Appendix VII: Procedures for Submission of Amicus Curiae Briefs
The process by which APA determines whether to participate as amicus curiae in court proceedings is as follows:
All requests or proposals for APA amicus participation are submitted to the Office of General Counsel. If the request appears to be of relevance to psychology and there is sufficient time and resources for the preparation of a brief, the General Counsel's Office will undertake to determine whether there is sufficient interest in the matter to warrant further consideration.
If, in the usual course of events, it appears that there may be sufficient interest to warrant further consideration, relevant case materials and a written analysis will be provided to the appropriate APA Directorates for their review and analysis. The Directorates will consult, or will assist the General Counsel's Office in consulting, with their respective constituencies, governance bodies, appropriate psychological experts, State/Provincial Associations and Divisions and others. Each Directorate will advise the General Counsel as to whether APA should consider filing an amicus brief.
If a Directorate recommends that further consideration should be given, the Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Legal Issues (COLI) will be asked to appoint a COLI panel to examine the proposal and to make a recommendation. All relevant materials will be provided to the panel and the panel's deliberations will generally be conducted by means of a telephone conference call. Participants in the deliberation shall include the panel, an attorney from the General Counsel's office, the COLI liaison, a representative from a Directorate if the Directorate wishes to participate, and other persons as appropriate.
The panel shall determine whether to recommend to the Board of Directors that APA enter the case. The panel will consider questions such as whether participation will be consistent with the objectives and policies of the Association; the significance of the case to psychology; whether APA can make a useful contribution to the case; whether there is sufficient research, data and literature to present a strong position; the substantive views of relevant Divisions, State/Provincial Associations and others; how participation might be viewed by various APA constituencies; what may be the public or external results of participation; and other appropriate issues.
The recommendation of the panel will be communicated to the Board of Directors by the APA Chief Executive Officer. Unless a scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors is imminent, the recommendation will be transmitted to the Board by facsimile with a return ballot by which Directors will register their votes and/or comments. If any member of the Board requests a Board conference call in lieu of the vote by facsimile ballot, a conference call will be scheduled.
If a Division or other APA-related entity wishes to file an amicus curiae brief, consistent with Association Rule 100-1.9, its request will be processed under these Procedures. If the Board approves the request, the General Counsel will be responsible for reviewing and approving the brief as provided in paragraph 7. In the event General Counsel does not approve the brief, the matter will be referred to the Board. In the event that the Board decides that APA will file an amicus curiae brief in a case, a division or other APA-related entities may not file a separate brief in the same case. If a division or other related entity is not able to file a brief under these circumstances, the Office of General Counsel will work with representatives of the Division to obtain input in the preparation of the brief to the extent possible.
If participation as amicus curiae is approved, the Office of General Counsel will undertake preparation of the brief. In some instances the General Counsel will retain outside counsel to assist in this work. Appropriate experts in the field will be consulted in the course of drafting the brief, as will relevant Directorates, Divisions, State/Provincial Associations and others.
Approved 12/96 by the APA Board of Directors; amended by the Board on 6/03
