Glenn Beck conspiracy time today roped in the American Constitution Society (ACS), who made the cardinal sin (in Beck's eyes) of receiving funding from the Open Society Institute.

BECK:He has donated more than $14 million to a group here in America called the American Constitution Society. Well that sounds great. Except this is a progressive legal group, with an area of focus on constitutional interpretation and change. The Constitution can be changed. But you do it not in the shadows. You do it not being invisible. You don't hide who you are. You change it through the amendment process.

On air, Beck highlighted the “Constitutional Interpretation and Change” page of the ACS website while making his remarks. The problem is, this page does not say what Beck said it does. It says:

Ideological conservatives have been quite successful in promoting neutral-sounding theories of constitutional interpretation, such as originalism and strict construction, and in criticizing judges with whom they disagree as judicial activists who make up law instead of interpreting it. The Constitutional Interpretation and Change Issue Group works to debunk the neutrality of those theories and expose misleading criticisms. It also articulates effective and accessible methods of interpretation to give full meaning to the guarantees contained in the Constitution.

So this page is about a group within ACS that seeks to debunk what they see as erroneous conservative arguments about how the Constitution and legal decisions should be interpreted. Beck insinuates that ACS is working “in the shadows” but the web page he pointed to highlights several panel discussions. These panels take place in venues like The National Press Club, the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel and are videotaped and available on the ACS website. If they're working in secret, they're doing it wrong.

Even Beck's point about how to amend the Constitution, while not addressed on the page he highlighted, is an inaccurate description of ACS' tactics. Beck implies that ACS favors changing the Constitution outside of the amendment process, but they clearly state that “We do not, as an organization, lobby, litigate or take positions on specific issues, cases, legislation or nominations.” ACS has hosted commentary on their blog arguing in favor of modifying the Constitution... with an amendment.

Beck got just about everything wrong about the group except its name.