Aims and Membership
In working to promote the ideology set forth in its "Statement of Principles", the Society has created a network of intellectuals and others at all levels of the legal community. The Student Division has more than 10,000 law students as members, and the Society draws on the national office's network of legal experts to provide speakers for differing viewpoints at law school events. The activities of the Student Division are complemented by the activities of the Lawyers Division, which comprises more than 30,000 legal professionals, and the Faculty Division, which includes many professors of law and jurisprudence and other legal specialists in the academic community.
The Society seeks to debate constitutional issues and public policy questions, and this commitment extends to inviting speakers who do not agree with the society's principles. For example, past invitees include Justice Stephen Breyer and law professor Alan Dershowitz, two legal authorities who disagree with many of the Society's views. Society member and UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh explained this willingness to discuss other views by writing, "We think that a fair debate between us and our liberal adversaries will win more converts for our positions than for the other side’s." In the words of Dan Lowenstein, a Democrat and political appointee of former California governor Jerry Brown, "The Federalist Society is one of the few student organizations putting on public events that contribute to the intellectual life of the law school." The Federalist Society's guide to forming and running a chapter of the society claims that the organization "creates an informal network of people with shared views which can provide assistance in job placement."
Read more about this topic: Federalist Society
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