 21st Century's Issue Groups Include

   * Access to Justice;
   * Constitutional Interpretation and Change;
   * Criminal Justice;
   * Democracy and Voting;
   * Separation of Powers and Federalism; and
   * Equality and Liberty;
   * The Religion Clauses
   * Economic Regulation

These issue groups have published white papers on a diversity of topics including papers arguing in favor of Instant Runoff Voting[2], a zero tolerance policy with respect to torture[3], and a meaningful interpretation of the Establishment Clause which would prohibit religious orthodoxy from being taught in public schools[4]. Other ACS White Papers have focused defining the proper scope of legal protections for journalists and their sources[5], preserving the constitutional rights of so-called enemy combatants[6], and using existing law to protect the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans[7].

[edit] Journal

The Harvard Law & Policy Review (HLPR) is the official journal of the American Constitution Society[8]. Founded in 2006, HLPR promotes innovative approaches to policy challenges by providing a credible and prominent forum for substantive debate between progressive legal scholars, policymakers, and practitioners.

[edit] Speakers

Speakers at ACS events have included:

Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer;
Federal judges Ann Aiken, Lynn Adelman, Marsha Berzon, Rosemary Barkett, William Bryant, Guido Calabresi, Ruben Castillo, Robin J. Cauthron, David Coar, Andre Davis, Michael J. Davis, Raymond Fisher, William Fletcher, Marvin Garbis, Merrick Garland, Nancy Gertner, John Gleeson, Joan Gottschall, David Hamilton, Michael Daly Hawkins, Thelton Henderson, Ellen Segal Huvelle, William Wayne Justice, Alex Kozinski, Kermit Lipez, Gerard Lynch, Boyce Martin, Paul Magnuson, Michael McConnell, Michael McCuskey, Theodore McKee, Diana Gribbon Motz, Louis Oberdorfer, Richard Paez, Virginia Phillips, Robert Pratt, Jed S. Rakoff, Stephen Reinhardt, James Rosenbaum, Edmund Sargus, Shira Scheindlin, Mary Schroeder, Sonia Sotomayor, Jeffrey Sutton, David Tatel, Kim McLane Wardlaw and Diane Wood;
Former Vice President Al Gore;
Senators Joe Biden, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russ Feingold, Tom Harkin, Edward Kennedy, Charles Schumer and the late Paul Wellstone;
Representatives Tammy Baldwin, Bob Barr, Artur Davis, Barney Frank, Jesse Jackson, Jr., John Lewis and Jan Schakowsky;
Former Senators John Edwards and Gary Hart;
Former Attorney General Janet Reno;
Former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder; and
Former Solicitors General Drew Days, Walter Dellinger, and Seth Waxman.