Setting the Agenda of the United States Supreme Court? Organized Interests and the Decision to File an Amicus Curiae Brief at Cert

Zuber, Katie; Sommer, Udi; Parent, Jonathan

doi:10.1080/0098261x.2014.965857

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…To date, studies that examine amici have largely focused on the types of organizations that submit briefs, at what stage of the legal process they submit, how much they participate, how often they are on the winning side, and why these interest groups submit briefs (e.g., Caldeira & Wright, 1990;Collins, 2008;Hansford & Johnson, 2014;Segal, 1988;Zuber, Sommer, & Parent, 2015). In addition to informing a court, amici file briefs for a variety of reasons including influencing public discourse, signaling the importance of an issue, responding to an organization's membership, or even increasing the visibility of an organization (Simpson & Vasaly, 2015).…”

Section: Categories Of Amicimentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of extra-legal sources in amicus curiae briefs submitted in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

Marín

Horn

Miksch

et al. 2018

EPAA

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As the political arena becomes increasingly polarized, the legal arena is playing a more important role in the creation of education policy in the United States. One critical stage in the legal process for such efforts is at briefing where “amici curiae,” or friends-of-the-court, may introduce additional arguments for the court to consider through the filing of amicus curiae briefs. To explore the use of extra-legal sources by amici, we focus on the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court case Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin and ask the questions: 1) What are the types, and relative use by amici, of extra-legal sources cited in the briefs submitted in Fisher I? and 2) What is the relative use of extra-legal sources cited in amicus briefs by supporting party and by category of amici? Our findings reveal the wide-range of extra-legal sources used in amicus briefs, and that the type of extra-legal sources incorporated may be associated with who the amici are and which party they support. Ultimately, we discuss potential reasons for the differences observed in the use of extra-legal sources and offer recommendations to more effectively engage in the policy briefing process.

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Section: Categories Of Amicimentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of extra-legal sources in amicus curiae briefs submitted in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

Marín

Horn

Miksch

et al. 2018

EPAA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…From 1986 to 1995, however, 4,907 briefs were filed (Kearney & Merrill, 2000). In addition, research studying amicus briefs submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court has focused on issues of influence, generating mixed conclusions as to their effectiveness (e.g., Caldeira & Wright, 1988, 1990; Collins, 2004, 2007, 2008; Larsen, 2014; Songer & Sheehan, 1993; Wofford, 2015) as well as strategies for making them effective (e.g., Ennis, 1984; Grisso & Saks, 1991; Lynch, 2004; Melton, 1987; Morgan & Pullin, 2010; Zuber, Sommer, & Parent, 2015). For example, some studies find that these briefs have little or marginal influence (Collins, 2004; Songer & Sheehan, 1993; Welner, 2012).…”

Section: Amicus Curiae Briefs and Social Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Shaping Educational Policy Through the Courts: The Use of Social Science Research in Amicus Briefs in Fisher I

et al. 2018

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Different from more traditional policy-making avenues, the courts provide an antipolitical arena that does not require broad agreement from various constituents for policy enactment. Seeking to guide court decisions on these policy issues, individuals and organizations have filed amicus briefs that increasingly include social science to support their arguments. The Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin Supreme Court case presents an ideal example to study the use of social science evidence in amicus briefs to shape educational policy. Findings from this study identify differences in the use of social science research that suggest many ways in which our current understanding of the efforts of actors to shape educational policy via the highest court in the nation is incomplete. This study also highlights why developing this understanding could be extremely useful to both the creation of educational policy and the use of antipolitical approaches to change such policy.

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“…Briefs can act as a useful signal for justices on the importance or relevance of a particular case, encouraging them to grant review initially or decide a particular way in the merits stage (Caldeira and Wright 1988). Amicus participation is most frequent in salient cases that have the most potential for wide-ranging policy effects (Martinek 2006, Salzman, Williams and Calvin 2011, Zuber, Sommer and Parent 2015. However, increasingly, amicus briefs are filed in nearly all Supreme Court cases (Larsen and Devins 2016).…”

Section: Amicus Briefs and Credit Claimingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pursuing Change or Pursuing Credit? Litigation and Credit Claiming on Social Media

Gunderson

Widner²,

Macdonald³

2023

J. law courts

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Interest groups often post about their judicial advocacy on social media. We argue that they do so for two main reasons. First, providing information about the courts on social media builds the group’s credibility as a source of information with policymakers, media and the public. Second, social media provides a way to claim credit for litigation activity and outcomes, which can increase membership and aid in fundraising. Using original datasets of millions of tweets and Facebook posts by interest groups, we provide evidence that interest groups use social media for public education and to credit claim for their litigation activity.

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Setting the Agenda of the United States Supreme Court? Organized Interests and the Decision to File an Amicus Curiae Brief at Cert

Cited by 12 publications

References 33 publications

Use of extra-legal sources in amicus curiae briefs submitted in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

Use of extra-legal sources in amicus curiae briefs submitted in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin

Shaping Educational Policy Through the Courts: The Use of Social Science Research in Amicus Briefs in Fisher I

Pursuing Change or Pursuing Credit? Litigation and Credit Claiming on Social Media

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