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Brief Of Amicus Curiae Edchoice Kentucky In Support Of Appellants, Philip D. Williamson, John A. Meiser

Court Briefs

No. 2021-SC-0522
McNeary v. Council for Better Education, Inc.

Appeal from Franklin County Circuit Court Hon. Phillip Shepherd Civil Action No. 21-CI-00461

From the Purpose of Brief & Introduction

For these reasons, Kentucky has given more families the opportunity to have their children attend the school—public or private—that best suits their needs. That opportunity should not be denied based on the erroneous decision of the court below or because of equally erroneous concerns that educational choice is somehow a reform to be feared.

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Religious Freedom Institute In Support Of Petitioner, John A. Meiser, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Richard W. Garnett Iv, Francesca Genova Matozzo

Court Briefs

No. 21-1405
Lester J. Smith v. Timothy Ward

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

Lester Smith comes to this Court in unusual circumstances: the district court found that the Georgia Department of Corrections offered no rationale that could justify its prohibition on beards longer than half an inch under RLUIPA, and yet— without disputing that finding—the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the State may still enforce the half-inch limitation against Smith. The Eleventh Circuit’s denial of any relief from what has been shown to be …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative, Megan M. Wold, John A. Meiser

Court Briefs

No. 22-cv-000067
Columbus City School District v. State of Ohio

Judge Jaiza N. Page

From the Summary of Argument

Under Count 4 of their complaint, the plaintiffs ask this Court to do something that it unquestionably may not: invalidate Ohio's longstanding EdChoice Scholarship Program on the theory that it violates the "no-funding" provision of Article VI, § 2 of the Ohio Constitution, which bars any "religious or other sect" from receiving "any part of the school funds of this state." See Compl. ¶¶ 142-52. Under both state and federal law, this Court must dismiss that claim.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Catholic Medical Association And Coptic Medical Association Of North America In Support Of Appellees, Eric N. Kniffin, John A. Meiser, Francesca M. Genova

Court Briefs

No. 2021CA1855
Barbara Morris v. Centura Health Corporation

Appeal from: Colorado District Court, Arapahoe County Case No. 2019CV31980 (Hon. Peter Frederick Michaelson)

From the Summary of Argument

At its core, this case concerns a religious hospital’s right to provide care in accordance with its faith commitments. Centura Health is a Christian healthcare system that is composed of Catholic and Seventh-day Adventist hospitals, including St. Anthony Hospital, the Catholic Hospital for which Dr. Morris worked. In service of their religious mission, Centura Health and St. Anthony Hospital (collectively, “Centura”) require their doctors to abide by the Ethical and Religious Directives for …

Brief Of Professor Derek T. Muller As Amici Curiae In Support Of No Party, Michael Francisco, Michael A. Brody, Derek T. Muller

Court Briefs

No. 22-11299
Marjorie Taylor Greene v. Secretary of State for the State of Georgia

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia
No. 1:22-cv-01294-AT

From the Summary of Argument

Appellees present an issue that seeks something unprecedented: that this Court be the first federal appeals court in history to approve the State’s power to disqualify a congressional candidate. But States lack the power to exclude a congressional candidate from the ballot over a qualification that a candidate might ultimately meet when she presents her credentials to Congress. The district court’s decision should be reversed.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Arbitration Scholars And Practitioners In Support Of Petitioners, Sarah A. Dowd, Eric B. Fisher, Travis A. Gonyou, Diane Desierto

Court Briefs

No. 21-1244
Beijing Shougang Mining Investment Company, Ltd. v. Mongolia

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

Parties to international arbitration and arbitral tribunals themselves value predictability and dependability. This is especially so for threshold questions concerning the authority of an arbitral tribunal to decide disputes over its own jurisdiction. Among international arbitration scholars and practitioners this threshold question is often known by the German term kompetenz-kompetenz, referring to the issue of competence to determine the competence of an arbitral panel to decide a dispute. …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative In Support Of Petitioner, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Richard W. Garnett Iv, Francesca Genova Matozzo, Steven A. Engel, Michael H. Mcginley

Court Briefs

No. 21-418
Joseph A. Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

This case offers the Court a much-needed opportunity to resolve the longstanding confusion caused by its conflicting and erroneous interpretations of the Establishment Clause. Although recent decisions clarify that the government may not suppress private religious expression, the Court has yet to clear away an undergrowth of older precedents that are often read to suggest the opposite. Rather than permit those outdated decisions to persist and perpetuate confusion, the Court should …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Eparchy Of Our Lady Of Lebanon Of Los Angeles And The Orthodox Church In America In Support Of Appellee's Petition To Transfer, John A. Meiser

Court Briefs

No. 22S-CP-302
Payne-Elliott v. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Inc.

Court of Appeals Case No. 21A-CP-00936

Appeal from the Marion Superior Court 1

Trial Court Case No. 49D01-1907-PL-027728

The Honorable Lance Hamner, Special Judge

From the Summary of Argument

This case challenges a decision that is manifestly ecclesiastical: a directive from the Archbishop of Indianapolis regarding what policies a religious school must follow in order to be faithfully Catholic and to remain formally part of his Archdiocese. That is a question of exclusively religious concern. In the religious traditions of the Archdiocese and amici, it is a question which …

Brief Of Amici Curiae International Law Scholars In Support Of Petitioners, Beatrice Lindstrom, Tyler R. Giannini, Diane A. Desierto

Court Briefs

No. 21-995
Budha Jam v. International Finance Corporation

On Petition For Writ Of Certiorari To The United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

The animating purpose of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1602-1611 (1976), is to remove immunity and preferential treatment for sovereign entities when they engage in private conduct such as commercial activity. In other words, sovereigns acting as private actors should be treated as private actors. The decision below undermines this raison d’être of the FSIA while raising an important and unsettled question: whether a …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Christian Medical & Dental Associations And Coptic Medical Association Of North America In Support Of Defendants' Motions To Dismiss, John A. Meiser, Francesca M. Genova, Christopher J. Schweickert

Court Briefs

No. 3:21-cv-06654-VC
Lonny Shavelson v. California Department of Health Care Services

From the Argument

Whether and to what extent doctors should be allowed to participate in intentionally ending the lives of their patients is one of the most important questions in public bioethics. The vast majority of states allow no physician participation at all. California is one of nine states that have passed laws allowing physicians to “assist” a patient’s suicide by making lethal drugs available. But each stops there. No state allows what the plaintiffs in this case now demand: that doctors be allowed to actively euthanize patients by …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Notre Dame Law School Religious Liberty Initiative In Support Of Petitioners, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Richard W. Garnett Iv, John A. Meiser, Steven A. Engel, Michael H. Mcginley, Eric D. Hageman, Justin M. Romeo, Lincoln Davis Wilson

Court Briefs

No. 20-1800
Harold Shurtleff v. City of Boston

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

Invoking the specious rationale of “government speech,” the City of Boston unconstitutionally singled out religious expression for hostile treatment. By lumping speech based on “religion” together with speech deemed “inappropriate,” “offensive,” “discrimin[atory],” or “prejudice[d],” Pet.App.20, the City adopted the increasingly common view that promoting our Nation’s vibrant pluralism requires the exclusion of religious perspectives from the public square. But that view is antithetical to the Founders’ conception of religion as central—not peripheral—to …

Brief Of Religious-Liberty Scholars Douglas Laycock, Steven T. Collis, Helen M. Alvare, Nathan S. Chapman, Elizabeth A. Clark, Robert F. Cochran, Teresa S. Collett, W. Cole Durham, Jr., Carl H. Esbeck, Richard W. Garnett, Christopher C. Lund, Michael P. Moreland, And Michael Stokes Paulsen As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Steven T. Collis, Douglas Laycock, Richard W. Garnett

Court Briefs

No. 21-5592
John H. Ramirez v. Bryan Collier

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

The state substantially burdens the exercise of religion if it coerces people to change their religious behavior or if it physically prevents religious behavior from occurring.

Brief For The Partnership For Inner-City Education, Council Of Islamic Schools In North America, And National Council Of Young Israel As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Richard W. Garnett Iv, John A. Meiser, Michael H. Mcginley

Court Briefs

No. 20-1088
David and Amy Carson v. A. Pender Makin

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

This Court should reverse the decision below and hold that the First Amendment permits no distinction between discrimination against religious groups based on their religious status and discrimination based on their religious use of generally available state benefits.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Benedictine College And Franciscan University Of Steubenville In Support Of Petitioners, Richard W. Garnett Iv, Nicole Stelle Garnett, John A. Meiser

Court Briefs

No. 21-145
Gordon College v. Margaret DeWeese-Boyd

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

From the Summary of Argument

This Court should grant certiorari to make clear that the First Amendment guarantees religious colleges and universities the same vital protections that safeguard a religious grade school’s freedom to select the teachers who personify and teach its faith. Despite this Court’s recent admonition that such protections apply to a religious school’s selection of “any ‘employee’ . . . who serves as a messenger or teacher of its faith,” Our Lady of Guadalupe Sch. v. …

Brief Of Amicus Curiae Ethics And Public Policy Center In Support Of Petitioners And Reversal, Richard W. Garnett, Charles J. Cooper, Peter A. Patterson, Brian W. Barnes, John D. Ohlendorf

Court Briefs

No. 19-1392
Thomas E. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

From the Introduction and Summary of the Argument

By the narrowest of margins, this Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992), refused to overrule Roe—not because it thought Roe was correct, but because it thought Roe must endure as a matter of stare decisis. But 30 years later it has become clear that Casey, too, was egregiously wrong, for each one of the stare decisis factors cited by …

Brief For Professors Mary Ann Glendon And O. Carter Snead As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Heather Gebelin Hacker, O. Carter Snead

Court Briefs

No. 19-1392
Thomas E. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

Mississippi’s 2018 Gestational Age Act, which prohibits abortions after 15 weeks gestational development (with exceptions for medical emergency or fetal abnormality) is quite modest in impact, more permissive than the vast majority of the laws on abortion around the world (including in all but three European nations), and appears to be broadly popular. But it seems to clearly violate the Supreme Court-made law of abortion, which forbids the State from …

Brief For Amici Curiae Andrea K. Bjorklund, Diane Desierto, And Franco Ferrari In Support Of Petitioners-Appellants And Reversal, James E. Berger, Charlene C. Sun, Diane Desierto, Anread K. Bjorklund, Franco Ferrari

Court Briefs

No Date for Oral Argument Has Been Set

No. 20-7113
Hulley Enterprises Ltd. v. Russian Federation

On appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 14-1996 (BAH)

From the Summary of the Argument

Staying enforcement of an arbitral award pending a decision by a court in the place of arbitration is unusual; staying enforcement of an arbitral award for more than six years is almost unheard-of.⁶ The continued stay of proceedings in this case ignores the fact that arbitral awards are presumptively enforceable; non-enforcement is the exception rather than the rule.

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⁶ See …

Amicus Brief Of The National Congress Of American Indians, A Tribal Elder, And Other Federal Indian Law Scholars And Organizations, Michalyn Steele, Stephanie Hall Barclay

Court Briefs

No. 21-15295
Apache Stronghold v. United States of America

Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Arizona, Honorable Steven P. Logan (2:21-cv-00050-PHX-SPL)

From the Summary of the Argument

Meaningful access to sacred sites is a necessary part of the religious exercise of many Indigenous peoples. But tribes have been repeatedly denied such access by the federal government, and thus repeatedly thwarted in their efforts to engage in these important religious practices. In many instances, that access has been irrevocably denied and those efforts permanently thwarted by the total destruction of Indigenous sacred sites. Indeed, the colonial, …

Brief For Council Of Islamic Schools In North America, Partnership For Inner-City Education, And Union Of Orthodox Jewish Congregations Of America As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioners, Nicole Stelle Garnett, Richard W. Garnett Iv, Michael H. Mcginley

Court Briefs

No. 20-1088
David and Amy Carson v. A. Pender Makin

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

This Court should grant certiorari in order to clarify that any discrimination on the basis of religious status or religious use is subject to “the most exacting scrutiny.” Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 137 S. Ct. 2012, 2021 (2017).

Brief Of Religious Liberty Scholars As Amici Curiae In Support Of Defendants-Appellants, Michael Francisco, Richard W. Garnett

Court Briefs

No. SJC-12988
Margaret DeWeese-Boyd v. Gordon College

On Appeal from a Judgment of the Essex County Superior Court

From the Introduction

In the decision below, the trial court adopted a miserly understanding of the ministerial exception. It refused to apply it to a professor who taught social work at Gordon College, a Christian liberal arts school founded in 1889 which has a mission stating a "commitment to integrating faith and learning" and to "provide instruction in the Bible and other subjects" to prepare students "for the duties of the Christian ministry and other special forms of Christian work." RA/144,215. The …

Brief Of The Muslim Public Affairs Council, Religious Freedom Institute's Islam And Religious Freedom Action Team, And Asma Uddin, Stephanie Barclay

Court Briefs

No. 20-A90
Agudath Israel of America v. Andrew M. Cuomo

Including the Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief in Support of Applicant by the Muslim Public Affairs Council, Religious Freedom Institute's Islam and Religious Freedom Action Team, and Asma Uddin (i–iii).

From the Summary of Argument

Since ancient times, peoples around the world have symbolically vested the perceived wrongdoings of their community onto “scapegoats,” who are sacrificed in the hope that those wrongdoings will be expiated, and the hard times will pass. Too often, religious minorities have served as scapegoats in times of sickness, war, and fear—from Jews …

Brief Amicus Curiae Of The Muslim Public Affairs Council, Religious Freedom Institute's Islam And Religious Freedom Action Team, And Asma Uddin In Support Of Plaintiffs-Appellants And Reversal, Stephanie Barclay

Court Briefs

No. 20-3572-CV
Agudath Israel of America v. Andrew M. Cuomo

On appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, No. 1:20-cv-04834-KAM

From the Argument:

Since ancient times, peoples around the world have symbolically vested the perceived wrongdoings of their community onto “scapegoats,” who are sacrificed in the hope that those wrongdoings will be expiated, and the hard times will pass. Too often, religious minorities have served as scapegoats in times of sickness, war, and fear—from Jews during the Black Death, to Jehovah’s Witnesses During WWII, to Muslims after 9/11. Latest in a long and …

Brief Of The Muslim Public Affairs Council, Religious Freedom Institute's Islam And Religious Freedom Action Team, And Asma Uddin As Amicus Curiae In Support Of Plaintiffs, Stephanie H. Barclay

Court Briefs

No. 1:20-cv-01284-GLS-DJS, Hon. Gary L. Sharpe
Yitzchok Lebovits v. Andrew M. Cuomo

From the Summary of Argument

Since ancient times, peoples around the world have symbolically vested the perceived wrongdoings of their community onto “scapegoats,” who are sacrificed in the hope that those wrongdoings will be expiated, and the hard times will pass. Too often, religious minorities have served as scapegoats in times of sickness, war, and fear— from Jews during the Black Death, to Jehovah’s Witnesses During WWII, to Muslims after 9/11. Latest in a long and troubling line of such incidents are the statements and policies of Governor …

Brief Of Religious Liberty Scholars, Employment Law Scholars, And Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers For Human Rights As Amici Curiae In Support Of Petitioner, Douglas Laycock, Richard W. Garnett

Court Briefs

No. 19-1388
Jason Small v. Memphis Light, Gas & Water

On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

From the Summary of Argument

This case is an ideal vehicle for correcting an error that has undermined protection for religious workers across the country, in defiance of clear statutory text and underlying principles of religious liberty.

Brief Of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors, John A. Conway, Mark Mckenna

Court Briefs

No. 18S-CQ-00134
Akeem Daniels v. Fanduel, Inc., Case No. 17-3051, The Honorable Judge Easterbrook, Circuit Judge

From the Summary of Argument

Untethered to a sufficient public policy interest, right of publicity claims have exploded nationwide. Plaintiffs have asserted claims against inspirational plaques featuring civil rights icons, Rosa and Raymond Parks Inst. for Self Dev. v. Target Corp., 812 F.3d 824 (11th Cir. 2016),artwork commemorating significant events, Moore v. Weinstein Co., LLC, 545 Fed. App’x. 405 , 407 (6th Cir. 2013); ETW Corp. v. Jireh Publ’g, Inc., 332 F.3d 915 (6th Cir. 2003), Wikipedia edits that truthfully connected an astronaut with …

Brief For Douglas Laycock, Michael W. Mcconnell, Thomas C. Berg, Carl H. Esbeck, Richard W. Garnett, And Robert F. Cochran, Jr., As Amici Curiae In Support Of Defendant-Appellee Urging Affirmance, Todd R. Geremia, Victoria Dorfman, Mark R. Kubisch, Daniel D. Benson

Court Briefs

No. 17-3086
Rev. Dr. William Lee v. Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church of Pittsburgh

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
No. 2:15-cv-01599-NBF

From the Introduction

In Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, 565 U.S. 171, 190 (2012), the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that there is a "ministerial exception" grounded in the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment. This exception forbids the government from "interfer[ing] with the internal governance of the church" and "depriving the church of control over the selection of those who will personify its beliefs." Id. at …

Brief Of Amici Curiae On Behalf Of Intellectual Property Professors In Support Of Appellant And In Support Of Reversal, Mark Mckenna, Rebecca Tushnet, Samuel R. Bagenstos

Court Briefs

Oral Argument Not Yet Scheduled

No. 17-7035 (Lead Case), 17-7039
American Society for Testing Materials v. Public.Resources.Org, Inc.

On Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Columbia

From the Summary of Argument

ASTM’s fundamental complaint is about unauthorized use of its intangible content—the standards for which it claims copyright ownership. Dastar unambiguously holds, however, that only confusion regarding the source of physical goods is actionable under the Lanham Act; confusion regarding the authorship of the standards or their authorization is not actionable. ASTM cannot avoid Dastar just because Public Resource creates digital copies of those standards. …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors In Favor Of Judgement As A Matter Of Law, John A. Conway, Mark Mckenna

Court Briefs

No. 3:14-cv-01849-K
Zenimax Media Inc. v. Oculus VR, LLC

From the Summary of ArgumentPlaintiff’s false designation of origin and false endorsement claims, such as they are, rest on the assertion that defendants falsely represented themselves as the origin of intellectual property on which the Oculus Rift is based. Those claims are barred by Dastar v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23 (2003), which holds that only confusion regarding the origin of physical goods is actionable under the Lanham Act.

Brief Amicus Curiae On Behalf Of Intellectual Property Professors In Support Of Petitioner, Mark Mckenna, Mark A. Lemley, Christopher Jon Sprigman, Rebecca Tushnett

Court Briefs

No. 15-866
Star Athletica, LLC v. Varsity Brands, Inc.

On Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

From the Summary of Argument:

In its 1976 revision of the Copyright Act, Congress decided to separate applied art from industrial design, admitting the former to copyright and excluding the latter. It drew this distinction precisely because it intended to differentiate copyright from design and utility patent. Congress recognized as applied art only those aesthetic features of a useful article that could be “separated” from that useful article rather than being integrated into the article.

The …

Brief Of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors, Mark Mckenna

Court Briefs

No. 15-14889
Edward Lewis Tobinick v. Steven Novella

Appeal from the United States Distric Court for the Southern District of Florida, Case No.: 9:14-cv-80781-RLR (Hon. Robin L. Rosenber)
[Including the] Motion for Leave to File Brief of Amici Curiae Intellectual Property Law Professors, Nov. 30, 2015.

From the Summary of Argument

The District Court correctly determined that the challenged speech of Dr. Steven Novella was not commercial speech for purposes of applying the Lanham Act. Appellant’s argument to the contrary conflates “seeking profit” with “commercial speech.”