The Federalist Society is a group of libertarians and conservatives interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be. The Society seeks both to promote an awareness of these principles and to further their application through its activities. In 1982, the Federalist Society was formed by students at the University of Chicago, Yale and Harvard.

At the University of Chicago, the Federalist Society seeks to open and to balance the debate on legal issues. Justice Antonin Scalia, then a professor at the Law School, helped organize the University of Chicago Law School chapter of the Federalist Society. Each year, we bring speakers to the Law School for lectures and debates. Whenever possible, the Society invites speakers on both sides of the issue in order to present a balanced discussion on the topic. In the past, we have been fortunate to have many impressive speakers and this year will prove to be no different. Some featured speakers have included former Attorney General Edwin Meese, Judge Alex Kozinski and Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg. In addition to these activities, the Federalist Society works to help its members attain judicial clerkships.

Membership in the national organization entitles you to one-year subscriptions to The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, the Society's national legal journal, and The Federalist Paper, the Society's newsletter.