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Student Chapters

ACS’s nationwide network of student chapters is fostering a new generation of progressive leaders. Through hundreds of programs each year featuring renowned advocates, scholars and judges addressing a wide range of legal and policy issues, chapters educate their members about the critical issues facing our country. Working with ACS lawyer chapters and the national office, they also provide students with meaningful opportunities for professional development and mentoring; participation in substantive projects; and membership in both a local community and a national network. Currently, there are over 160 law school chapters.

A list of all student chapters with contact information is available. Alternatively, visit the ACS chapter map to view the web page of any particular chapter.

If you are interested in helping to organize an ACS student chapter, please contact Hazeen Ashby, ACS's Associate Director for Student Chapters, at campus@ACSLaw.org or 202-393-6181.

Recent Stories

ACS Student Chapter of the Week: University of Florida Levin College of Law

ACS Student Chapter of the Week of December 4th: University of Florida Levin College of Law

ACS's Student Chapter at the University of Florida Levin College of Law has held a wide range of events that have stimulated minds in their campus community. Topics of discussion have included Irizarry v. United States, representing clients before the U.S. Supreme Court, and immigrant rights in the context of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The chapter has hosted speakers such as Arthur J. Madden II, Kevin Russell, Azadeh Shahshahani, Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles T. Wells, and former ACLU president Nadine Strossen. In addition to these events, the chapter has made efforts to engage the campus with social activities targeted at informing students about ACS and increasing membership. In the future, the chapter plans to hold additional "ACS Food for Thought" discussions with professors.

For more great ideas from other chapters, click here for a list of all ACS events.

Participate in the 2009 ACS Student Writing Competition!

The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy and the University of Pennsylvania Law School's American Constitution Society student chapter announce the fifth annual National Student Writing Competition for law students nationwide. The student authors of the top three papers will receive special recognition at the ACS National Convention in the summer of 2009 and a cash prize for their work. The winner will awarded $3,000. Each of the two runners-up will receive $1,000.

The American Constitution Society welcomes all papers furthering and promoting a progressive vision of the Constitution, law, and public policy. Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly, and we welcome submissions on a variety of substantive areas.

Examples of possible topics include:

· access to the courts

· civil liberties

· consumer rights

· criminal justice

· disability rights

· freedom of speech

· GLBT rights

· human rights

· immigration

· labor law

· voting and the political process

· privacy

· protection of health, safety, and the environment

· racial equality

· religion

· separation of powers and federalism, and

· women's reproductive rights and reproductive freedom

Papers will be judged on the quality of their analysis and writing. The judging committee will include federal judges and leading academics. The top paper will also receive an offer of publication in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law. The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 20, 2009.

We invite you to pass along this information to your fellow students and professors. To learn more about the competition, including information on registration, abstracts of past winning submissions and full copies of winning submissions, please visit the ACS National Student Writing Competition website. If you have any questions, please contact LadyStacie Rimes (Lrimes@acslaw.org) and/or Rachel Zuraw (Zuraw@law.upenn.edu).

The 2009 Constance Baker Motley Moot Court Competition

This spring, ACS will host its 2009 Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law. The 2009 Moot Court legal problem involves questions about the ability of U.S. citizens to invoke the jurisdiction of federal courts to challenge government domestic surveillance activities.

Two issues will be briefed and argued:

  • Whether, based on the government's invocation of the state secrets privilege, a challenge to the NSA's publicly-acknowledged warantless wiretapping program should be dismissed as non-justiciable because "the very subject matter" of the litigation involves state secrets, the disclosure of which would harm national security; and
  • Whether, relying only on the publicly-available information about the warrantless wiretapping program, a plaintiff can establish Article III standing to pursue a claim that the government violated its First Amendment rights by operation of the program.

The official 2009 Problem, Rules, and other information about the competition may be accessed by clicking on the above link. The competition consists of two phases: briefings and oral arguments. Briefs will be due from all competitors on January 16, 2009. Oral arguments will consist of two preliminary regional competition rounds, at the University of Michigan Law School (March 14-March 15) and Howard University School of Law (March 28-March 29). Each team will argue both on and off brief. The winning team from each regional competition will compete in The Constance Baker Motley National Moot Court Competition in Constitutional Law Final Round this upcoming summer at the ACS 2009 National Convention in Washington, D.C. The winning team selected in the final round will receive a $3,000 cash prize, and the runner-up team will receive a $2,000 cash prize. The Official Problem, Schedule, and Rules have been posted online.   We invite you to e-mail any questions you may have about the competition to mootcourtreg@acslaw.org.

Voting Rights in the 2008 Election: How Do We Ensure Every Vote Counts?

On October 7th at 12:15 pm, the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy will host an internet simulcast entitled, "Voting Rights in the 2008 Election: How Do We Ensure Every Vote Counts?"

Brought to you by the American Constitution Society (ACS), American University and the AU Chapter of ACS

 

 

This election cycle has seen a surge of voter registration. While this influx presents an opportunity for expanding our voting population, there is also the possibility that these new registrants and others will be disenfranchised by legal and administrative hurdles, technological errors and misinformation.

 

This program will look at the legal issues that will likely affect voting rights this year, including voter identification laws, and laws aimed at ending deceptive tactics and voter intimidation. Panelist will discuss these and other potential problems that threaten to disenfranchise the most vulnerable voters and what we can do to make sure every vote counts.

 

Panelists include:

 

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