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Virtual Briefing At The Supreme Court, Jeffrey L. Fisher, Allison Orr Larsen
Virtual Briefing At The Supreme Court, Jeffrey L. Fisher, Allison Orr Larsen
Faculty Publications
The open secret of Supreme Court advocacy in a digital era is that there is a new way to argue to the Justices. Today's Supreme Court arguments are developed online: they are dissected and explored in blog posts, fleshed out in popular podcasts, and analyzed and re-analyzed by experts who do not represent the parties or have even filed a brief in the case at all. This "virtual briefing" (as we call it) is intended to influence the Justices and their law clerks but exists completely outside of traditional briefing rules. This article describes virtual briefing and makes a case …
The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins
The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins
Faculty Publications
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 But that story is incomplete and outdated.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. …
Legal Scholarship Highlight: The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins
Legal Scholarship Highlight: The Amicus Machine, Allison Orr Larsen, Neal Devins
Popular Media
No abstract provided.
Measuring Party Polarization In Congress: Lessons From Congressional Participation In Amicus Curiae, Neal Devins
Measuring Party Polarization In Congress: Lessons From Congressional Participation In Amicus Curiae, Neal Devins
Faculty Publications
First, I will detail the prevalence of party polarization and how party polarization has limited congressional interest in its institutional prerogatives vis-à-vis the executive. Second, I will discuss my research findings governing congressional amicus briefs. I will consider patterns in bipartisan filings over time (comparing the less polarized 1974–1985 Supreme Court terms with the more polarized 2002–2013 terms). I will also consider the types of issues lawmakers and their institutional counsel have pursued in their filings. This investigation will reveal a decline in briefs in institutional cases and an upswing in briefs on politically salient issues that divide the parties …
The Trouble With Amicus Facts, Allison Orr Larsen
The Trouble With Amicus Facts, Allison Orr Larsen
Faculty Publications
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 …
Allison Orr Larsen On Intensely Empirical Amicus Briefs And Amicus Opportunism At The Supreme Court, Allison Orr Larsen
Allison Orr Larsen On Intensely Empirical Amicus Briefs And Amicus Opportunism At The Supreme Court, Allison Orr Larsen
Popular Media
No abstract provided.