By Darron Miller

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Universities are known for promoting public debate, and the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies embraces that idea.

The organization is a group of conservatives and libertarians dedicated to reforming the current legal order, and it provides forums for legal experts of opposing views to interact.

The UK chapter of the Federalist Society covers controversial topics that allow both sides of the argument to be presented. It provides forums for legal experts of opposing views to interact with members of the legal profession, the judiciary, law students, academics, and architects of public policy.

The group will host its final event for the fall semester, “Obama’s Illegal Amnesty Immigration and the Rule of Law,” from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday.

“A Federalist is someone who believes in the right of individuals to conduct their lives with limited government involvement, that individuals are smart and we can work hard, and that we need help from the government for certain things, but we don’t want an overly large and obtrusive government,” said Sloane Skinner, president of the Federalist Society at UK.

Federalists can be libertarian or conservative, and the group is a mixture of people with differing viewpoints who want to limit government involvement.

The Federalist Party was one of the first two political parties in the United States, with its history dating back to 1789. It was is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to the our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is — not what it should be.

The Federalist Society was founded in 1982 to promote an awareness of these principles.

It has divisions for lawyers, students and faculty, and the student division includes more than 10,000 law students at all of the 196 American Bar Association accredited law schools.

The topic comes from the speaker, Kenneth Klukowski, an attorney and legal editor for Breitbart News, a conservative news and opinions website. In the past, Klukowski has spoken about immigration reform, gun rights, the constitution and religious freedom.

Skinner met Klukowski at a Federalist Society seminar this past summer. The Federalist Society has covered issues including marijuana, Obamacare and gun violence.

“Someone who is a federalist can be pro-marijuana and/or legalization of marijuana,” Skinner said.

Having served in the United States Department of Justice’s Honors Program as an attorney adviser for the Executive Office for Immigration Review in San Francisco, Cali., Collin Schueler, a visiting assistant law professor, will provide insight on immigration.

“We haven’t done an immigration panel in a while but as always, with all of our events, we really want to come together and talk about opposing viewpoints, and we like to encourage dialogue, thinking and discussion regarding interesting topics,” Skinner said. “We just wanted to have our own debate and conversation about this at UK Law.”

The event is free and open to the public.