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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I wonder what percentage of all court cases include amicus curiae? I'd bet well under 10%, but will gladly defer to more practiced experience. I think this fits the def.: http://www.nationalcasa.org/htm/about.htm
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
I think this link is probably a better explanation, in the US context at least. Sparteye would, of course, be the best person to comment at higher court level. Father Steve will obviously also have a view if he's prepared to expound it! http://www.techlawjournal.com/glossary/legal/amicus.htm
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
NYC civil (divorce courts) use one-- in most cases, divorces are purely a civil matter, but sometimes (rarely) an orthodox jewish couple will divorce. most of the time, the divorce and settlement will be worked out by a court of rabbi's, and their settlement, is often taken by NY courts as 'fair and equitable' --often there are complicated terms, and financial settlements that don't quite meet the NY code (which has a formula for child support, and since NY is a community property state, each spouse is supposed to file financial records, and the court get to go over them, and insure there has been equitable distributions of assets.)
rabbinacal court use in effect, a 'jewish common law' based on the talmud law and custom, not english common law... but the NY courts will very often accept in toto, their 'decisions'.
Jewish women are only considered divorced if they have a "GET" (might be spelled differently, i only know it as a spoken word)--and their husband has to provide it. (he can remarry with out a GET, but she can't.) You might think this makes them vunerable. (the rabbi's do!) so rabbinical court (and thousand of years of talmudic law) tend to look out for the wife and children. a study done in the 1970's (a long time ago) compared divorce settlements, and orthodox settlements tended to be better at protecting the kids, (at the expence of the wife) slightly more than civil courts settlements. but, in general they were about the same.
orthodox couple can complete skip the rabbical court, and get completely civil divorces, but divorce is rare, and civil divorce (with out a religious/GET divorce) is very rare.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 9
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 9 |
I'm a little belated on this, but generally amicus curiae are done at the highest appellate level - for example, you would probably see them at a majority of U.S. Supreme Court cases. Special interest groups, scholars, and law firms use these as a way to get their own messages across to the court - and it is not as sinister as it sounds. Recently, my firm considered drafting an amicus curiae for a case coming before the state supreme court. In its holding, the lower court drastically altered the way most practitioners interpreted and applied a certain procedural statute. Needless to say, there was great interest in making sure the supreme court understood the realities of the practice.
DSW
DSW
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773 |
You'd be right, Jackie, in thinking the frequency is under 10 percent. I've never done an actual count, but I'm guessing that at the local appellate level the frequency of cases in which amicus curiae appear is less than 5 percent. Not surprisingly, in a case in which amicus curiae appear, there is a fair chance of multiple applications to serve as amicus curiae.
Michigan has another "Friend of the Court." There is an agency which serves to administer child support and alimony payments pursuant to divorce judgments, and its name is "Friend of the Court."
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