What is the Federalist Society?

Abstract

The embers still burn. Almost twenty years ago, William Shockley, a scientist who achieved national notoriety by claiming that blacks have a lower I.Q than whites, was invited by some students to speak at Yale. A controversy soon developed over whether he should be allowed to speak. Judge Winter begins his keynote address by recounting the events surrounding that controversy. It was the Shockley incident that first brought Judge Winter together with Gene Meyer, now the Executive Director of the Federalist Society. Judge Winter was then a professor at Yale and Meyer a student. At the time, Judge Winter and Mr. Meyer were incensed by the University's handling of the Shockley incident and commiserated with each other. Both felt that the University had compromised its commitment to academic freedom. Although Judge Winter and Mr. Meyer had no taste for the substance of Shockley's views, they were adamant about his right to air them, and faulted the University for berating those students who invited Shockley while choosing not to discipline the hecklers who denied him the right to speak.