FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Federalist Society to Hold Annual Conference in D.C., Nov. 15-17 New York based research group, Institute for Democracy Studies, notes that ultra-conservative "FedSoc" members play key role in Bush Administration November 13, 2001.   When the Federalist Society gathers in Washington for their annual conference, it will not be business as usual. The Society of some 25,000 conservative and ultra-conservative lawyers has been around for two decades, but it is only in the past year that they have witnessed a sea change in their influence and visibility-a direct result of the 2000 presidential election. Even before taking office, candidate George Bush surrounded himself with high-ranking members of the Federalist Society. Among these are: C. Boyden Gray. A member of the FedSoc Board of Visitors, Gray served on the Bush transition team and was Chief White House Counsel to George Bush, Sr. Ted Olson. A former FedSoc board member and past president of the Washington, D.C., chapter, Olson was the lead counsel in the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore. Today he is U.S. Solicitor General. Timothy E. Flanigan. Flanigan, with deep FedSoc roots, also represented Bush before the Court. He now serves as Deputy White House Counsel and Deputy Assistant to the President. Gale Norton. A one-time FedSoc "Young Lawyer of the Year" and former leader of the FedSoc's Criminal Law Practice Group, Norton is Secretary of the Interior Joining Olson, Flanigan, and Norton as conference speakers will be such FedSoc bulwarks as Kenneth Starr, Robert Bork, and Edwin Meese, to name a few. The Society's materials boast that panels will explore "Controversial and Cutting-Edge Issues"-code words for issues that the Federalist Society has targeted as part of its agenda to "roll back" civil rights gains during over the past decades. Specifically, they cite (among others): Terrorism and the Threat from Right to Know Laws The Future of Racial Preferences (i.e., affirmative action & diversity policies) Ideology in the Judicial Confirmation Process Covering the Story: The Institute for Democracy Studies (IDS)-a nonprofit research and education group-has published the first and most extensive analysis of the Federalist Society. Entitled The Federalist Society and the Challenge to a Democratic Jurisprudence, the report and its authors have been quoted extensively in the print and electronic media. In addition, IDS has recently published People are Policy: Timothy Flanigan, Judicial Selection, and the Office of White House Counsel. As part of the Institute's ongoing study of anti-democratic activities in the U.S., three senior IDS staffers will be in D.C. during the time of the Federalist Society convention and will be readily available for comment-whether for background or attribution. These are: Alfred F. Ross, IDS founder and President Lee Cokorinos, Director of Research Julie Gerchik, Program Associate, Law and Democracy Program For more information, or to speak with Alfred Ross, please contact John Tessitore, IDS Communications Director, at 212 423-9237.