Constitutional Accountability Center

Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) is a non-profit think tank, public interest law firm, and action center founded in 2008 and located in Washington, D.C. CAC’s work in the courts, through the government, and with legal scholars is organized around the principle that the Constitution’s text and history are inherently progressive. Contributing text-based arguments, CAC participates in U.S Supreme Court, state supreme court, and lower federal court litigation. CAC also produces original legal and historical scholarship on constitutional textualism.

History

CAC was launched on June 3, 2008. Its predecessor organization, Community Rights Counsel, was a non-profit public interest law firm that used text-based arguments to assist communities in environmental matters to protect their health and welfare. Both organizations were founded and led by Douglas Kendall. Advisors to CAC include Yale Law School’s Akhil Amar and Jack Balkin and Duke University School of Law’s Walter Dellinger.^[1]

Philosophy and Methodology

CAC has been cited as an influential purveyor of New Textualism, a school of thought focused on the text, structure, and enactment history of the language of the Constitution.^[2] The organization relies on legal arguments based in constitutional text and history, with particular emphasis on the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.^[3] Inspired by Supreme Court textualists like Chief Justice John Marshall, Justice John Marshall Harlan, and Justice Hugo Black, founder and president Douglas Kendall has stated that this renewed focus on the Civil War Amendments can help to reveal the Constitution as a progressive document.^[4] A CAC publication about New Textualism states that “the Constitution provides concrete and progressive answers to many important questions.”^[5]

Litigation

CAC has filed “friend of the court” briefs in litigation over issues including civil rights, voting rights, campaign finance, health care, immigration, affirmative action, law enforcement, corporate rights, and the environment.

Some U.S. Supreme Court cases in which CAC has filed briefs:

• Citizens United v. FEC (campaign finance, 2010)
  • CAC filed a brief explaining that the text and history of the Constitution make clear that campaign expenditures by corporations can be subject to greater regulation than expenditures by individuals.
• Fisher v. University of Texas (affirmative action, 2013)
  • CAC filed a brief on behalf of law professors Bruce Ackerman, Vikram Amar, Jack Balkin, Burt Neuborne, James Ryan, and Adam Winkler defending the constitutionality of UT-Austin’s admissions policy.
• Hollingsworth v. Perry (same-sex marriage, 2013)
  • CAC filed a joint brief with the Cato Institute demonstrating that the text and history of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantee equality under the law and equality of rights for all persons.
• Shelby County v. Holder (voting rights, 2013)
  • CAC filed a brief on behalf of law professors Jack Balkin, Guy-Uriel Charles, Luis Fuentes-Rohwer, and Adam Winkler demonstrating that the framers of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments gave Congress broad power to enact legislation like the Voting Rights Act to ensure the right to vote free from racial discrimination and infringement by the states.
• McCutcheon v. FEC (campaign finance, 2014)
  • CAC filed a brief on behalf of constitutional law scholar and Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig urging the Court to uphold federal aggregate contribution limits.
• Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (corporate rights, 2014)
  • CAC urged the Court to reject the free exercise and RFRA claims of Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood and uphold the ACA’s contraception coverage requirement as it applies to secular, for-profit corporations.

Scholarship

CAC’s Issue Briefs Series provides commentary and analysis on current constitutional and political issues, including, voting rights, campaign finance, citizenship, corporate rights, and federal power. CAC has also published Issue Briefs and released several reports on the success of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and business interests before the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts.^[6]

CAC also publishes a Text and History Narrative Series, which combines legal and historical scholarship to tell the stories behind Constitutional provisions like the Equal Protection and Privileges and Immunities Clauses, and modern debates like those over corporate personhood and constitutional textualism.

Other Work

CAC works to support the confirmation of federal judges and offers regular commentary on the legal issues of the day on its Text and History blog and through a range of publications and reports. CAC also heads “Constitutional Progressives,” a coalition also anchored by the Center for American Progress and People for the American Way.^[7]

References