Dear Federalist Society: It’s Time To Lay Off The Chick-Fil-A – Above the Law

Last
night,
Sixth
Circuit
Judge
Chad
Readler
appeared
at
an
American
University
Washington
College
of
Law
event.
The
former
acting
chief
of
the
DOJ
Civil
Division
spoke
to
Federalist
Society
students
about
the
role
of
DOJ
in
“Defending
Presidential
Priorities.”
It’s
a
subject
he
can
certainly
speak
to
based
on
his
experience
—
even
if
the
first
Trump
administration
maintained
the

appearance
of
a
Justice
Department
beholden
to
the
government
and
the
Constitution
as
opposed
to
its

now
explicit
mission
as
Trump’s
personal
lawyers.
But
SHOULD
a
sitting
federal
judge
be
speaking
to
this
subject?

Probably
not.
On
the
other
hand,
it’s
nice
to
get
a
little
transparency.
He’s
writing
the
same
opinion
either
way.
If
he
wants
to
create
a
paper
trail
to
undermine
America’s
flagging
faith
in
judicial
independence
so
he
can
enjoy
a
weekend
in
D.C.,
then
have
at
it.

But
that’s
not
what
we’re
here
to
talk
about
today.
Come
on
FedSoc…
it’s
time
to
let
go
of
the
Chick-fil-A
thing.

Every.
Single.
Time.

Look,
we
get
it.
You’re
unrepentant
bigots
and
you
want
to
make
that
as
obvious
as
possible.
It
gnaws
at
you
that
liberal
groups
can
signal
their
sympathies
by
offering
cuisine
from
one
of
the
countless
cultures
your
intellectual
heroes
work
so
hard
to
demonize.
Chick-fil-A
has
given
you
so
many
golden
moments
to
“own
the
libs”
at
the
expense
of
functional
arteries.

But
it’s
time
to
face
reality.
Chick-fil-A’s
turn
as
the
go-to
gay
bashing
totem
was
like,
13
years
ago.
The
history
is
a
little
more
complex,
but
essentially
the
company’s
leadership
expressed
their
opposition
to
gay
rights,
Mike
Huckabee
made
it
a
rallying
cry
for
conservatives
to
flock
to
the
fast
food
joint
as
the
world’s
goofiest
performative
protest
against
equality,
and
right-wingers
have
—
literally
and
figuratively
—
eaten
it
up
ever
since.

Indeed,
we’re
11
years
removed
from
a
post

on
this
very
site
about
the
Federalist
Society
going
all
in
on
Chick-fil-A.
Over
a
decade
ago,
there
remained
a
modestly
colorable
defense
that
students
weren’t
trolling.

I
didn’t
buy
this
argument
even
then:

It
is
true
that
marriage
equality
is
probably
coming
sooner
rather
than
later.
But
just
like
winning
the
Civil
War
or
winning
WWII
didn’t
rob
the
symbols
of
the
opposing
ideologies
of
their
power,
marriage
equality
doesn’t
make
it
cool
to
gin
up
business
by
embracing
anti-gay
populace
who
rally
around
your
product.

Again,
eating
Chick-fil-A
is
a
political
statement
—
even
if
it’s
a
statement
that
you’ve
decided
not
to
care.
Sometimes
there
are
issues
bigger
than
whether
or
not
something
is
tasty.

The
problem
with
running
the
same
joke
into
the
ground
is
that
it’s
lost
most
of
its
punch.
It’s
predictable
to
the
point
it
often
passes
without
comment
and
half
the
liberals
you’re
trying
to
own
only
know
the
chain
from
its
“our
customers
have
DISTURBINGLY
close
relationships
with
our
drive-through
tellers”
commercials.

Would
you
delegate
the
watershed
moment
of
your
life
to
Burger
King?
I
THINK
NOT!
What
about
handing
your
pregnancy
over
to
Five
Guys?
Wait…
maybe
don’t
answer
that
one.

It
just
smacks
of
pathetically
clinging
to
a
conservative
cultural
moment
that
happened
when
you
were
in
third
grade.

Hell,
a
Chick-fil-A
order
isn’t
even
a
right-wing
purity
test
anymore!
MIKE
HUCKABEE
—
who
started
all
this
—

hates
Chick-fil-A
now
because
the
company
embraced
the
verboten
“DEI”
concept.
Apparently
its
disdain
doesn’t
carry
over
to
a
large
enough
cohort
of
minorities
for
some.

We
understand
that
it’s
a
point
of
personal
pride
(oops,
wrong
word
for
you
all…
“honor”)
to
make
these
little
jabs
in
all
your
announcements,
but
Chick-fil-A
isn’t
where
it’s
at
anymore.
Try
something
new
that
gets
the
same
point
across.
Like:

I
mean,
come
on!
Get
creative!
There
are
so
many
patently
offensive
options
you
can
try
that
are
sure
to
keep
you

ostracized
by
polite
law
school
society.
Hand
out
MAGA
hats
or
something.
It’s
far
more
culturally
relevant
to
2025
than
rehashing
2012’s
dankest
Fox
News
memes.

Or
you
could
try
being
normal
for
a
change.

Earlier:

Is
It
Ever
OK
To
Serve
Chick-Fil-A?
An
ATL
Debate

Yale
Law
Students:
‘Maybe
Don’t
Invite
FedSoc
To
Parties.’
Right
Wing:
‘Doxx
‘Em
And
Snitch
To
Employers’

---

Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of

Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
free
to email
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments.
Follow
him
on Twitter or

Bluesky
if
you’re
interested
in
law,
politics,
and
a
healthy
dose
of
college
sports
news.
Joe
also
serves
as
a

Managing
Director
at
RPN
Executive
Search.