APA Amicus Briefs by Year

Listing in reverse chronological order of APA amicus briefs. Each of the titles below links to a one-page summary. Selected full-text briefs are linked below. Please note that the PDF files may take time to download, as they are very large files.

Bostic v. Shaefer
Brief Filed: 4/14
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Year of Decision: Pending
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 154KB)

Kitchen v. Herbert and Bishop v. Smith [Docket Nos. 13-4178, 14-5003, 14-5006]
Brief Filed: 3/14
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Year of Decision: Pending
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 107KB)

Hall v. Florida [Docket No. 12-10882]
Brief Filed: 12/13
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Year of Decision: 2014
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 132KB)

People v. Thomas [Docket No. APL 2012-00306]
Brief Filed: 11/13
Court: State of New York Court of Appeals
Year of Decision: 2014 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 218KB)

Sevcik v. Sandoval and Jackson v. Abercrombie [Docket Nos. 12-17668, 12-16995, 12-16998]
Brief Filed: 10/13
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Year of Decision: Pending
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 140KB)

State of Connecticut v. Troy Artis [Docket No. 19035]
Brief Filed: 10/13
Court: Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut
Year of Decision: Pending
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 200KB)

Griego v. Oliver [Docket No. D-202-CV-201302757]
Brief Filed: 9/13
Court: New Mexico Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2013 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 444KB)

U.S. v. Windsor [Docket No. 12-307]
Brief Filed: 3/13
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2013  
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 182KB)

Hollingsworth v. Perry [Docket No. 12-144]
Brief Filed: 2/13
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2013 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 172KB)

Windsor v. U.S. [Docket No. 12-2335]
Brief Filed: 9/12
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals from the Second Circuit
Year of Decision: 2012
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 171KB)

Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin [Docket No. 11-345]
Brief Filed: 8/12
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2013 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 257KB)

Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management 
Brief Filed: 7/12
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Year of Decision: 2013 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 164KB)

Miller v. Alabama and Jackson v. Hobbs [Docket No. 10-9646, 10-9647]
Brief Filed: 1/12
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2012
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 155KB)

Donaldson v. Montana, 292 P.3d 364 (Mont. 2012)
Brief Filed: 11/11
Court: Montana Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2012
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 93KB)

Gill v. Office of Personnel Management [10-2204, 10-2207, 10-2114]
Brief Filed: 11/11
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Year of Decision: 2012
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 115KB)

Michigan v. Kowalski [Docket No. 141932]
Brief Filed: 9/11
Court: Michigan Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2012 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 126KB)

Perry v. New Hampshire [Docket No. 10-8974]
Brief Filed: 8/11
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2012
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 123KB)

Commonwealth v. Walker 
Brief Filed: 8/11
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Eastern District
Year of Decision: 2014 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 84KB)

Coble v. Texas [Docket No. 10-1271]
Brief Filed: 5/11
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: N/A – Certiorari not accepted
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 104KB)

Brown (formerly Schwarzenegger) v. Plata et al [Docket No. 09-1233]
Brief Filed: 11/10
Court: U.S. Supreme Court
Year of Decision: 2011
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 120KB)

Perry v. Schwarzenegger [Docket No. 10-16696]
Brief Filed: 10/10
Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Year of Decision: 2012
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.2MB)

Rivera v. Illinois [Docket No. 2-09-1060]
[Appellate Court of Illinois, Second Judicial District/brief filed 7/10] — At issue before the Court is the reliability of a legally voluntary confession in light of new evidence of innocence.
Year of Decision: 2011 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.2MB)

Warney v. New York [Docket No. CA 08 02261] (2011)
[New York State Court of Appeals, Appellate Division, Fourth Department/brief filed 7/10] — At issue is the reliability of a legally voluntary confession in light of new evidence of innocence (“false confessions”).
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 183KB)

Floyd v. Cain [Docket No. 280-729 “C”] (2011)
[Supreme Court of Louisiana/brief filed 5/10] — At issue is the reliability of a legally voluntary confession in light of new evidence of innocence (“false confessions”).
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.3MB)

Planned Parenthood et al. v. Mike Rounds et al. [Docket Nos. 09-3231, 09-3233, and 09-3362]
[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit/brief submitted but not accepted 4/10] — Addresses the constitutionality of a South Dakota statute that required physicians to warn women considering an abortion that suicide or suicidal ideation are known medical risks of abortion.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 106KB)

In Marquez v. Estate of Garcia [Docket No. B221965] (2010)
[Court of Appeal of the State of California Second Appellate District, Division Seven/brief filed 3/10] — Addresses the confidentiality of patient records and the deposition of a psychotherapist who handled a patient’s case.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 3.1MB)

Boseman v. Jarrell [Docket No. 416PA08-2] (2010)
[North Carolina Supreme Court/brief filed 3/10] — Addresses a case in which a conservative advocacy group seeks to invalidate an adoption order by which a biological mother and her lesbian partner documented their family relationship.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.2MB)

Graham v. Florida [Docket No. 08-7412] and Sullivan v. Florida [Docket No. 08-7621] (2010)
[Supreme Court of the United States/brief filed 7/09] — Whether the fundamental principles in the U.S. Supreme Court 2005 decision in Roper v. Simmons that declared the death penalty unconstitutional for juveniles should also be applied to sentences of life without the possibility of parole for those who committed crimes as juveniles.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 155KB)

In re Matter of adoption of X.X.G. and N.R.G. [Docket No. 3D08-3044] (2010)
[District Court of Appeal, Third District, State of Florida/brief filed 6/09] — Addresses a challenge to a Florida statute prohibiting adoption by gay or lesbian persons.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 64KB)

Wright v. Pennsylvania [Docket No. 21 EAP 2008] (2011)
[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania/brief filed 11/08] — Involves the lower courts’ interpretation that the Post Conviction DNA testing statute (which governs when convicted felons can have potentially exonerating DNA tests performed) does not allow access to DNA testing, if there has been a “voluntary” confession in the case.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.3MB)

Varnum v. Brien (2009)
[Iowa Supreme Court/brief filed 5/08] — Addresses a constitutional challenge to Iowa’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 843KB)

Greenberg v. National Geographic Ent., 533 F.3d 1244 (2008)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit/brief filed 10/07] — Addresses the rights of scholarly publishers to digitize their present and past works.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.5MB)

In re Marriage Cases, 43 Cal.4th 757 (2008)
[Supreme Court of California/brief filed 9/07] — Whether prohibiting same-sex marriage discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, rather than just imposing disparate burdens on gay people.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 360KB)

Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, 289 Conn. 135 (2008)
[Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut/brief filed 1/07] — Addresses a constitutional challenge to Connecticut’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2.4MB)

Panetti v. Quarterman, 127 S.CT. 2842 (2007)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 2/07] — At issue is the appropriate standard for determining the level of mental illness that should preclude execution, as well as the issue of how to define the factors that should be assessed in such a case.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 147KB)

Bodell v. Superior Court, (unpublished) (2007)
[Court of Appeal of the State of California, 2nd Appellate District/letter in support of cert filed 1/07] — Whether the Superior court may compel the production of psychiatric and medical records upon a mere showing of “relevance” and with no stated compelling public interest.
Letter of petition for review (PDF, 365KB)

In re. R.A. & M.A., 2007 ME 123 (2007)
[Maine Supreme Judicial Court/brief filed 10/06] — Addresses a challenge to the Maine state law barring same-sex couples from legally adopting foster children for whom they are caring.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2MB)

Conaway v. Deane, 401 Md. 219 (2007)
[Maryland Court of Appeals/brief filed 10/06] — Addresses a constitutional challenge to Maryland’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 3.2MB)

Parents v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson Co. Board of Education, 126 S.Ct 2738 (2007)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 10/06] — The consolidated cases involve voluntary desegregation plans in Kentucky and Seattle K-12 public school systems that use race as a factor in some instances when assigning children to particular schools or programs within schools.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 457KB)

U.S. v. Fields, 483 F.3d 313 (2007)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit/brief filed 4/05] — Addresses the reliability of expert testimony in a death penalty case.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2MB)

Clark v. Arizona, 548 U.S. 735 (2006)
[U.S. Supreme Court/APA signed onto brief filed 1/06] — At issue is the scope of the constitutional duty of states to allow evidence of sanity to be used as a defense in criminal cases relevant to the intent element of a charged crime.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 141KB)

Department of Human Services v. Howard, 367 Ark. 55 (2006) 
[Supreme Court of Arkansas/brief filed 12/05] — At issue is a challenge to an administrative regulation promulgated by the Arkansas Child Welfare Agency Review Board that prohibits anyone who has a “homosexual” adult household member from providing foster care for children.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 109KB)

Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning, 455 F.3d 859 (8th Cir. 2006)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit/brief filed 11/05] — Involves a federal challenge to a section of the Nebraska constitution that bans any legal recognition of same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2.2MB)

Hernandez v. Robles, 794 N.Y.S.2d 579 (2006)
[New York, Appellate Division, First Department/Brief filed 8/05] — Addresses a constitutional challenge to New York’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 4.2MB)

Goodman v. Georgia, 546 U.S. 152 (2006)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 7/05] — Addresses whether the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to conditions under which the disabled are held in state prisons.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 240KB)

Shields v. Madigan, 820 N.Y.S.2d 890 (2006)
[New York Appellate Division: Second Department/Brief filed 7/05] — Addresses a constitutional challenge to New York’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2.1MB)

Samuels v. New York State Department of Health, 811 NYS 2d 136 (2006)
[New York Appellate Division: Third Department/Brief filed 5/05] — Addresses a constitutional challenge to New York’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 281KB)

Andersen v. King County, 158 Wn.2d 1 (2006) 
[Supreme Court of the State of Washington/brief filed 2/05] — Addresses a challenge to the constitutionality of Washington’s statutes limiting the right to marry to opposite-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 496KB)

Li v. Oregon [95 P.3d 730] (2005)
[Supreme Court of the State of Oregon/brief filed 10/04] — Addresses a challenge to Oregon’s refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 521KB)

Lewis v. Harris, 378 N.J. Super 168 (2005)
[Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division/brief filed 10/04] — Whether the New Jersey Constitution compels the State to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 249KB)

Roper v. Simmons, 125 S.Ct. 1183 (2005)
[U.S. Supreme Court/filed 7/04] — Whether the imposition of the death penalty on an individual who was 17 years old when he committed a murder constitutes “cruel and unusual” punishment, and is thus barred by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 222KB)

Faulkner v. National Geographic Enterprises, Inc., 409 F.3d. 26 (2005)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit/brief filed 6/04] — Addresses the rights of scholarly publishers to digitize their present and past works.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 4.3MB)

Comfort v. Lynn, 418 F.3d 1 (2005)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit/brief filed 6/04] — Addresses a school voluntary desegregation plan in Lynn, Mass. that uses race as a factor in assigning children to K-12 schools in the event that they request a school transfer.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2.3MB)

Ewing v. Goldstein [120 Cal.App.4th 807] (2004) 
[California Supreme Court/letter in support of petition for review filed 9/04] — Addresses review of a decision that extends California’s duty to warn statute from communications from the patient to the therapist to include communications about the patient from a third party.
Letter of petition for review (PDF, 112KB)

Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 and Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003)
[U.S. Supreme Court /brief filed 2/18/03] — This case addresses whether the University of Michigan's consideration of race in student admissions violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, or 42 U.S.C. 1981. 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 217KB)

Stogner v. California, 539 U.S. 607 (2003)
[U.S. Supreme Court /brief filed 2/18/03] — This case involves the validity of a California statute that retroactively expanded the statute of limitations for certain sex offenses (i.e., the rape and molestation of children).
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 307KB)

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/16/03] — Addresses the constitutionality of a Texas law that makes sodomy between same-sex couples a crime.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 155KB)

Sell v. U.S., 539 U.S. 166 (2003) 
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 12/19/02] — This case addresses whether a criminal defendant should be involuntary medicated for the purpose of restoring the defendant to competency so that he can stand trial.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 2.1MB)

Boy Scouts of America, National Capital Area Council v. Pool, 809 A.2d 1192 (2002) 
[D.C. Court of Appeals/APA brief filed 2/26/02] — Addresses the Boy Scout's claim that the decision of the District of Columbia's Commission on Human Rights that the BSA is subject to D.C. law against discrimination and violated the law in terminating all relationships with two gay former Eagle Scouts, is contrary to the Supreme Court precedent in Dale v. Boy Scouts of America and infringes on its First Amendment right to freedom of association.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 313KB)

Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002)
[U.S. Supreme Court/motion filed 11/19/01 to have McCarver v. North Carolina brief considered in this case] — Addresses the question, "whether the execution of mentally retarded individuals convicted of capital crimes violates the Eighth Amendment."

Jegley v. Picado, 80 S.W.3d 332 (2002)
[Arkansas Supreme Court/brief filed 10/01] — Addresses the constitutionality of an Arkansas law that makes sodomy between same-sex couples a crime.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 78KB)

In re. Adoption of Luke, 640 N.W.2d 374 (2002)
[Nebraska Supreme Court/APA brief filed 9/01] — This case involves an adoption proceeding commenced by the lesbian partner of a child's natural mother. The case challenges the issue that second-parent adoptions must be denied when the co-parents are gay or lesbian.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 127KB)

U.S. v. Gomes, 289 F.3d 71 (2002)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit/brief filed 9/01] — Addresses Whether a criminal defendant can be involuntarily medicated in order to restore the defendant to competency 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 119KB)

McCarver v. North Carolina, 533 U.S. 975 (2001)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 6/8/01] — This case addresses whether the Eighth Amendment's ban against cruel and unusual punishment prohibits the execution of individuals with mental.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 69KB)

Levy v. Edelhofer (no published decision) (2001)
[Fourth District Court of Appeal, State of California/briefs filed 11/13/00 & 12/4/00] — The case presents the questions of: (1) whether the client/therapist privilege applies to the communications of therapist to the client, (2) whether a court should evaluate communications in therapy to decide whether they are "therapeutic" before deciding whether they are privileged, and (3) whether psychotherapists owe a general duty of care to third parties, or whether psychotherapists owe a general duty of care to their patients' former therapists with whom they have no contractual relationship.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 47KB)

Ford v. Norton, 107 Cal. Rptr. 2d 776 (2001)
[Court of Appeal of the State of California/brief filed 1/6/00] — The case raises the issue of the scope of psychologists' practice (i.e., whether a clinical psychologist is authorized to order the early release of a patient who is hospitalized involuntarily).
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 559KB)

Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, 530 U.S. 640 (2000)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 3/29/2000] — Whether the Boy Scouts' claim that the recent New Jersey Supreme Court's decision, that the Boy Scouts of America is subject to the State's Law Against Discrimination and violated the law in expelling an assistant scoutmaster because he stated publicly that he is gay, infringes upon its First Amendment right to freedom of association.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 556KB)

Williamson v. Liptzin, 539 S.E. 2d 313 (2000)
[Court of Appeals of North Carolina/brief filed 2/00] — Whether public policy supports the extension of the law of proximate causation to allow liability in this case concerning negligence by a mental health professional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 130KB)

Hudgins v. Moore (1999)
[Supreme Court of South Carolina/briefs filed 2/98 and 2/99] — Whether the prosecution could use raw MMPI-A test materials, administered to determine the defendant's competency to stand trial, to argue at trial that the defendant admitted to being a liar.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 196KB)

Olmstead v. L.C. (1999)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 3/99] — Whether the Americans With Disabilities Act compels a state to provide treatment for mentally disabled patients in a community placement rather than a state mental institution when that is an appropriate treatment option.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1MB)

Boswell v. Boswell (1998)
[Maryland Court of Appeals/brief filed 7/98] — Whether a gay father may be denied overnight visitation with his children and visitations in the presence of his male partner.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 356KB)

Delong v. Delong (1998)
[Missouri Supreme Court/brief filed 6/98] — Whether a lesbian mother may be denied custody solely on the basis of her sexual orientation rather than on the basis of what is in the best interests of the child. 
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 218KB)

Emerich v. Philadelphia Center for Human Development, Inc. (1998)
[Pennsylvania Supreme Court/brief filed 10/96] — Whether a mental health professional has a duty to warn a third party of a patient's threats to harm the third party and the scope of any such duty
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 356KB)

Huntoon v. TCI Cablevision (1998)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit/brief filed 7/97 & Colorado Supreme Court/brief filed 2/98] — Whether a neuropsychologist is qualified to testify as to the causation of a head injury.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 323KB)

People v. Gil (1998)
[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division/brief filed 7/97] — Whether cognitive research evidence and expert testimony regarding laypersons' beliefs concerning physics was admissible in a murder trial.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 230KB)

Landers v. Chrysler Corp. (1997)
[Missouri Court of Appeals/brief filed 8/97] — Whether a neuropsychologist is qualified to testify as to the causation of a head injury.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 387KB)

Schudel v. General Electric (1997)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit/brief filed 7/95] — Whether neuropsychologists are competent to testify on issues pertaining to causation of an "organic" mental condition.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 189KB)

Campbell v. Sundquist (1996)
[Tennessee Court of Appeals/brief filed 10/95] — Whether a Tennessee "Homosexual Acts" statute prohibiting private sexual activity between consenting adults of the same sex violates the Tennessee Constitution's right to privacy.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 748KB)

Jaffee v. Redmond (1996)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/96] — Whether a psychotherapist-patient privilege was recognized under Rule 501 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari to review a decision of the Seventh Circuit that recognized the existence of a psychotherapist-patient privilege and held that confidential communications of a police officer with a licensed social worker were protected from compelled disclosure.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1MB)

Romer v. Evans (1996)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 6/95] — Whether an enacted state constitutional amendment prohibiting the state and all local governmental entities from enacting, adopting or enforcing any law or policy protecting lesbians, gay men and bisexuals from discrimination violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because it burdens the fundamental right of lesbians, gay men and bisexuals to seek such legal protections.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 551KB)

Bottoms v. Bottoms (1995)
[Virginia Court of Appeals/brief filed 11/93 & Virginia Supreme Court/brief filed 12/94] — Whether a lesbian biological mother could be denied custody of her child on the grounds that her sexual orientation rendered her unfit as a parent.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 357KB)

Equality Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, Inc. v. City of Cincinnati (1995)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit/brief filed 12/94] — Whether an anti-gay rights ballot initiative was constitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 629KB)

Hertzler v. Hertzler (1995)
[Wyoming Supreme Court/brief filed 12/94] — Whether the "best interests of the child" is served by restricting visitation rights to a minimum level due to a mother's sexual orientation as a lesbian.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 317KB)

Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) v. University of Washington (1994)
[Washington Supreme Court/brief filed 7/93] — Whether unfunded grant proposals submitted to a federal agency are protected from disclosure by federal preemption and the researcher's First Amendment right of academic freedom.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 173KB)

Texas v. Morales (1994)
[Texas Court of Appeals/brief filed 1/92 and Texas Supreme Court/brief filed 12/92] — Whether the equal protection and due process components of the Texas Constitution prohibit criminalization of consensual homosexual sodomy among adults in private.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 329KB)

Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc. (1993)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 4/93] — Whether a sexual harassment plaintiff must prove not only that the conduct complained of would have offended a reasonable victim, and that the plaintiff was in fact offended, but also that the conduct caused the plaintiff to suffer serious psychological injury.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 343KB)

National Kidney Patient's Association v. Sullivan (1993)
[U.S. Supreme Court brief in support of a petition for certiorari/brief filed 12/92] — Whether health care providers and Medicare beneficiaries may seek judicial review of HCFA regulations without first completing lengthy administrative review process by HCFA.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 234KB)

Chandler Exterminators v. Morris (1992)
[Georgia Court of Appeals/brief filed 12/90 & Georgia Supreme Court/brief in support of petition for reconsideration filed 6/92] — Whether the lower court erred in rejecting the testimony of a neuropsychologist concerning the causes of brain damage as a result of exposure to the neurotoxic substance Aldrin and ruling that psychologists are not competent to testify as to the organic causes of psychological dysfunction by stating "medical causation is not a subject within the scope of psychological expertise."
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.2MB)

Kentucky v. Wasson (1992)
[Kentucky Supreme Court/brief filed 8/91] — Whether Kentucky sodomy laws are constitutional under the Kentucky Constitution.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 434KB)

Menendez v. State of California (1992)
[California Supreme Court/brief filed 10/91] — Whether patient-therapist communications lose their privileged status once a patient threatens others in a manner such that the therapist's Tarasoff duties are triggered and when a therapist-patient relationship is terminated.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 735KB)

Planned Parenthood of SE Pennsylvania v. Casey (1992)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 3/92] — Whether (1) the challenged provisions of Pennsylvania's abortion statute are constitutional, and (2) the standard of review established under Roe v. Wade for regulations restricting abortion remained the law of the land.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 512KB)

Soroka v. Dayton Hudson Corp. d.b.a. Target Stores (1992)
[California Supreme Court/APA filed 1/92 letter in support of cert. petition. Although review was granted, the case was settled in 7/93 without an APA brief filed] — Whether certain portions of the MMPI and the California Psychological Inventory administered to job applicants (i.e., questions that facially and in isolation suggest they are related to religious and sexual matters) violate the privacy provisions of the California Constitution and certain anti-discrimination laws.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 37KB)

Miller v. City of Poughkeepsie (1991)
[New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division/brief filed 12/91] — Whether the State of New York and the federal government consider "medical treatment" to include services provided by a psychologist.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 600KB)

Bucy v. Bucy (1990)
[Connecticut Court of Appeals/brief filed 2/90] — Whether expenses incurred in psychotherapy for the treatment of eating disorders are "medical expenses" within the meaning of a separation and support decree.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 199KB)

California Association of Psychology Providers v. Rank (1990)
[California Supreme Court/brief filed 6/88] — Whether certain California regulations were inconsistent with legislation defining the scope of psychologists' practice in hospitals and permitting psychologists to provide services as independent pratitioners "without discrimination."
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 728KB)

Hodgson v. State of Minnesota (1988) & (1990)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit/brief filed 3/87 & U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 9/89] — Whether a Minnesota statute requiring physicians to notify the parents of all unemancipated minors under the age of 18 at least 48 hours before performing an abortion was unconstitutional (companion case to Ohio v. Akron)
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 318KB)

Maryland v. Craig (1990)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 3/90] — Whether certain procedural protections such as the use of one-way close circuit television may be afforded to the victims of child abuse when testifying against the accused individual.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 435KB)

Ohio v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc. (and Hodgson v. State of Minnesota [1990])
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 9/89] — Whether an Ohio statute which prohibited a physician from performing an abortion upon a minor unless notice was provided to one of the minor's parents.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 334KB)

Washington v. Harper (1990)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 6/89] — Whether a prisoner in a correctional facility has the right to refuse the administration of psychotropic drugs.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 449KB)

BenShalom v. Marsh (1989)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit/brief filed 3/89] — Whether the U.S. Army may constitutionally deny reenlistment to any serviceperson who declares him/herself to have a homosexual orientation.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 646KB)

Patrick v. Burget (1989)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 11/87] — Whether the conduct of hospital peer committees with the power to grant hospital privileges were absolutely immune from antitrust liability under the state action doctrine.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.78MB)

Price Waterhouse v. Hopkins (1989)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 6/88] — Whether social psychological research and expert testimony regarding sex-role stereotyping is sufficient to support a finding of sex-discrimination in a Title VII (mixed motivation) case.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 493KB)

Watkins v. United States Army (1989)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit/brief filed 8/88] — Whether U.S. Army regulations requiring the discharge of lesbians and gay men and barring them from reenlisting were unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.5MB)

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 3/89] — Whether a state statute that comprehensively regulated abortion was unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 887KB)

Bowen v. Kendrick (1988)
[U.S. Supreme Court/APA joined a brief filed 2/88] — Whether the 1981 Adolescent Family Life Act (AFLA) was constitutional, including whether it violated the constitutional rights of individuals to make informed reproductive decisions free of government coercion.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 242KB)

In re Bryant (1988)
[District of Columbia Court of Appeals/brief filed 6/87] — Whether involuntarily committed mental patients have the right to refuse antipsychotic medication.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 381KB)

Hodgson v. State of Minnesota (1988) & (1990)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit/brief filed 3/87 & U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 9/89] — Whether a Minnesota statute requiring physicians to notify the parents of all unemancipated minors under the age of 18 at least 48 hours before performing an abortion was unconstitutional (companion case to Ohio v. Akron).
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 318KB)

Martin v. Benson (1988)
[North Carolina Supreme Court/brief filed 4/97] — Whether a neuropsychologist is competent to testify as to whether the symptoms evidenced by a person are indications of a closed head injury.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 422KB)

Penry v. Lynaugh (1988)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 9/88] — Whether mentally retarded individuals possess the moral culpability to be subjected to the death penalty.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.03MB)

Riese v. St. Mary's Hospital & Medical Center (1988)
[California Supreme Court/brief filed 8/88] — Whether civilly committed mental patients could refuse the administration of antipsychotic medication absent a judicial determination of incompetence.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 566KB)

United States v. Charters (1988)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit/brief filed 6/88] — Whether a hospitalized patient has a federal constitutional right to refuse antipsychotic drugs unless the patient has been found incompetent to make treatment decisions or is imminently dangerous to self or others.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 510KB)

Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust (1988)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 9/87] — Whether the use of non-validated employment assessment tools violated Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 644KB)

Currie v. United States (1987)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit/brief filed 1/87] — Whether a psychotherapist is liable under tort law for failure to institute involuntary commitment proceedings.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 337KB)

Hartigan v. Zbaraz (1987)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 2/87] — Whether the Illinois Parental Notice Abortion Act which required a physician to give 24-hour notice to both parents of a minor was unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 543KB)

Insurance Board v. Muir (1987)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit/brief filed 8/86] — Whether employee benefit plans issued by private employers but administered by fiscal intermediaries are subject to ERISA or constitute the business of insurance, thus saving the state benefits laws from preemption (the main issue for psychology was whether ERISA exempts insurance carriers from complying with psychologists' freedom of choice laws and mandated mental-health benefit laws.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 570KB)

Kentucky v. Stincer (1987)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/87] — Whether a defendant accused of sexually abusing a child has the right to be present at a pretrial hearing at which a child is questioned to determine competence to testify at trial.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 433KB)

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/86] — Whether Georgia's sodomy law, which outlawed private sexual conduct between consenting adults, was constitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 681KB)

Colorado v. Connelly (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 3/86] — Whether an individual diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenic acting in response to "command hallucinations" is competent to waive Miranda rights and his subsequent confession is voluntary and admissible.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 515KB)

Estate of Davis v. Yong-Oh Lhim (1986)
[Michigan Supreme Court/brief filed 7/86] — Whether a psychotherapist is liable under tort law for the standard of care concerning the discharge of patients from mental hospitals and not a therapist's duty to warn of potential danger.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 957KB)

Ford v. Wainwright (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/86] — Whether (1) it is unconstitutional to execute an incompetent person, and (2) the procedural issue of whether Florida's statutory scheme for evaluating the competency of a condemned prisoner meets the requirements of due process.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 559KB)

Horne v. Goodson Logging Co. (1986)
[North Carolina Court of Appeals/brief filed 8/86] — Whether a neuropsychologist is competent and credible to testify as an expert determining neurological disability for the purposes of awarding monetary compensation.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 345KB)

International Primate Protection League v. Institute for Behavioral Research (1986)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit/APA joined 69 scientific organizations filing a joint amici curiae brief filed 1986] — Whether animal rights organizations have standing to sue for custody of a laboratory under state anti-cruelty to animals.  
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 288KB)

Lockhart v. McCree (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 12/85] — Whether the use of a death-qualified jury in a capital case is unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 415KB)

Rivers v. Katz (and Grassi v. Acrish [1986])
[New York Court of Appeals/brief filed 2/86] — Whether involuntarily committed mental patients, who have not been formally adjudicated to be incompetent, can refuse antipsychotic medication.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 407KB)

Smith v. Murray (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 12/85 under Smith v. Sielaff] — Whether information the defendant provides to a mental health professional for the purpose of diagnosis or assessment incident to preparing a defense to a charge of a capital offense can be used against him by the State to establish an aggravating circumstance during the death penalty phase.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 373KB)

Stover v. State of Georgia (1986)
[Georgia Supreme Court/brief filed 11/86] — Whether a state anti-sodomy law criminally prohibiting oral sex was constitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 348KB)

Thornburgh v. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 8/85] — Whether a Pennsylvania state law that required physicians to inform women contemplating an abortion of the detrimental physical and psychological effects was constitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 371KB)

Dept. of Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, & Firearms v. Galioto (1986)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 2/86] — Whether provisions of a federal crime statute which permanently prohibited any individual adjudicated as suffering from a mental defective or committed to any mental institution from receiving, transporting or shipping a firearm or ammunition in interstate commerce or being sold a firearm was unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.42MB)

Ake v. Oklahoma (1985)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 6/84] — Whether an indigent defendant has the constitutional right to the appointment of a mental health professional at the State's expense to help the defendant prepare an insanity defense and rebut evidence of future dangerousness.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 602KB)

City of Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center, Inc. (1985)
[U.S. Supreme Court/APA signed onto brief filed 1984] — Whether zoning restrictions limiting the right of mentally retarded persons to establish group homes was unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 608KB)

Hawthorne v. State of Florida (1985)
[Florida District Court of Appeals/brief filed 2/83] — Whether expert testimony on battered women's syndrome is admissible to help establish claims of self-defense in a murder case (Parallels the New Jersey v. Kelly case).  
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 612KB)

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. v. Massachusetts (and Travelers Insurance Co. v. State of Massachusetts [1985])
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/85] — Whether a state law requiring mandatory minimal mental health benefits under which outpatient services could be provided by a licensed psychologist was preempted by the federal ERISA law.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 537KB)

Oregon v. Miller (1985)
[Oregon Supreme Court/brief filed 12/84] — Whether psychotherapist-patient privilege extended to a receptionist and to statements made to a psychiatrist that were not for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 539KB)

Alaska v. R.H. Wetherhorn (1984)
[Alaska Court of Appeals/brief filed 10/83] — Whether admissions of child abuse made during either voluntarily-obtained or court-ordered therapy are admissible in a criminal trial or protected by the state's privileged communication statutes and the right against self-incrimination under the state and/or federal constitution.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 609KB)

New Jersey v. Kelly (1984)
[New Jersey Supreme Court/brief filed 4/83] — Whether expert testimony on battered women's syndrome is admissible to help establish claims of self-defense in a murder case (Parallels case of Hawthorne v. Florida).
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 660KB)

New York v. Uplinger (1984)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 12/83] — Whether a New York Loitering law that prohibited loitering for the purpose of engaging in "deviate" sexual intercourse was unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.4MB)

United States v. Leatherman (1984)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia/brief filed 11/83] (case dismissed when Leatherman escaped from hospital in 2/84) — Addresses whether a prisoner found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed for treatment can refuse antipsychotic medications.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 485KB)

United States v. Lyons (1984)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District/brief filed 11/83] — Whether evidence of drug addiction should be admitted when the defendant raises an insanity defense.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 892KB)

Akron v. Akron Center for Reproductive Health, Inc. (1983)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 8/82] — Whether the City of Akron's adoption of an informed consent requirement for abortions, which mandated that the individual providing pre-abortion counseling must be the woman's attending physician (as opposed to other qualified professionals) and specified the kind and substance of the information to be presented, was constitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 334KB)

Forrest v. Ambach (1983)
[N.Y. Supreme Court/briefs filed 9/80, 7/81 & N.Y. Supreme Court, Appellate Division/brief filed 12/82] — Whether the New York Commissioner of Education acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner in not permitting a school psychologist to challenge her employment termination for due disagreeing with the State Commissioner regarding the statutory requirements for services to handicapped children.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 277KB)

Hedlund v. Superior Court of Orange County (1983)
[California Supreme Court/brief filed 10/83] — Whether a "foreseeable" bystander in a close relationship to the victim of an assault by a patient can bring a cause of action against the patient's psychotherapist for emotional injury resulting from a failure to warn.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 112KB)

Metropolitan Edison Co. v. People Against Nuclear Energy (and United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. People Against Nuclear Energy) (1983)
[U.S. Supreme Court/briefs filed 9/82 and 1/83] — Whether there are situations in which an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act must consider the effects of a proposed action on psychological health.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 537KB)

Mills v. Rogers (1983)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/83 and Massachusetts Supreme Court/brief filed 9/81] — Whether a patient institutionalized in a state psychiatric facility has the right to refuse the administration of antipsychotic medication.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 9.20MB)

Blue Shield of Virginia v. McCready (1982)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1/82] — Whether an insured patient receiving psychotherapy has standing to sue for treble damages under antitrust laws (i.e., the Clayton Act) when third party payors refuse to reimburse psychologists for mental health services unless those services are billed by physicians.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 541KB)

United States v. Byers (1982)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia/brief filed 10/81] — Whether a prosecution-requested, court-ordered clinical interview conducted in custodial confinement of a criminal defendant who was offering an insanity defense endangered the privilege against self-incrimination protected by the Fifth Amendment and the right to assistance of counsel protected by the Sixth Amendment.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 608KB)

Youngberg v. Romero (1982)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 9/81) — Whether mentally retarded residents of state hospitals have the constitutional right to be free from undue bodily restraint, the right to personal security and protection, and the right to adequate treatment.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 735KB)

Harris v. McRae (1980)
[U.S. Supreme Court/APA signed onto a brief filed 7/80] — Whether (1) a state participating in the Medicaid program were required to pay for medically necessary abortions, and (2) whether the Hyde Amendment denying federal reimbursement for such abortions was unconstitutional.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.27MB)

Virginia Academy of Clinical Psychologists v. Blue Shield of Virginia (1980)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit/brief filed 7/79] — Whether a health insurance company's refusal to provide direct payments to clinical psychologists for outpatient psychological services rendered to the company's subscribers unless those services were ordered, supervised, and billed by a physician violated the Sherman Act and "Virginia's "freedom of choice" legislation.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 767KB)

Detroit Edison Co. v. National Labor Relations Board (1979)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit/brief filed 1976 & U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 1977] — Whether an order of the National Labor Relations Board that required Detroit Edison to provide to a union with copies of an actual test battery and employees' raw scores and test papers without their consent should be enforced in light of confidentiality and test security concerns.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 305KB)

Hutchinson v. Proxmire (1979)
[U.S. Supreme Court/brief filed 2/79] — Whether a research scientist is a "public figure" for the purposes of libel law if he is supported by public funds, thereby rendering it difficult for a scientist to sue for libel.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 475KB)

Rone v. Fireman (1979)
[U.S. District Ct., Northern District, Eastern Div./brief filed 1//78] — Whether the state had an obligation to treat persons confined to state mental hospitals in the least restrictive setting.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 182KB)

Wyatt v. Aderholt (1973)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit/brief filed 11/72] — Whether (1) mentally impaired individuals who are involuntarily confined in state institutions have the right to treatment, and (2) confinement without treatment deprives such individuals of their constitutional rights.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 1.4MB)

United States v. Brawner (1972)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia/brief filed 5/71] — Whether in insanity defense cases (1) the medical model should be abandoned, and (2) the results of psychological tests like the Rorschach should be admissible.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 649KB)

Jenkins v. United States (1962)
[U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia/brief filed 2/62] — Whether a psychologist is competent to state professional opinions as an expert witness concerning the nature, and existence or non-existence, of mental disease and defect.
Full-text amicus brief (PDF, 201KB)