View source for AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest

{{Short description|American conservative think tank}}
'''AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest''' (LCPI) was formed when the '''National Legal Center for the Public Interest''' (NLCPI) was merged into the [[conservative think tank]] [[American Enterprise Institute]] (AEI) in September 2007.  Its stated mission is to "foster knowledge about law and the administration of justice, especially with respect to individual rights, free enterprise, property ownership, [[limited government]], and a fair and efficient judiciary. It has pursued its educational and intellectual missions through a publishing program, conferences, and the annual Gauer Distinguished Lecture in Law and Public Policy."<ref>[http://www.aei.org/research/AEI%20Legal%20Center/about/projectID.30/default.asp official site] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071115144644/http://www.aei.org/research/AEI%20Legal%20Center/about/projectID.30/default.asp |date=November 15, 2007 }}</ref>
== History ==
The NLCPI was founded in 1975 with funding by J. Simon Fluor and interests controlled by [[Richard Mellon Scaife]].<ref name=Corp/>
Publications included white papers, legal monographs, judicial and legislative watch reports, and the Public Interest Law Review.  NLCPI also sponsored a legal intern program, in which interns performed research and assisted in drafting legal briefs.<ref name=Corp>{{Cite web |url=http://www.corporatepolicy.org/issues/NCLPI.htm |title=Center for Corporate Policy |access-date=2007-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200213/http://www.corporatepolicy.org/issues/NCLPI.htm |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Its longtime president was Ernest Hueter, who served in that capacity for 25 years, retiring in 2004.<ref>[http://www.atlanticlegal.org/person.php?conid=2469 Ernest B. Hueter] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928211545/http://www.atlanticlegal.org/person.php?conid=2469 |date=September 28, 2011 }}, Atlantic Legal Foundation</ref>
[[Fred Fielding]] was the most recent chairman of the foundation. Other prominent members included [[Theodore Olson]], Judge [[Kenneth Starr]], Supreme Court Chief Justice [[John G. Roberts|John Roberts]], [[Robert H. Bork]], and [[Bruce Fein]].  Much of its funding came from corporate and conservative foundations, including the [[Carthage Foundation]], the [[Sarah Scaife Foundation]], the [[John M. Olin Foundation]], the [[Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation]], the [[Alcoa]] Foundation and [[ExxonMobil]].<ref name=Corp/> The Center has also been associated with several prominent Democrats, including [[Cliff Sloan]], [[Walter Dellinger]], [[Seth Waxman]], [[Griffin Bell]], and [[Robert Schwarz Strauss|Robert Strauss]].<ref>{{cite web
|title=Response to Alliance For Justice
|authorlink=Roger Clegg
|first=Roger
|last=Clegg
|url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDBlNmVjM2Y4OTI0NmM3NDY5NjU5MWU3NmQ3Njk3N2U
|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129235922/http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDBlNmVjM2Y4OTI0NmM3NDY5NjU5MWU3NmQ3Njk3N2U
|url-status=dead
|archive-date=2013-01-29
|work=National Review Online
|date=2005-09-12
}}</ref>
NLPCI publications frequently supported [[tort reform]], the corporate interest, and were critical of the "impossibilities" of the [[Americans With Disabilities Act]].<ref name=Times/><ref>[http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/08/11/roberts_business/index.html Why big business hearts John Roberts] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071105055054/http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/08/11/roberts_business/index.html |date=November 5, 2007 }}, Michael Scherer, Salon.com, August 11, 2005</ref><ref name=Times2>{{cite news
|first=Jeffrey
|last=Rosen
|title= The Unregulated Offensive
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/17/magazine/17CONSTITUTION.html?pagewanted=all&position=
|authorlink=Jeffrey Rosen (legal academic)
|work=The New York Times
|date=April 17, 2005
}}</ref> NLPCI also ran a "Federal judge identification program" that sought "to identify those who believe that the appropriate role of the judiciary is to interpret the law, not make it."<ref name=Times/>
According to a 1990 column by [[David Margolick]], the national legal affairs editor at ''[[The New York Times]]'', "This is a group that has taken the famous dictum of Charles E. Wilson one step further. It is no longer only what's good for General Motors that is good for America, but what's good for Dow Chemical, Amway, Shell Oil, 3M and others represented on the legal center's board of directors."<ref name=Times>{{cite news
|title= When the Public Interest Becomes the Interest of The Corporate World
|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE1D9173EF932A1575AC0A966958260
|first=David
|last=Margolick
|authorlink=David Margolick
|work=The New York Times
|date=September 21, 1990
}}</ref>
==Merger with AEI==
In September 2007, the NLC was merged into the [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[American Enterprise Institute]] to become the AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest, directed by AEI resident fellow [[Ted Frank]].<ref>{{cite press release  | title = AEI and National Legal Center for the Public Interest Establish New Research Center on Legal and Constitutional Issues  | publisher = American Enterprise Institute  | date = 2007-09-04  | url = http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.26747/pub_detail.asp  | accessdate = 2007-11-07  | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071113212516/http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.26747/pub_detail.asp  | archivedate = 2007-11-13  | url-status = dead  }}</ref> AEI's existing legal and constitutional studies program, Federalism Project, and Liability Project were subsumed into the AEI Legal Center.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.aei.org/ AEI Legal Center for the Public Interest]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aei Legal Center For The Public Interest}}
[[Category:Legal organizations based in the United States]]
[[Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States]]
[[Category:American Enterprise Institute]]
[[Category:Conservative organizations in the United States]]
[[Category:John M. Olin Foundation]]