The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy

ACS seeks to build a multi-racial, representative democracy that includes:

- A judiciary that reflects the diversity of the public it serves, interprets the U.S. Constitution through the backdrop of history and through the lens of lived experience, and protects democratic guardrails, upholds the rule of law, and vindicates fundamental rights;
- Democratic institutions that uphold the rule of law, guard against the abuse of power, and promote laws and policies that advance realized equality; and
- A robust and diverse legal civil society that actively promotes progressive legal transformation and redress of the founding failures of our Constitution and of our laws and legal systems.

Sustain a Pipeline of Diverse Legal Leaders: The judiciary should reflect the diversity of the American people and ensure the law is interpreted through all people’s lived experience. ACS works locally to identify and develop a qualified pool of diverse legal professionals to become nominees for the state and federal judiciary. When judicial vacancies occur, ACS provides decisionmakers with the most representative, diverse, and competitive candidates who are ready to step into these roles, backed by a strong group of peers to support them. There is no other organization with the breadth of our nationwide network, or the strategic leadership of our national and local leaders.

Advance a Flourishing, Inclusive Democracy: Public officials in positions of legal authority must be committed to the rule of the law, the Constitution, and electoral integrity. ACS deploys our network of 40,000 progressive lawyers, students, scholars, and advocates to identify people to run for or be appointed as state attorneys general, secretaries of state, and state judges, increase voter education and engagement on these races, and recruit qualified, diverse, progressive people to work for these elected offices. No other non-partisan organization with a national footprint is currently recruiting or developing pipelines for these offices.

Promote Equity Within the Legal System: ACS is committed to addressing changes needed to achieve a legal system that promotes racial and social equity. ACS is heavily engaged in legal examinations and remedies for reforming our criminal justice system so that it is fair and just. In addition to robust programing, debate, policy, and public engagement, we also recently launched an initiative to abolish the federal death penalty and have called on the administration to take bold steps to end this practice.

As a multi-issue legal organization, ACS has the tools to influence change through our nationwide network, particularly in the states where our lawyers, law students, scholars, judges, and activists strengthen on-the-ground organizing. Our Path to the Bench initiative boasts 55 working groups across 42 states that consist of more than 200 diverse local legal leaders who can identify potential judicial nominees.

Our thought leadership shapes the narrative around the most pressing matters of law for a broad audience. These tools transform our over 250 student and lawyer chapters in almost every state and on most law school campuses into a powerful pool of movement builders, pro bono partners, activists, and legal scholars. Our network develops quick, accessible responses to legal questions that we use to educate Congressional and state leaders, reporters, the legal community, and the public. What makes ACS unique is that we provide substantive analysis and network building across the legal spectrum in a way that cannot be carried out by single-issue activist groups—an invaluable resource to push back against creeping authoritarianism.

ACS has spent more than two decades building robust networks across the country and shaping the debate on the nation’s most important legal issues. Our network can be found at the highest levels of local, state, and federal governments; occupy seats on state and federal benches; and have leadership roles throughout legal academia, private industry, and nonprofit and advocacy organizations—all vital components of thriving progressive legal communities.

Throughout our 22-year history, ACS has been deeply committed to building the bench of progressive, diverse lawyers who are equipped to take on roles of legal authority. Our Path to the Bench initiative is more robust than ever before, with 55 working groups across 42 states who identify potential judicial nominees, with an explicit focus on racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and practice area diversity with the goal of achieving a judiciary that reflects the public it serves. At the federal level, with the help of ACS’s Path to the Bench initiative the current administration has so far nominated more than 150 people to Article III courts, the Court of Federal Claims and the DC Court of Appeals. Of these nominees, one-third were identified and recommended to the White House by ACS’s working groups or were otherwise affiliated with ACS.

Additionally, ACS has been ramping up our state court work, recognizing the increased importance of these roles as the Supreme Court signals a propensity for state’s rights on critical issues of human rights. ACS has long been committed to identifying and recruiting diverse, qualified candidates to serve on the bench who believe in the judiciary’s responsibility to vindicate our fundamental rights. In several of the states that appoint their judges, ACS is engaging with the state bodies responsible for nominating or appointing judges. In states that elect their judges, ACS is educating and engaging voters on the importance of voting in these judicial races. Currently, we have established state court pipelines in eight states, with a goal of at least 12 states by the end of 2024.