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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Fairness in the CourtsPublic Benefits and Poverty | Rights of Pregnant WomenJoined Amicus Brief: Concerned a federal habeas petition filed by a woman serving a five-year prison sentence for using crack cocaine when she was pregnant.
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Fairness in the CourtsPublic Benefits and Poverty | Rights of Pregnant WomenAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined the Constitutionality of a South Carolina policy that allowed warrantless and nonconsensual drug testing of women seeking prenatal treatment at a Charleston public hospital.
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Fairness in the CourtsJoined Amicus Brief: Determined the constitutionality of a restriction imposed by Congress and the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) on the professional activities of groups that receive LSC funding.
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Reproductive Rights | Anti-Choice ViolenceAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined the Constitutionality under the First Amendment of a Massachusetts state law that protected persons near reproductive health care facilities from unwanted approaches closer than six feet.
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Reproductive Rights | Parental RightsAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined whether it is constitutional to impose a requirement that an individual not procreate as a condition of probation, where violation of the condition would subject the person to imprisonment.
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Reproductive Rights | Public Benefits and PovertyAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined the constitutionality of a state regulation that denied Medicaid coverage of medically necessary or therapeutic abortions except in cases where the pregnancy was life threatening or resulted from rape or incest.
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Fairness in the Courts | Workplace Equality and Economic EmpowermentAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined whether money awarded for lost compensation constitute an element of compensatory, such that it is subject to the Civil Rights Act of 1991's statutory cap on such damages.
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Fairness in the CourtsLGBTQ+ RightsJoined Amicus Brief: Determined whether the Boy Scouts of America have a constitutional right to revoke the membership of a scout leader for being gay despite state law prohibiting such discrimination in places of public accommodation.
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Equal Educational OpportunitiesLGBTQ+ RightsJoined Amicus Brief: Concerned whether a school violated the federal Equal Access Act by denying a East High Gay/Straight Alliance permission to meet on school premises.
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Reproductive Rights | Anti-Choice ViolenceAuthored Amicus Brief: Determined the Constitutionality of a Colorado statute that protects women’s access to reproductive health services by making it unlawful for an individual to knowingly come closer than eight feet to a person without consent.
