amicus curiae brief
1
9.9
- noun
- /əˈmɪkəs ˈkjʊəriˌeɪ ˈbrif/
- Formal
:
informe amicus curiae
- Despite the interest, not a single religious organization filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the practice, even though six organizations, including Jewish and humanist groups, submitted briefs in opposition.
- file an amicus curiae brief
Examples
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Some stress high-profile litigation, while others concentrate on amicus curiae briefs or educational programs.
Academic text (1994) -
He asked me to write an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court in his name.
Academic text (2018) -
The ABA filed an amicus curiae brief in Romer in support of the respondents.
Academic text (1995) -
Do something meaningful for society, like researching amicus curiae briefs for redwoods?
Fiction book (1996) -
In the meantime, the Solicitor for the United States Department of Justice under the Reagan Administration switched sides and filed an amicus curiae brief in support of South Carolina.
Academic text (1995) -
In a statement, the non-profit organization points out that U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston has granted Consumer Watchdog the right to oppose the "inadequate" settlement, basically giving the public interest group's lawyers until 21 September 2012, to file an amicus curiae brief.
Blog text (1) -
(I am duty bound to note that Toobin gives this reviewer a nice paragraph relating to an amicus curiae brief I wrote on D.C. v. Heller, the court's big Second Amendment case of 2008.)
Blog text (3) -
The American Civil Liberties Union submitted an amicus curiae brief to support free speech in the court case.
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Several environmental groups filed an amicus curiae brief urging the court to consider the impact of pollution on public health.
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The law firm prepared an amicus curiae brief to provide expert insight on the legal implications of the ruling.
Surface Forms
Morphology
Partly predictable: if a learner knows 'amicus' as someone assisting the court and 'brief' as a legal document they can reasonably infer a written document submitted by a ‘friend of the court’. However 'curiae' is Latin and not transparent to most B1 learners, and the whole phrase is specialized legal register, so the connection is only partially accessible without prior exposure.
Etymology
Amicus curiae brief comes from Latin: amicus means 'friend' and curiae means 'of the court'. It is a written statement from someone who is not part of the case but wants to help the judge, so the phrase now means a document sent by a third party to inform the court.