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4 unusual facts about Amicus curiae


Amicus curiae

In the United States, for example, non-profit legal advocacy organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Landmark Legal Foundation, the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Center for Law and Justice or NORML, frequently submit such briefs to advocate for or against a particular legal change or interpretation.

Patrick Borchers

In a Rhode Island case, Borchers's work was cited in an amicus brief filed by groups opposing the state's recognition of a same-sex marriage contracted in Massachusetts.

Saul Cornell

In addition to book writing, he has contributed to numerous Amicus curiae briefs in court cases involving the 2nd Amendment.

The Kenya Presidential Election Petition 2013

The court had also rejected LSK and Katiba institute a chance to be Amicus curiae as they were seemed partisan to Uhuru Kenyatta and william Ruto.


Arizona v. Gant

A group of legal scholars, including University of Iowa law professor James Tomkovicz, wrote an amicus curiae brief asking the court to overturn the 1981 case, New York v. Belton, that granted police the authority to search a person's vehicle even if that person is not in the vehicle.

Arthur Firstenberg

An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was supported by an amicus curiae brief written by Patrick Leahy and Jim Jeffords, was denied.

Cass Ballenger

In 2004, alongside several other Republican members of Congress, including Mark Souder and Katherine Harris, Ballenger submitted an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court case Gonzales v. Raich, defending the federal government's power to raid, arrest, prosecute and imprison patients who use medical marijuana even in states that have declared such use legally permitted.

Fisher v. University of Texas

Amicus briefs have been filed by Teach for America, the Asian American Legal Foundation, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, the California Association of Scholars and Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence, the Black Student Alliance at The University of Texas, the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the Pacific Legal Foundation, Peter Kirsanow, Stuart Taylor, Jr. and others.

I. Beverly Lake, Sr.

When the United States Supreme Court invited North Carolina to appear as amicus curiae in the famous Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, Lake argued against it, telling the governor that it was a "diabolical scheme" designed to subject the state directly to whatever orders the Court issued as a consequence of the decision.

Lawrence G. Walters

Walters has filed Amicus Curiae briefs at the United States Supreme Court, on behalf of the First Amendment Lawyers Association, in two significant Free Speech cases; United States v. Stephens, dealing with depictions of animal cruelty, and Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

Margaret M. Morrow

She has received numerous awards, including the Bernard E. Witkin Amicus Curiae Award from the Judicial Council of California; the Shattuck-Price Award from the Los Angeles County Bar Association; the Ernestine Stahlhut Award from the Women Lawyers’ Association of Los Angeles, and the Maynard Toll Award from the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles.

Matthew Noel Murray

In addition, a federal lawsuit, NASD arbitration, and an amicus brief in a case before the New York Court of Appeals all focused on this case which some related issues highlighted by the Wall Street Global Settlement.

Richard W. Bailey

In 2008, Bailey co-authored an amicus brief with colleagues Dennis Baron and Jeffrey Kaplan, for the District of Columbia v. Heller Supreme Court case, providing an interpretation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution based on the grammars, dictionaries, and general usage common in the founders' day, and showing that those meanings are still common today.

Salazar v. Ramah Navajo Chapter

Amicus curiae briefs were filed in support of the Chapter by the National Congress of American Indians (joined by the Coalition of Indian Tribes and Tribal Organizations), the Arctic Slope Native Association, and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America (joined by the National Defense Industrial Association).

Van Orden v. Perry

An amicus curiae was presented on behalf of the respondents (the state of Texas) by then-Solicitor General Paul Clement.

Zadvydas v. Davis

Amicus curiae briefs were filed by the Washington Legal Foundation on behalf of the government in the Zadvydas case and by the Legal Immigration Network, Inc., the American Association of Jews from the former USSR, the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, and Carolyn Patty Blum, et al., on behalf of Kim.


see also

Animal Legal Defense Fund

ALDF submitted an amicus curiae brief in the case of U.S. v. Stevens, urging the Court to uphold the law and recognize that the prevention of cruelty to animals is a compelling government interest.

Douglas Holtz-Eakin

In 2013, Holtz-Eakin was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Harvey S. Rosen

In 2013, Rosen was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Janet Duprey

In 2013, Duprey was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Kerr-McGee Corp. v. Navajo Tribe

Amicus curiae briefs were filed in support of the tribe by Association on American Indian Affairs and for the Shoshone Indian Tribe Reservation.

Molko v. Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity

An amicus curiae brief of the American Psychological Association (APA) stated that the coercive persuasion theory that the plaintiffs advanced is not a meaningful scientific concept.

Nancy Stiles

In 2013, Stiles was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Reuben Jeffery III

In 2013, Jeffery was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Robert K. Steel

In 2013, Steel was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.

Timothy D. Adams

In 2013, Adams was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.