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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Equal Educational OpportunitiesSex-Based ClassificationJoined Amicus Brief: Determined whether Title IX covers athletic associations that do not directly receive federal funding, but exercise significant control over federally funded school athletic programs.
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Fairness in the CourtsLGBTQ+ RightsJoined Amicus Brief: Determined whether it is a violation of equal protection to apply a hundred-year-old Massachusetts law that denies marriage to persons who could not legally marry in their home state to same-sex couples seeking to marry in Massachusetts.
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Workplace Equality and Economic EmpowermentPublic Benefits and PovertyJoined Amicus Brief: Determined whether it is constitutional to use federal power to compel the State of Texas to provide Medicaid to indigent children under the Medicaid Act.
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Violence Against Women and Girls | Workplace Equality and Economic EmpowermentAuthored Amicus Brief: Addressed the right of domestic violence victims to protection from employment discharge under North Carolina public policy.
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Fairness in the Courts | Violence Against Women and GirlsAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined whether a victim of domestic violence may be penalized for "failure to produce records" in an eminent domain suit, where she had lost access to her records when fleeing from her abusive husband.
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Equal Educational OpportunitiesJoined Amicus Brief: Determined the right to sue a university for expulsion in retaliation for complaining of sexual harassment under Title IX.
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Fairness in the Courts | Violence Against Women and GirlsDomestic Violence and Children | Parental RightsAuthored Amicus Brief: Challenged New York City’s Administration for Children Services’ practice of starting child neglect proceedings against battered mothers on the basis of “allowing” their children to witness domestic violence.
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Fairness in the Courts | Workplace Equality and Economic EmpowermentAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined whether it is proper for a federal appeals court to overturn a jury verdict when a sexual harassment plaintiff has convinced a jury that she was subjected to a hostile environment in her workplace.
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Fairness in the Courts | Violence Against Women and GirlsAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined whether the prosecution of a domestic violence victim for murdering her husband was impermissibly tainted by the prosecution's baseless suggestions that she worked as a prostitute.
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Fairness in the CourtsSex-Based Classification | LGBTQ+ RightsJoined Amicus Brief: Considered whether denying same-sex couples the right to marry violated the individual liberty and equality safeguards of the Massachusetts Constitution, protecting freedom from unwarranted government intrusion into protected areas of life and freedom to partake in state benefits.
