The Federalist Society, an influential nationwide organization for conservatives and libertarians, will soon be led by a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Born in Utah and raised in Idaho, Sheldon Gilbert served a church mission in Brazil and graduated from the University of Utah before earning his law degree at George Washington University. Since then, he has worked as vice president for content and development at the National Constitution Center, director of the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement, a litigator for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and, most recently, senior counsel for Walmart.
In the course of his career, the constitutional lawyer has represented clients in nearly 100 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Starting Jan. 2, Gilbert will assume his new position as president and CEO of The Federalist Society.
“He shares a deep commitment to our mission and purpose, to provide a forum for fair, serious and open debate about the role of the courts in saying what the law is rather than what they wish it to be,” outgoing Federalist Society President Eugene Meyer said in a news release, “and to the centrality of the rule of law in protecting individual freedom and traditional values.”
The society, founded in 1982, represents more than 90,000 lawyers, law students, scholars and other individuals spread across chapters in 90 cities, according to its website. At least five of the nine current Supreme Court justices — Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett — have ties to the organization viewed as pivotal in overturning Roe v. Wade’s constitutional right to abortion.
Of the judges Donald Trump appointed to the circuit courts and the Supreme Court during his first presidential term, 86% were former or current Federalist Society members.
