FedSoc Events

Is President Obama failing in this basic obligation of the President? Allegations of lawlessness have been made about his decisions not to enforce the immigration law, to suspend some requirements of the Affordable Care Act, and to flout Congress’s requirement of thirty-day notice before freeing prisoners from Guantanamo. Are these fair charges or does the President enjoy inherent constitutional power or specific statutory authority to decline enforcement? What should be Congress’s reaction to non-enforcement? Does this pattern of non-enforcement imply anything more general about the President’s legal or political philosophy? -- The Federalist Society's Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group presented this panel on "The President's Duty to Take Care that the Law Be Faithfully Executed" on Thursday, November 13, during the 2014 National Lawyers Convention. -- Featuring: Dr. John S. Baker, Jr. Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Professor Emeritus of Law, Dale E. Bennett Professor of Law, Louisiana State University Law School; Hon. Ronald A. Cass, Dean Emeritus, Boston University School of Law and President, Cass & Associates, PC; Prof. Neal E. Devins, Goodrich Professor of Law, Cabell Research Professor, Professor of Government, Director, Institute of Bill of Rights Law; and Director, Election Law Program, The College of William & Mary; and Prof. Christopher H. Schroeder, Charles S. Murphy Professor of Law and Public Policy Studies; Co-Director of the Program in Public Law, Duke Law School. Moderator: Hon. Thomas B. Griffith, U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit. Introduction: Dr. John C. Eastman, Henry Salvatori Professor of Law and Community Service; Former Dean (2007 – 2010); and Director, Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, Dale E Fowler School of Law, Chapman University; and Chairman, Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group.

In January 2014, in his State of the Union Address, President Obama called on Congress to raise the national minimum wage to $10.10 an hour. In February, President Obama used his pen to raise the minimum wage for employees working on government contracts to $10.10 through an Executive Order. This panel will explore the policy and economics of increasing the minimum wage, which the White House asserts will lift wages for millions of Americans and boost the bottom lines of businesses. -- The Federalist Society's Labor & Employment Law Practice Group presented this panel on "The Minimum Wage" on Thursday, November 13, during the 2014 National Lawyers Convention. -- Featuring: Mr. Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President, Economic Policy Institute and former Member, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission; Ms. Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, former chief economist, U.S. Department of Labor; Mrs. Karen R. Harned, Executive Director, National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Foundation; and Hon. David Weil, Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor. Moderator: Hon. William F. Kuntz, II, United States District Court, Eastern District of New York.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013-14 Term included two major religion cases, Town of Greece v. Galloway and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. In Galloway, the Court held that prayers offered by local clergy at the start of town board meetings did not violate the Establishment Clause. In Hobby Lobby, the Court held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act required that corporations whose owners object to the HHS contraceptive mandate be exempt from it. The panel will explore, from a range of perspectives, the significance of Hobby Lobby and the religious freedom jurisprudence of the Roberts Court. Among the topics to be considered are the analysis under RFRA of the government’s compelling interest and the narrow tailoring requirements, the interplay between religious exemptions and the Establishment Clause, emerging issues at the intersection of religious freedom and anti-discrimination laws, ongoing challenges to the HHS contraceptive mandate, and the legacy of Hobby Lobby for future First Amendment and religious freedom cases. -- The Federalist Society's Religious Liberties Practice Groups presented this panel on "Religious Liberty after Hobby Lobby" on Thursday, November 13, during the 2014 National Lawyers Convention. -- Featuring: Ms. Kim Colby, Senior Counsel, Christian Legal Society

Prof. William P. Marshall, William Rand Kenan, Jr. Distinguished --Professor of Law, University of North Carolina School of Law; and Prof. Robin Fretwell Wilson, Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law and Director, Program in Family Law and Policy, University of Illinois College of Law. Moderator: Hon. Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Introduction: Mr. William L. Saunders, Senior Vice President and Senior Counsel, Americans United for Life and Chairman, Religious Liberties Practice Group.

This panel will examine intergenerational equity issues raised by employment discrimination laws, including those protecting the elderly from discrimination. Those laws, minimum wage laws, laws favoring unionization, and laws countering arbitrary dismissal have obvious appeal. But many of those very laws greatly raise the costs to business of entry-level hiring. One consequence may be that many young people are only able to enter the work force as interns or fellows. This may be especially true for minorities. Are these costs worth the benefits? Is there some middle ground? -- The Federalist Society's Practice Groups presented this showcase panel on "Youth, Employment and the Law" on Thursday, November 13, during the 2014 National Lawyers Convention. -- Featuring: Prof. Richard A. Epstein, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, New York University School of Law, and James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Law, University of Chicago Law School; Hon. Chai Rachel Feldblum, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Hon. Gail Heriot, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and Professor, University of San Diego School of Law; and Prof. J. Hoult "Rip" Verkerke, Director, Program for Employment and Labor Law Studies, University of Virginia School of Law. Moderator: Hon. Jennifer W. Elrod, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia opened the 2014 National Lawyers Convention on November 13 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Justice Scalia discussed the importance of Magna Carta. Introduction by Mr. Leonard A. Leo, Executive Vice President, The Federalist Society.

The Federalist Society's 1st Annual Rosenkranz Discussion was held on November 22, 2008. The topic of the discussion was "How Judge Think."

Hon. Michael W. McConnell, United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
Hon. Richard Posner, United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
Moderator: Prof. Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Georgetown University School of Law
Introduction: Mr. Eugene B. Meyer, President, The Federalist Society

On February 23-24, 1996, the Federalist Society held its fifteenth annual National Student Symposium at Stanford Law School in Stanford, California. The title of the conference was "A Symposium on Justice and the Criminal Justice Process." The second day of the conference culminated in the presentation of the Paul Bator Award to Prof. Michael Paulsen. The Paul M. Bator Award was established in 1989 in memory of Professor Paul M. Bator, a renowned scholar and teacher of federal courts and constitutional law at Harvard and the University of Chicago and Principal Deputy Solicitor General in the Reagan Administration. The award was given annually to a law professor under 40 who has demonstrated excellence in legal scholarship, a commitment to teaching, a concern for students, and who has made a significant public impact. For more about the Paul M. Bator Award, visit: http://fedsoc.org/batorawardrecipients
Featuring:

Eugene Meyer, The Federalist Society
Miranda Perry, Federalist Society CHapter President, University of Chicago School of Law
Prof. Michael Paulsen, University of Minnesota Law School

On January 30-31, 1987, the Federalist Society hosted its first-ever national lawyers convention at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The first day concluded with a banquet, where the James Madison Award was presented to Attorney General Edwin Meese III.

Master of Ceremonies: T. Kenneth Cribb, Presidential Advisor, Domestic Affairs
Introduction: William Bradford Reynolds, Assistant Attorney General of the United States
Hon. Edwin Meese III, Attorney General of the United States

On March 7-8, 1986, The Federalist Society hosted its annual National Student Symposium at Stanford Law School. The topic of the conference was "The First Amendment: Constitutional Principles & Public Policy." One of the panels covered "Content-Based Discriminations and Their Distinctions Under the First Amendment."

Featuring:

Introduction: C. Boyden Gray, Counsel, Vice President George H. W. Bush
Judge Antonin Scalia, United States Court of Appeals, DC Circuit
Professor Richard Epstein, University of Chicago Law School
Floyd Abrams, Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel
Prof. Lino Graglia, University of Texas Law School