Amicus Briefs
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Through its litigation initiatives, Legal Momentum has made historic and enduring contributions to the rights and opportunities available to women. This is often accomplished through participation in cases as amicus curiae ("friend of the court"). Amici are groups or individuals who are not parties to the case but have particular expertise in the issues at its heart. They bring their expertise to the court in the form of an amicus brief to inform the court’s deliberations. Each year Legal Momentum writes and joins numerous amicus briefs in cases dealing with issues central to our mission.
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Violence Against Women and GirlsAuthored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum’s amicus brief, drafted in coordination with the National Crime Victim Law Institute, AEquitas, and the Complex Appellate Litigation Group, explains the real harm caused by such threats to victims of stalking and intimate partner violence and the dynamics of non-physical forms of gender-based violence, including technology-facilitated abuse, that make clear an objective test that takes into account the full context of such threats is necessary and supported by social science research.
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Authored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum, along with Equal Rights Advocates and the National Women's Law Center, was the lead in filing an amicus brief to assist the NY Court of Appeals with understanding the substantial negative effect of its decision to not allow the anti-SLAPP law to be applied retroactively on survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and intimate partner abuse.
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Fairness in the CourtsAuthored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum, along with Equal Rights Advocates and the National Women's Law Center, was the lead in filing an amicus brief to assist the court with understanding the substantial negative effect of its decision on survivors of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and intimate partner abuse.
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Equal Educational Opportunities | Violence Against Women and GirlsAuthored Amicus Brief: Authored amicus brief: Legal Momentum, with the Fierberg National Law Group, were joined by 13 other gender justice and anti-gender-based violence organizations is filing a brief before the Connecticut Supreme Court in support of Jane Doe in Khan v. Yale University, et al. Jane Doe made a complaint of sexual assault to Yale University against Plaintiff Khan. She participated in the school's Title IX process and Khan was later expelled. Among other claims against the university, Plaintiff Khan sued Jane Doe for defamation for her statements made during the campus proceedings. The Court will consider whether statements made during the course of Title IX sexual harassment proceedings are entitled to absolute immunity from defamation claims. The amicus brief highlights for the Court the myriad public policy reasons supporting interpretation of Connecticut's defamation law to grant immunity to statements made during the course of schools' Title IX sexual harassment proceedings.
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Fairness in the Courts | Violence Against Women and Girls
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Fairness in the Courts | Workplace Equality and Economic EmpowermentAuthored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum, with the Purple Campaign, the National Women's Law Center, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, were joined by 42 organizations in filing an Amicus Brief in the Fourth Circuit in support of Appellant Jane Roe in Roe v United States of America, et al. The amicus brief details the pervasive sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, and retaliation to which Roe was subjected to from early 2018 through March 2019 when she was constructively discharged from her position. The brief urges the Court to reverse the lower court's decision and "affirm that its own employees are entitled to the Constitutional guarantee of the right to work in an environment free from sexual harassment and other workplace discrimination.
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Human TraffickingRacial JusticeAuthored Amicus Brief: Considers the applicability of a statutory defense for victims of sex trafficking in a case where a Wisconsin minor shot and killed her abuser/trafficker.
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Equal Educational Opportunities | Fairness in the CourtsAuthored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum and pro bono partner Latham & Watkins, joined by seven partner organizations, filed an amicus brief in support of a cert petition seeking Supreme Court review of a lower court’s ruling in Bose v. Rhodes College. The petition and our brief challenge an alarming ruling issued by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that threatens to eviscerate Title IX’s core safeguards against sexual harassment in schools.
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Fairness in the Courts | Human TraffickingAuthored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum and pro bono counsel Mary Christine Sungaila of the Buchalter firm filed an amicus brief in support of Courtney Wild's petition to the Supreme Court to decide whether the 2004 federal Crime Victims Rights Act (CVRA), a bill of rights for federal crime victims with specific enforcement provisions, contains rights-creating language that allows crime victims to sue to enforce their right to confer with prosecutors before the Government files a federal indictment.
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Fairness in the Courts | Violence Against Women and GirlsAuthored Amicus Brief: Legal Momentum, the National Crime Victim Law Institute and pro bono counsel Covington & Burling, filed an amicus brief in the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, First Department. This brief is in support of a sexual assault survivor and her right to anonymity in the civil court she brought a suit against her perpetrator in. This case invokes the New York Civil Rights Law § 50-b, which creates a statutory right for victims to file civil cases under a pseudonym by prohibiting the identification of victims in public documents.
