Uses (and Misuses) of Amicus Briefs

Today, IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman discuss amicus briefs: what they are, where they came from, and how IJ—and others—use them for maximum impact.

Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing the fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Deep Dive with the Institute for Justice explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. In each episode, host Melanie Hildreth talks with litigators, researchers, and activists to give listeners an in-depth, inside look at cutting-edge legal and policy issues—and how they affect the lives of ordinary Americans everywhere.

[lawrencemiller]

Thanks Institute For Justice for discussing Amicus Briefs and some of your legal cases, very interesting. Abuse of government power needs legal recourse.

[yliberal]

Great and informative discussion. Thank you!

[danstewart]

One thing I haven't heard the IJ attorneys mention is that IJ has developed a justly deserved reputation of professional and intellectual honesty whose briefs, whether amicie or named party, carry substantial heft in the eyes of many courts.

[mttaylor]

A very informative and helpful discussion, especially for a nonlawyer who feels a compelling motivation to file an amicus curiae and wants to do an effective one.

[nordwest]

they should teach constitutional law in public school...

[rockymntnliberty]

The recent amicus briefs put forward by the onion and the Babylon bee, are awesome.

[danstewart]

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[Exchange_IDs]

I need an Amicus Brief for my writ to the 3rd District Court of Appeals in Louisiana please.

[TruthLiberty]

14:35 is the type of brief I hope gets filed in my case
about restoring the "general warrant" prohibition
which has been allowed under a different name (knock and talk)

[terrywatkins]

So its not a brand of underware😆Interesting talk, informative.

[kristenbell]

There must be a concern about studying original intent of the foundation of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. The Federalist papers are the instruction manual to our Constitution. The justice branch cannot enact or ratify their own thought of law. We are a nation of laws not a country based on ideas of man.

[yasonmunniz]

Is it possible to submit a brief after the case is closed?

[trizzybob]

Excerpt from United States v. UNDETERMINED QUANTITIES OF ALL ARTICLES OF FINISHED AND IN-PROCESS FOODS, No. 17-13376 (11th Cir. Aug. 30, 2019).


"Ours is an adversary system. When, as here, there are two sides, each side is afforded the opportunity to argue its position. But the court is not limited to choosing one side's position or the other's. The court's role is to get it right, not to choose which side's argument is better and adopt it lock, stock, and barrel. See, e.g., United States v. Baston, 818 F.3d 651, 663 (11th Cir. 2016) (concluding that on a disputed legal issue, "[n]either party is correct, " and applying the correct standard that neither party advocated); see also Colburn v. Odom, 911 F.3d 1110 (11th Cir. 2018) (resolving an appeal on a ground not addressed in either side's brief but essential to proper resolution of the dispute). Were it otherwise, there would be no plain-error doctrine."

It sounds good and reasonable and supports the need for a friend of the court briefs being filed.

Another case where the need for a friend of the court brief is exemplified is Alabama v. Shelton, 535 U.S. 654, 122 S. Ct. 1764, 152 L. Ed. 2d 888 (2002). In that case, a friend was ask to file a brief on a topic that was mentioned in the courts below but was abandoned along the way.


The thing about the excerpted paragraph that burns my crawl is in the fact that the court ignored substance and took extreme exception to form.

The Walker County circuit clerk is the chief magistrate of the district court magistrates. I guess we now have to prove she was engaged with a very elaborate enter corporate conspiracy with herself, now.

[susandoerr]

my daughter was stolen using the courts and slow system and I am sure because of what they did so much more,

[leejamestheliar]

I play squash on a court. Nuff said.
( minutiae is the death of reason)

[nordwest]

I dont trust the qovernment either, ... Im not a Lawyer NOR a politician... and thank You you are so right, right on, dude ( as they say in california)

[lisamerrittjohn]

The nasal-ly performance of convincing me, is void of any critical content! Harry Potter's witches!