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Article on Heller amici
In the National Law Journal. The number of amicus briefs (67) doesn't beat the all-time record (107 in the Michigan affirmative action case) but should rank in the top ten. It's far above the average (six).
""The broad range of issues developed in the gun amicus briefs is interesting and supports the idea that Supreme Court cases are often about things far more important than what is important to the immediate parties," said Collins."
"An extraordinarily high-profile constitutional case generally draws an outpouring of amicus efforts by top Supreme Court practitioners. But with the exception of a handful of veterans, such as Robert A. Long of Covington & Burling, Charles Cooper of Cooper & Kirk, Jeffrey Lamken of Baker Botts and Andrew Frey of Mayer Brown, the amicus lawyers are predominantly from smaller firms outside of the Beltway, particularly on the side of the gun ban challengers."
Hat tip to reader Jack Anderson.
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Interesting. So, AMICI submissions may be rated and their weight with respect to the issue may be estimated by quantity, quality, and by authorship notoriety (whomever the Justices rub elbows with at cocktail parties?)
Just for the benefit of a "lay" idiot like me, could someone estimate the weight, if any, given to the opinion of the court below, and where it might rank vis-a-vis the AMICI briefs? Or, is that opinion set entirely out of view, with the Justices making their decision based solely on the strength of the various AMICI briefs (along with their personal policy preferences, of course).
Just wondering.
We’ve been sold-out!
We have been fooled into believing that there is a pro-Second Amendment rights side in the Heller case. After hearing Alan Gura speak and researching his writings, along with co-council Bob Levy, it is clear that they DO NOT believe in the "shall not infringe" portion in the Second Amendment. They have stated that they believe in "reasonable" gun-control, just not an out right ban on a class of arms, such as handguns, swords, shotguns or rifles. They believe that the Brady Bill, Assault Weapons ban, gun registration, semi-auto ban, waiting periods, one-gun-a-month laws, etc... are consistent with the Second Amendment and they are arguing to CEMENT that opinion in a Supreme Court ruling. With the exception of the GOA Amicus Brief, all the other so called pro-gun briefs submitted also support the false “reasonable regulation” argument Alan Gura will be presenting. We've been had and they set us up. God save us all from these traitors.
One cocked eyebrow moment:
LESS IS MORE?
On [D.C.'s] side, the 20 amicus briefs are much more institutional and less grassroots in nature; for example: the American Bar Association, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the American Jewish Committee and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The smaller number, according to some high court practitioners, reflects the skill and experience of Dellinger, who knows there is an optimum number of amicus briefs, and that a smaller number from well-known advocates is more likely to get closer attention than a large number from relatively unknown practitioners.
Both sides have briefs from states, history and criminal justice scholars, and former law enforcement officials.
No doubt the fact that D.C. could only muster one-sixth the number of state amici that Heller attracted, and one-twelfth the number of members of Congress, likewise reflects Dellinger's skill and experience.