Constitutional Precedent of Amicus Briefs

TL;DR

This paper examines how amicus briefs influence Supreme Court decisions by identifying instances where language from these briefs became binding legal precedent, highlighting the role of interest groups in shaping constitutional law.

Contribution

It introduces a novel methodology combining plagiarism detection, automated database querying, and manual analysis to trace the influence of amicus briefs on legal precedent creation.

Findings

Seven instances where amicus briefs contributed to establishing constitutional precedent

Interest groups can effectively influence Supreme Court case law

Language from amicus briefs can become binding legal authority

Abstract

We investigate shared language between U.S. Supreme Court majority opinions and interest groups' corresponding amicus briefs. Specifically, we evaluate whether language that originated in an amicus brief acquired legal precedent status by being cited in the Court's opinion. Using plagiarism detection software, automated querying of a large legal database, and manual analysis, we establish seven instances where interest group amici were able to formulate constitutional case law, setting binding legal precedent. We discuss several such instances for their implications in the Supreme Court's creation of case law.