Constitutional Accountability Center (CAC) is a left-of-center legal policy think tank that promotes a progressive reading of the U.S. Constitution through policy analysis and amicus briefs. ¹ CAC has filed a number of lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, including cases regarding his tax returns and accusations of profiting from foreign governments. ^{2 3}

Background

Constitutional Accountability Center was founded in 2008 by Doug Kendall, an activist litigator also known for founding and directing the Community Rights Council. He passed away in September 2015. ^{4 5}

CAC attempts to both defend an originalist approach to the U.S. Constitution and a left-wing interpretation of it by suggesting that the “Constitution’s text and history command progressive results.” In other words, CAC claims that the Constitution allows for left-of-center development of laws and that originalist-conservative interpreters misunderstand its flexible nature. ⁶ This school of thought has been termed “New Textualism,” and Kendall has been cited as the major leader of turning the academic concept into legal practice. ⁷

Activities

Constitutional Accountability Center has filed more than 200 amicus briefs, including more than 100 in U.S. Supreme Court cases. It was a contender for the most amicus victories in the 2015-16 term according to Empirical SCOTUS. It counts among its legal practitioners former clerks for five U.S. appellate judges and a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk. ⁸

In 2021, director of CAC’s Human Rights, Civil Rights, & Citizenship program David H. Gans wrote an article for The Atlantic arguing that the Constitution guarantees the right to abortion, specifically citing the Fourteenth Amendment. ⁹

CAC has filed a number of lawsuits against former President Donald Trump, including lawsuits seeking disclosure of his tax returns and accusations that he profited from foreign governments. ^{10 11}

Leadership

As of 2022, Elizabeth B. Wydra is board president of Constitutional Accountability Center. From 2008 to 2016, Wydra was CAC’s chief counsel, filing more than 200 briefs for the organization and its clients, including governmental organizations, League of Women Voters (LWV), AARP, and Congressional members (parties to more than 50 briefs, including Blumenthal v. Trump, which accused Trump of violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause). Before joining CAC, Wydra was an attorney at the white-shoe firm of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan in San Francisco. She has also previously worked at Georgetown University Law Center, as a law clerk for a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as an attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. ¹²

Other board members included chairman Andrew J. Pincus, a partner at D.C.-based law firm Mayer Brown LLP; Harry Litman, legal affairs columnist for Los Angeles Times; Amtrak general counsel Eleanor D. “Eldie” Acheson; Peter C. Erichsen, partner of Ropes & Gray; Sean Mahoney, vice president and director of the Maine Advocacy Center of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF); Vivek H. Maru, founder and CEO of the legal advocacy group Namati; associate general counsel of the U.S. and Canada for Uber Technologies Molly Moran; and Elliot Williams, principal of the Raben Group’s Government Affairs Practice Group. ¹³

1. “About CAC.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/about-cac/.
2. Paul, Deanna. “A ‘whackadoodle’ court ruling about Trump’s tax records could ignite a ‘constitutional crisis.’” Washington Post. October 15, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/15/whackadoodle-court-ruling-about-trumps-tax-records-could-ignite-constitutional-crisis/.
3. Herb, Jeremy and Polantz, Katelyn. “Congressional Democrats subpoena Trump organization.” CNN. July 8, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/politics/trump-organization-subpoena/index.html.
4. “About CAC.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/about-cac/.
5. “Doug Kendall (1964-2015).” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/staff/doug-kendall-1964-2015/.
6. “Think Tank.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/think_tank/.
7. Rosen, Jeffrey. “In Defense of the Constitution: The Battle for Obamacare.” The New Republic. June 8, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://newrepublic.com/article/103943/constitution-avenue-supreme-court.
8. ^[1] “About CAC.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/about-cac/.
9. Gans, David H. “No, Really, the Right to an Abortion Is Supported by the Text and History of the Constitution.” The Atlantic. November 4, 2021. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/roe-was-originalist-reading-constitution/620600/.
10. Paul, Deanna. “A ‘whackadoodle’ court ruling about Trump’s tax records could ignite a ‘constitutional crisis.’” Washington Post. October 15, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/10/15/whackadoodle-court-ruling-about-trumps-tax-records-could-ignite-constitutional-crisis/.
11. Herb, Jeremy and Polantz, Katelyn. “Congressional Democrats subpoena Trump organization.” CNN. July 8, 2019. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/politics/trump-organization-subpoena/index.html.
12. “Elizabeth B. Wydra – President.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/staff/elizabeth-b-wydra/.
13. “Board of Directors.” Constitutional Accountability Center. Accessed August 27, 2022. https://www.theusconstitution.org/about-cac/#board-of-directors.