American Constitution Society

The American Constitution Society (ACS) is a progressive legal organization in the United States focused on constitutional interpretation, democratic institutions, civil rights, and the development of a legal community aligned with progressive public-policy goals. It operates as a network and convening organization rather than as a conventional commercial brand. Its activities include legal education, conferences, publications, policy discussions, professional programming, and support for chapters of law students and practicing attorneys. ACS was founded in 2001 in the aftermath of Bush v. Gore, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that resolved the disputed 2000 presidential election. Peter J. Rubin, a legal scholar who served as counsel to Al Gore during the election litigation, founded the organization. It was initially known as the Madison Society for Law and Policy before adopting the American Constitution Society name. From its beginning, ACS was conceived as a counterweight to the Federalist Society, the conservative legal network that had become influential in legal education, judicial debate, and the development of conservative constitutional arguments. ACS is frequently described as the progressive counterpart to the Federalist Society, although commentators have also emphasized differences in funding, reach, institutional influence, and intellectual style. The organization’s stated mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that address what it describes as the Constitution’s founding failures, strengthen democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and advance equality for historically excluded communities. Its stated areas of concern include racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, voting and democratic participation, judicial independence, and the accountability of public institutions. ACS seeks to influence legal culture through lawyers, law students, academics, judges, policymakers, and civic organizations rather than through the sale of products. ACS’s network includes law-school chapters and lawyer chapters throughout the United States. These chapters provide venues for lectures, debates, panels, networking, and discussion of constitutional and public-law issues. The national organization also sponsors conferences and educational initiatives and produces or supports written analysis intended to shape progressive legal thought. Its 2009 publication Keeping Faith with the Constitution, written by Pamela S. Karlan, Goodwin Liu, and Christopher H. Schroeder, was presented as a guide to progressive constitutionalism and was subsequently reissued by Oxford University Press. The organization has also taken public positions on judicial nominations, the independence of investigations, and the operation of the Justice Department. In 2018, ACS released a letter signed by more than 1,600 attorneys concerning Matthew Whitaker’s appointment as acting attorney general and his oversight of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The letter called for Whitaker to recuse himself or be removed from supervision of the investigation because of alleged ethical conflicts. ACS has been led by a succession of figures from progressive legal, academic, and public-policy circles. David Halperin served as its founding executive director from 2001 to 2003. Lisa Brown served as executive director and took leave in 2008 to join Barack Obama’s presidential transition team; she later became the first White House staff secretary in the Obama administration. Caroline Fredrickson was president from 2009 through 2019. Former Democratic U.S. Senator Russ Feingold served as president from 2020 to 2025. The organization’s board and leadership network has also included former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu as a former board chair. ACS remains an advocacy, education, and professional-networking institution whose principal influence is exercised through legal ideas, community building, public events, written work, and participation in debates over courts and constitutional governance. Its public identity is closely tied to progressive legal reform and to the broader contest between competing ideological networks in American law.

The American Constitution Society emerged in 2001 after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v. Gore ended the legal contest over the 2000 presidential election. Peter J. Rubin, a legal scholar who had served as counsel to Al Gore during the election litigation, founded the organization. It initially operated under the name Madison Society for Law and Policy and was later renamed the American Constitution Society. The organization was created to build a durable progressive legal network and to provide a counterweight to the Federalist Society. The Federalist Society had developed a substantial presence among law students, lawyers, academics, and judges through programming centered on conservative and originalist legal ideas. ACS adopted a broadly comparable network model, using chapters, conferences, publications, and professional events to develop progressive constitutional and public-law arguments. Its initial funding included support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Democracy Alliance has listed ACS as a recommended funding recipient. During its early years, ACS developed a national structure involving law-school chapters, lawyer chapters, public events, and educational projects. Its programming addressed constitutional interpretation, civil rights, voting rights, judicial independence, equality, and the responsibilities of government institutions. The organization’s work has generally combined academic discussion with practical engagement in legal and political debates, particularly those involving courts and judicial nominations. David Halperin served as the founding executive director from 2001 to 2003. Lisa Brown later served as executive director. In 2008, Brown took leave to work on Barack Obama’s presidential transition team, where she headed the agency review team; she subsequently became the first White House staff secretary in the Obama administration. Her temporary move into presidential transition and White House service illustrated the links between ACS’s legal-policy network and Democratic public institutions. Caroline Fredrickson served as ACS president from 2009 through 2019. During this period, the organization expanded its public profile as progressive lawyers and academics debated constitutional interpretation, the role of courts, executive power, civil rights, and the composition of the judiciary. The organization also supported the publication of Keeping Faith with the Constitution in 2009. Written by Pamela S. Karlan, Goodwin Liu, and Christopher H. Schroeder, the book presented a primer on progressive constitutionalism and was reissued by Oxford University Press in 2010. ACS became particularly visible in debates over the Justice Department and the independence of federal investigations during the Trump administration. In November 2018, after Matthew Whitaker became acting attorney general, ACS released a letter signed by more than 1,600 attorneys. The letter urged lawmakers and Justice Department officials to protect the special counsel’s Russia investigation and argued that Whitaker should recuse himself or otherwise be removed from oversight because of claimed ethical conflicts. Commentators have compared ACS with the Federalist Society while noting that the organizations do not have equivalent resources or institutional influence. A 2019 Politico analysis described ACS’s network model as similar to that of the Federalist Society but contrasted their relative chapter numbers, fundraising, and influence over the judiciary. The comparison has remained part of ACS’s public identity: it is commonly recognized as a progressive legal-network counterpart, but not as a mirror image in funding, judicial appointments, or intellectual strategy. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has served on the ACS board, and Goodwin Liu, a California Supreme Court justice, has been a former board chair. Russ Feingold became president in 2020 and held the position through 2025. Across its history, ACS has continued to emphasize constitutional democracy, the rule of law, equality, and legal participation by communities it identifies as historically excluded. Its principal outputs remain programs, chapters, publications, advocacy, and networks rather than commercial products.

• 2025

  End of reported Feingold presidency

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The available reference material identifies 2025 as the end of Russ Feingold’s reported tenure as ACS president.

• 2020

  Russ Feingold becomes president

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold began serving as ACS president.

• 2018

  Attorney letter on special-counsel oversight

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  ACS released a letter signed by more than 1,600 attorneys concerning Matthew Whitaker’s oversight of the Mueller investigation.

• 2010

  Keeping Faith with the Constitution reissued

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Oxford University Press reissued the constitutional-law book associated with ACS’s progressive legal education work.

• 2009

  Keeping Faith with the Constitution published

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  ACS published a progressive constitutional-law primer by Pamela S. Karlan, Goodwin Liu, and Christopher H. Schroeder.

• 2009

  Caroline Fredrickson becomes president

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Caroline Fredrickson began a presidency that continued through 2019.

• 2008

  Executive director joins Obama transition

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Lisa Brown took leave from ACS to head the agency review team for Barack Obama’s presidential transition and later became White House staff secretary.

• 2003

  Founding executive director completes tenure

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  David Halperin, identified as ACS’s founding executive director, completed his reported tenure after helping establish the organization’s early structure.

• 2001

  Organization founded after Bush v. Gore

  [1]American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org

  Peter J. Rubin founded the organization in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s resolution of the 2000 presidential election dispute. It initially used the name Madison Society for Law and Policy.

A progressive constitutional-law network and legal-policy organization positioned as an institutional and intellectual counterweight to the Federalist Society. ACS emphasizes democratic legitimacy, equality, civil rights, judicial accountability, and the rule of law.

• Legal education and professional network

  Law-student chapters

  ACS supports chapters at law schools across the United States. These chapters organize panels, debates, lectures, and discussions involving constitutional law, public policy, civil rights, judicial nominations, and democratic institutions. They also provide law students with access to progressive legal scholars, practitioners, judges, and public-interest organizations.

• Legal education and professional network

  Lawyer chapters

  ACS lawyer chapters connect practicing attorneys and other legal professionals through educational events and public-law programming. Their activities extend the organization’s national network beyond law schools and create local forums for discussion of constitutional governance, equality, civil rights, and the administration of justice.

• Conference and public programming

  Conferences and events

  The organization hosts conferences, panels, lectures, and other events addressing constitutional interpretation and current legal-policy questions. These programs are designed to convene academics, lawyers, students, judges, policymakers, and civic participants around progressive perspectives on law and democratic institutions.

• Book and constitutional-law publication · 2009

  Keeping Faith with the Constitution

  Published in 2009 by Pamela S. Karlan, Goodwin Liu, and Christopher H. Schroeder, this work served as an accessible introduction to progressive constitutionalism. It was reissued by Oxford University Press in 2010 and became one of the publications associated with ACS’s effort to develop and communicate progressive constitutional ideas.

• 2018Protect the Mueller investigation letter

  United States

  ACS coordinated the release of a letter signed by more than 1,600 attorneys after Matthew Whitaker became acting attorney general. The letter urged officials to protect the special counsel’s Russia investigation and raised concerns about Whitaker’s ability to oversee it.

  Outcome. The letter publicly consolidated legal opposition to Whitaker’s oversight of the investigation. The available reference material does not establish a specific institutional outcome attributable to the campaign.

  Source
• 2001Progressive legal-network development

  United States

  ACS was established to build a national network of progressive lawyers, law students, academics, and public-policy participants and to provide an organized counterweight to the Federalist Society.

  Outcome. The organization developed chapters, conferences, publications, and educational programming around progressive constitutional and public-law perspectives.

  Source

• 2018

  Call for protection of the special-counsel investigationStrategy

  Background

  Matthew Whitaker’s appointment as acting attorney general raised questions among ACS and supporting attorneys about his supervision of the Mueller investigation.

  Action taken

  ACS released an attorney letter urging Whitaker to recuse himself or otherwise be removed from oversight of the investigation.

  Aftermath

  The letter made ACS a visible participant in the legal debate over Justice Department independence and special-counsel oversight. No specific policy result is established by the supplied sources.

  Source

• 2001

  Create a progressive counterpart to the Federalist SocietyStrategy

  Background

  The organization was formed after Bush v. Gore amid concern that progressive lawyers and scholars lacked a comparably organized national legal network.

  Action taken

  ACS adopted a chapter, conference, publication, and legal-education model intended to build progressive constitutional and public-law capacity.

  Aftermath

  ACS became widely identified as the progressive counterpart to the Federalist Society, although commentators have noted substantial differences in resources and judicial influence.

  • Federalist Society — The Federalist Society is commonly used as the comparison point for ACS’s network model; no specific direct reaction is documented in the supplied material.

  Source

1. 1American Constitution Societyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2American Constitution Society official websiteacslaw.org