Republican Plaintiff Lawyers Celebrate Crist's Marriage to Real Live Heterosexual Woman!

Howdy folks, so are you on the guest list to the Gov's big "marriage" thingy?

What's that, you won't say?

Oh I get it -- don't ask, don't tell.

Well the Herald leaked a few names anyway -- funny, they all happen to be hotshot Republican plaintiffs' lawyers: Roberto Martinez, Dean Colson, and Paul Huck, Jr., all of Colson Hicks.

Also good guy, former federal law clerk, and current power broker Manny Kadre. That guy gets invited to everything.

Have fun, boys!

Meanwhile, did anyone catch this story in yesterday's NYT on the fledgling "liberal" equivalent to the Federalist Society, something called the American Constitution Society:

When Eric H. Holder Jr. addressed a convention of the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy in June, he urged young lawyers to get involved in the liberal legal network, saying America would soon be “run by progressives.”

“With this new administration that will be taking its place in January of 2009, you know, we are going to be looking for people who share our values,” said Mr. Holder, a member of the society’s board. He added that a “substantial number of those people” would probably be “members of the A.C.S.”

Six months later, Mr. Holder is preparing to take over the Justice Department as President-elect Barack Obama’s choice for attorney general. And the American Constitution Society, founded in 2001 to be a liberal counterweight to the conservative Federalist Society, is rising to power.

Although Mr. Obama has just started to fill the thousands of politically appointed jobs in his administration, the society’s affiliates are already well positioned to shape legal policy, hiring decisions and judicial nominations for years to come. In addition to Mr. Holder, other prominent officials in the new administration who have ties to the society include Lisa Brown, the White House staff secretary; Melody Barnes, who will direct the Domestic Policy Council; and Ronald Klain, chief of staff to Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Three other society board members are on the transition’s agency review team, and observers expect that the Obama team will turn to society members to fill subcabinet positions and judgeships.

“People who are committed enough to a progressive vision of the law to work for and with A.C.S. when progressives are out of office are going to be a natural resource when the electoral winds shift,” said Orin S. Kerr, a conservative-leaning law professor at George Washington University who has spoken at society events.

But with power comes temptation. Several society leaders said they were mindful that the Bush administration had gotten into trouble by considering applicants’ affiliations with ideological groups like the Federalist Society when hiring for nonpartisan positions.

“That will not be repeated in the Justice Department in the next administration,” vowed Dawn Johnsen, a law professor at Indiana University who is an American Constitution Society board member and co-chairwoman of the transition’s Justice Department review. “I feel like I can say that with confidence.”

While of course I know of the Federalist Society -- how many times do I have to see Richard Thornburgh at the Miami City Club drone on about constitutional protections in the Age of Terror? -- I personally have never heard of the ACS.

Yet apparently there is a South Florida chapter, run by Steve Rosenthal over at the Podhurst firm.

Since it's unlikely Steve will be at the big St. Pete wedding, maybe he can weigh in on what the ACS is doing locally. If it involves Dick Thornburgh and the City Club, count me out.