American Constitution Society
About This Organization
- Abbreviation(s):
- TAMU Law ACS
- Purpose:
- The American Constitution Society for Law and Policy is a group of students concerned about the pervasive conservative orthodoxy in American law and politics. We believe deeply in the importance of law as the mechanism that governs the relationships between and among the individuals and institutions that form our society, and we recognize the direct relationship between legal theory and the broader political debate about the kind of society in which we live.
In recent years, the view has been ascendant that the traditional values of compassion and respect for human dignity have little or no place in legal discourse. This view permeates all aspects of legal debate: academic scholarship, judicial interpretation, and debate about laws proposed for enactment. The cornerstone of this legal view is an approach to understanding the United States Constitution that is essentially devoid of concern for the way in which the law affects the lives of the people who make up the nation in which we live.
We believe, contrary to this conservative orthodoxy, that the law, and, in particular, the Constitution, serves human values. We believe that the Constitution is a charter of liberty, the blueprint for a noble and unique experiment designed to prevent the excesses of government in order to protect the human dignity necessary for individuals to realize the full potential of their lives. The goal of the Constitution, and the United States it created, is to permit people to succeed in the "pursuit of happiness," one of the inalienable rights this nation explicitly was founded to secure to the American people.
We believe that the Constitution, and by extension, many other areas of American law, can be understood only by reference to principles of decency, reason, humanity and compassion. We believe that those who enforce the law must have concern for the way in which it affects the lives of the people who make up the nation in which we live. And we believe these principles should form a starting point for enactment, as well as interpretation, of the law. - Year Founded:
- 2013
- Membership Dues:
- $10 per year (national)
- Admits Members:
- All Year
- Meeting Locations:
- TAMU School of Law
Public Contact Information
- Public Contact Name:
- Zach Fechter
- Public Contact E-mail Address:
- zdfechter@tamu.edu
- Public Contact Phone Number:
- 440-552-1872
Group Contact Information
- Organization E-mail Address:
- acsorgtamulaw@gmail.com
Organization Associations
- Academic Department:
- Texas A&M University School of Law
- Non-Academic Department:
- None
Membership
- Approximate membership of the organization:
- 51-100
- Membership policies:
- Our organization accepts graduate students as members
- Our organization accepts faculty/staff as members
- Weekly time committment required of organization members:
- 0-3 Hours
- Membership intake process:
- Open
Events
- Community Service Projects:
- Once per year
- Fundraising Events:
- Once per year
- Speakers/Lectures:
- Twice per semester
- On-Campus Social Events:
- Never
- Off-Campus Social Events:
- Once per semester
- Hosting Conferences:
- Once per year
- Sponsoring Special Events (Concerts, one-time events, etc.):
- Once per year
- New Member Orientation/Training:
- Once per year
- Events with Alcohol:
- Once per semester
- In-State Travel:
- Once per year
- Domestic US Travel:
- Once per year
- International Travel:
- Never