Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF) submitted a public comment opposing proposed changes to federal filing rules that would make it harder to support parties in constitutional challenges through amicus briefs.
During a case appeal, third parties may submit an amicus (friend of court) brief urging a federal court to rule a certain way or to consider a perspective that may be different from the plaintiffs or defendants. Amici often support one side or the other in the litigation based on how their interests align, and the practice of filing amicus briefs is very common in public interest law.
Under current filing rules, amici usually must request permission from the parties to file a brief, or they can submit a motion to the court to grant the brief. Either way, courts are not obligated to read amicus briefs. But these new changes will make it harder to file amicus briefs by forcing amici to submit a motion to the court every time they want to file a brief. The rules also arguably violate the First Amendment because they will require amici to disclose additional information about their donors.
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SLF explains in its public comment that the purpose of the proposed rules is to let courts determine the “credibility of the arguments and perspectives offered by amici,” which “suggests that courts should be making judgments about the very speech being offered in amicus briefs based on who is speaking and what they are saying.”
The proposed changes will also require amici to make additional disclosures about donors who have contributed to the brief. These changes, SLF writes, will “have a significant chilling effect on amici.”