Watch a short video about ACS.

Contents
•Goals
•Organization
•Membership

Goals

Janet Reno addresses members at a Summer 2001 ACS event The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) is one of the nation's leading progressive legal organizations. Founded in 2001, ACS is comprised of law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, policymakers, activists and other concerned individuals who are working to ensure that the fundamental principles of human dignity, individual rights and liberties, genuine equality, and access to justice are in their rightful, central place in American law. The American Constitution Society is a non-partisan, non-profit educational organization. We do not, as an organization, lobby, litigate or take positions on specific issues, cases, legislation or nominations. We do encourage our members to express their views and make their voices heard.     More on our Goals

Judge David Tatel, Judge Nathaniel Jones and John Payton at ACS's Second Annual Summer Washington Event.. Speakers at ACS events have included former Vice President Al Gore; Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton, John Edwards, Tom Harkin, Edward Kennedy, and Paul Wellstone; Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Barney Frank, Jesse Jackson, Jr., and Bob Barr; former Governor Michael Dukakis; former Rep. Robert Drinan; former Atty. General Janet Reno; former judge and White House Counsel Abner Mikva; former judge Patricia Wald; federal judges Ann Aiken, William Bryant, Ruben Castillo, Robin J. Cauthron, David Coar, Andre Davis, Michael J. Davis, William Fletcher, Marvin Garbis, John Gleeson, Joan Gottschall, David Hamilton, Michael Daly Hawkins, Ellen Segal Huvelle, Nathaniel Jones, William Wayne Justice, Alex Kozinski, Gerard Lynch, Paul Magnuson, Michael McCuskey, Diana Gribbon Motz, Louis Oberdorfer, Robert Pratt, Jed S. Rakoff, Stephen Reinhardt, James Rosenbaum, Edmund Sargus, Shira Scheindlin, Mary Schroeder Sonia Sotomayor, and David Tatel; Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Jones; Arizona Supreme Court Justice Stanley Feldman; former Arizona Supreme Court Justice Thomas Zlakat; former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder; former Solicitors General Drew Days, Walter Dellinger, and Seth Waxman; former Asst. Atty. General Deval Patrick; former White House counsel Beth Nolan; Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano; Common Cause president and former Mass. Atty. Gen. Scott Harshbarger; Harvard law professors Laurence Tribe and Christopher Edley; Ralph Nader; NAACP LDF president Elaine Jones; Public Citizen attorney Alan Morrison; Trial Lawyers for Public Justice exec. director Arthur Bryant; ACLU exec. director Anthony Romero; ACLU president Nadine Strossen; Alliance For Justice president Nan Aron; People for the American Way president Ralph Neas; and LAMBDA Legal Defense Fund Director Ruth Harlow.

American Constitution Society Organization

Student Chapters Georgetown ACS President David Fauvre speaks to the crowd about the goals and the progress of the ACS before Senator Clinton takes the stage at a Georgetown chapter ACS event on March 12, 2002. Student chapters are at the heart of the American Constitution Society. The American Constitution Society began with a chapter organized by law students at Georgetown University. Now we have more than 80 chapters on campuses across the country, and we are working with students and faculty to launch additional chapters. We hope that, through our student chapters, law students will gain a greater understanding of the legitimacy of a vision of the law that gives human values a central place. As new students begin the process of learning to “think like lawyers,” we believe the activities of these chapters – speeches, debates, symposia, student meetings, reasearch and writing projects – will demonstrate to them that rigorous legal thinking does not require the abandonment of such values. We expect that our student chapters will create a community for like-minded students, and introduce them to faculty, practitioners, former and current government officials, and public interest advocates who share their values. Our chapters have become central meeting places for the exchange of opportunities for bringing positive change to the law. Our national organization assists student chapters with administrative issues, with obtaining speakers, and with defraying the costs of some chapter programs. Read more about current student chapters or contact a local student chapter. No student chapter at your school?  Start one today!
Lawyer Chapters In addition to student chapters, the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy has Lawyer Chapters in over a dozen locations, with more on the way. Lawyer Chapters are comprised of moderate, liberal and progressive law students, lawyers, scholars, judges, policymakers, activists and other concerned individuals who are 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. Get involved in a lawyer chapter in Boston, Cincinnati, Chicago, Georgia, Houston, Iowa, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Nashville, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, South Florida or Washington, D.C. Professor Laurence Tribe at the L.A. Lawyer Chapter kickoff.
ACS's National Office and National Events The American Constitution Society's national office is located on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. We have full-time staff members, plus part-time and summer law and undergraduate students. The national office provides program guidance, speakers, logistical support, advice, and some funding for ACS chapters. National ACS is guided by a Board of Directors and a Board of Advisors. Read information about national ACS leadership and staff. ACS sponsors some national events, such as our annual Summer Washington Event and occasional major speaking programs, that are not connected to any particular ACS chapter.
Speakers Bureau The American Constitution Society makes available to both student and lawyer chapters the resources of our national speakers bureau. Outstanding scholars, judges, former and current government officials, public interest advocates, and others have agreed to speak at American Constitution Society chapter events. Our goal is to sponsor lectures and discussions that are academically rigorous and intellectually honest. To that end, we help chapters to secure prominent, articulate and enthusiastic speakers for their more significant events.

Membership

Most American Constitution Society student and lawyer chapter events are open to all interested participants. Membership in the national American Constitution Society is not a prerequisite for membership in a student chapter. Membership in the national ACS is required for membership in an ACS lawyer chapter. Members of the national American Constitution Society receive special invitations and discounts for certain national and lawyer chapter events, regular updates on our activities, our periodic newsletter, and other benefits. The minimum contribution required for membership in the national American Constitution Society is $10 per year for students, $25 per year for law faculty and government or public interest lawyers, and $35 per year for lawyers in private practice and others. If you want to contribute more than that to support our activities, we won’t stop you. In fact, we would be grateful. We are recognized by the IRS as a non-profit 501(c)(3) educational organization, and your membership dues and contributions are tax-deductible to the full extent of the law. You may join the American Constitution Society online or download the membership form.