can't forget this
Federalist Society Has Ties to White House, Supreme Court
The Associated Press
Published: Jul 25, 2005
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federalist Society has close ties to the Bush administration and top legal leaders, including two Supreme Court justices.
The group, formally called the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, was founded in 1982 as a debating society by students who believed professors at the top law schools were too liberal. Early advisers were Interior Secretary Gale Norton and Justice Antonin Scalia, a former law professor at the University of Chicago.
Spencer Abraham, the Bush administration's former energy secretary, was a founder of the Harvard Law School chapter.
The group is named after the "Federalist Papers," in which James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay argued for ratification of the Constitution.
Conservatives and libertarians mainly make up the 25,000 members. The group does not take positions on issues, but members have been promoting Bush's Supreme Court nominee, John Roberts.
Scalia regularly speaks and teaches at Federalist Society events. Justice Clarence Thomas, White House chief of staff Andy Card, former Attorney General John Ashcroft and former Solicitor General Theodore Olson have headlined meetings.
Fred D. Thompson, the former Tennessee senator guiding Roberts through the confirmation process, has been a Federalist Society speaker, as has Roberts.