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The Trouble With Amicus Facts, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

The Trouble With Amicus Facts, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

The number of amicus curiae briefs filed at the Supreme Court is at an all-time high. Most observers, and even some of the Justices, believe that the best of these briefs are filed to supplement the Court’s understanding of facts. Supreme Court decisions quite often turn on generalized facts about the way the world works (Do violent video games harm children? Is a partial birth abortion ever medically necessary?). To answer these questions, the Justices are hungry for more information than the parties and the record can provide. The consensus is that amicus briefs helpfully add factual expertise to the …


The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins Sep 2019

The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins

Allison Orr Larsen

The Supreme Court receives a record number of amicus curiae briefs and cites to them with increasing regularity. Amicus briefs have also become influential in determining which cases the Court will hear. It thus becomes important to ask: Where do these briefs come from? The traditional tale describes amicus briefs as the product of interest-group lobbying. But that story is incomplete and outdated. Today, skilled and specialized advocates of the Supreme Court Bar strategize about what issues the Court should hear and from whom they should hear them. They then “wrangle” the necessary amici and “whisper” to coordinate the message. …


Perpetual Dissents, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Perpetual Dissents, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.


Supreme Court Norms Of Impersonality, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Supreme Court Norms Of Impersonality, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.


Factual Precedents, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Factual Precedents, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

Lawyers and judges speak to each other in a language of precedents—decisions from cases that have come before. The most persuasive precedent to cite, of course, is an on-point decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. But Supreme Court opinions are changing. They contain more factual claims about the world than ever before, and those claims are now rich with empirical data. This Supreme Court factfinding is also highly accessible; fast digital research leads directly to factual language in old cases that is perfect for arguments in new ones. An unacknowledged consequence of all this is the rise of what I …


Judicial Fact-Finding In An Age Of Rapid Change: Creative Reforms From Abroad, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Judicial Fact-Finding In An Age Of Rapid Change: Creative Reforms From Abroad, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.


Legal Scholarship Highlight: The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins Sep 2019

Legal Scholarship Highlight: The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.


Legal Scholarship Highlight: Confronting Supreme Court Fact Finding, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Legal Scholarship Highlight: Confronting Supreme Court Fact Finding, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.


Bargaining Inside The Black Box, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Bargaining Inside The Black Box, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

When jurors are presented with a menu of criminal verdict options and they cannot reach a consensus among them, what should they do? Available evidence suggests they are prone to compromise—that is, jurors will negotiate with each other and settle on a verdict in the middle, often on a lesser-included offense. The suggestion that jurors compromise is not new; it is supported by empirical evidence, well-accepted by courts and commentators, and unsurprising given the pressure jurors feel to reach agreement and the different individual views they likely hold. There are, however, some who say intrajury negotiation represents a failure of …


Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Do Laws Have A Constitutional Shelf Life?, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

Times change. A statute passed today may seem obsolete tomorrow. Does the Constitution dictate when a law effectively expires? In Shelby County v. Holder, the 2013 decision that invalidated a provision of the Voting Rights Act, the Court seems to answer that question in the affirmative. Although rational and constitutional when written, the Court held that the coverage formula of the law grew to be irrational over time and was unconstitutional now because it bears “no logical relation to the present day.” This reason for invalidating a law is puzzling. The question answered in Shelby County was not about whether …


Constitutional Law In An Age Of Alternative Facts, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Constitutional Law In An Age Of Alternative Facts, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

Objective facts—while perhaps always elusive—are now an endangered species. A mix of digital speed, social media, fractured news, and party polarization has led to what some call a “post-truth” society: a culture where what is true matters less than what we want to be true. At the same moment in time when “alternative facts” reign supreme, we have also anchored our constitutional law in general observations about the way the world works. Do violent video games harm child brain development? Is voter fraud widespread? Is a “partial-birth abortion” ever medically necessary? Judicial pronouncements on questions like these are common, and— …


Allison Orr Larsen On Intensely Empirical Amicus Briefs And Amicus Opportunism At The Supreme Court, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Allison Orr Larsen On Intensely Empirical Amicus Briefs And Amicus Opportunism At The Supreme Court, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.


Confronting Supreme Court Fact Finding, Allison Orr Larsen Sep 2019

Confronting Supreme Court Fact Finding, Allison Orr Larsen

Allison Orr Larsen

No abstract provided.