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Activism 101 Deep Dives
The Federalist Society: How the Anti-Abortion Movement Stacked the Courts with Extremists
The Federalist Society is responsible for stacking our courts with conservative, anti-abortion extremists.
Key Takeaways
- Who is The Federalist Society? A well-funded, conservative legal network that exerts influence through law schools, professional networks, conferences, and over the judiciary at large—including the Supreme Court.
- How they operate: The Federalist Society trains and elevates anti-abortion lawyers and judges—stacking the courts to make sure they can advance their extreme agenda.
- Why it matters: Their playbook has helped to rig the judicial system in their favor—leading to terrible and life-altering decisions like the one that overturned Roe v. Wade.
⚡️ TL; DR (too long, didn’t read)
The Federalist Society has been central in stacking the courts, all the way up to the Supreme Court, with conservative, anti-abortion justices for decades.
Six of the nine current Supreme Court justices have ties to the Federalist Society—and even more judges and executive appointees in key appointments across the country are affiliated with the Federalist Society.
The Federalist Society has entrenched itself—and its anti-abortion loyalists—in our courts. It’s created a system where layer upon layer of our justice system is aligned behind the same unpopular, extreme views.
Thanks to their work to stack the courts with anti-abortion extremists, the Federalist Society’s ultra-conservative views are working to dismantle our fundamental rights, including reproductive freedom.
Fight back against anti-abortion extremism with us.
🔍 The Federalist Society’s Playbook
The Federalist Society is the quiet force behind many of the most anti-abortion justices on the Supreme Court and judges across the federal bench today.
It is a well-funded, conservative legal network that exerts influence through law schools, professional networks, conferences, and over the judiciary at large.
It serves as a talent and influence pipeline for the conservative movement to help cultivate young lawyers and pack the courts with judges who will execute their unpopular agenda.
How they do it:
They acquire and distribute money from well-funded conservative stakeholders.
Train law students in their ultra-conservative ideals and prepare them for career tracts that lead to the federal courts.
They champion extreme, conservative, and anti-abortion appointees to courts across the country.
They create a web of like-minded, ultra-conservative judges who allow anti-freedom lawsuits to progress.
Set national precedent for anti-abortion decisions, like they did in the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade.
📝 Their Court-Stacking Record: Federal Society’s Hall of Shame Scorecard
Influence: 👎👎👎👎👎
The Federal Society asserts outsized power across our court system—helping pave the way for overturning Roe v. Wade and current attempts to ban mifepristone, the medication used in the majority of abortions across the country.
Extremism: 🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨
The Federalist Society has stacked courts across the country—including the Supreme Court—with ultra-conservative anti-abortion extremists.
Harm: 💔💔💔💔💔
The Federal Society’s network of anti-abortion justices helped lead to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and other attacks on our reproductive freedom.
👺 Notable Connections
Supreme Court Justice
Clarence Thomas
Thomas’ appointment to the Supreme Court was made possible by Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society. While on the court, he has engaged in blatant corruption, bending to the influence of billionaire GOP mega-donors like Harlan Crow and the Koch Brothers who have lined his pockets.
Add your name to demand Clarence Thomas resign or else be impeached.
Supreme Court Justice
John Roberts
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court that overturned Roe v. Wade, John Roberts has spoken at Federalist Society events and participated in panel discussions—despite trying to claim he has no ties to the organization (maybe because he knows how extreme their views are).
Supreme Court Justice
Samuel Alito
Alito is the justice who authored the Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade—and a regular speaker at Federalist Society events.
Supreme Court Justice
Neil Gorsuch
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is a Federalist Society super-fan—regularly appearing at their events and mocking their critics.
Supreme Court Justice
Amy Coney Barrett
An anti-abortion, anti-freedom crusader, Barrett is another one of the Supreme Court justices with deep connections to the Federalist Society.
Supreme Court Justice
Brett Kavanaugh
Credibly accused of sexual assault during his confirmation hearings, Kavanaugh is yet another conservative, anti-abortion justice whose confirmation to the Supreme Court was made possible in part by ardent support from the Federalist Society.
A dark money group called Judicial Crisis Network, which is closely linked with anti-abortion extremist Leonard Leo, financed millions of dollars of ads supporting Kavanaugh to be confirmed, paid for in part by a $16 million gift from a mystery donor.
Co-Chairman and former EVP of the Federalist Society
Leonard Leo
Leonard Leo is a central figure of anti-abortion movement who has led the initiative to install conservative judges in federal courts and played a pivotal role in overturning Roe. Leo’s dark money network—backed by Chicago billionaire extremist Barre Seid—funded some two-thirds of Project 2025.
He championed extremists like Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett’s appointments to the Supreme Court. He also led the effort to submit a shortlist of candidates for Trump to consider for his three appointments to the Supreme Court during his first term.
🚨The Federalist Society’s Latest Hits on Reproductive Freedom
- The Federalist Society “remains the most influential player in Republican judicial nominations.”
- “Trump Should Thank the Federalist Society…The president’s transformation of the federal judiciary owes much to the conservative legal organization”
- “Supreme Court Architect Is Pumping Money Into the Midterms. Leonard Leo, the longtime Federalist Society honcho, is lending a hand to Republican candidates in key races”
- “Leonard Leo’s firm continues to rake in millions from his own dark money network”
- Propublica’s “Supreme Connections” – The Federalist Society
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