Dear colleagues: I'm teaching my First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic again this Spring, and I thought I'd pass along our letter seeking cases, in case any of you are litigating cases in which we can help, or would like to circulate the letter to some friends of colleagues who might want such help. We do state and federal, trial, intermediate, and supreme, and both First Amendment cases - speech and religion -- and related statutory / common law cases (e.g., under RFRAs, state anti-SLAPP laws, 47 U.S.C. sec. 230, and so on). We'll be ready to file starting late February. Naturally, the sooner we can hear about the cases, the better, since our docket is limited. Let me know, please, if you need any more details on this,
Eugene Dear Counsel: Are you litigating free speech cases (or religious freedom or church-state cases) in which you'd like a supporting amicus brief? If so, we can be of help (and pro bono help at that). We can both write a brief on behalf of an amicus you've identified, and file on behalf of amicus groups that we know well if you don't have an amicus already in mind. This coming Spring, I'll be teaching (for the fourth time) a First Amendment Amicus Brief Clinic at the UCLA School of Law. Under my close supervision, students will draft and file amicus briefs on behalf of nonprofits and academics or groups of academics. We are open to filing such briefs (1) in state courts or federal courts, (2) in trial courts, intermediate appeals courts, or courts of last resort, (3) at the merits stage or at the petition for rehearing, certiorari, or other discretionary review, (4) in free speech or religious freedom cases, and (5) in federal constitutional cases, state constitutional cases, and federal and state statutory and common-law cases (e.g., involving 47 U.S.C. ยง 230, copyright fair use, anti-SLAPP statutes, libel privileges, and the like). We have filed briefs so far in state supreme, appellate, and trial courts in 15 state court systems, in the U.S. Supreme Court, in nine federal circuit courts of appeals, and in federal district court. Our clients have included the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Student Press Law Center, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the Becket Fund, the ACLU of Virginia, the Cato Institute, and more. We have supported clients represented by Davis Wright Tremaine, Jenner & Block, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Proskauer Rose, the Institute for Justice, the ACLU of Missouri, the ACLU of New Hampshire, the Alliance Defending Freedom, public defenders, and more. So if you are litigating cases in which you think we can help, please let us know at amicuscli...@law.ucla.edu<mailto:amicuscli...@law.ucla.edu>. Please also let your colleagues know about this, or let us know if there are other colleagues whom we should e-mail ourselves. Because of the school calendar, we would need cases in which briefs are due beginning late February 2017. Earlier notice is better, since our docket tends to fill up quickly, and the students need time to work. Nonetheless, we sometimes have slots open up when cases are settled or delayed, so you can suggest cases as late as mid-March 2015. Please let me know if you have any questions about this. Eugene Volokh Gary T. Schwartz Professor of Law UCLA School of Law Director, Scott & Cyan Banister First Amendment Clinic http://amicusclinic.com<http://amicusclinic.com/> (310) 206-3926
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