PAUL BREST

Amicus Curia is Latin for Friend of the Court. In the American legal system, in any appeal case any organization or individual may file a brief to the court even though they are not on either side. Some like Brest do not like these briefs because they are not for either side but just want to benefit the country and the society. Others think that these are the best brief’s because they consider the big picture and not the specific parties to the case.

The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention were all men with different opinions. So the intent of the Framers might mean: The intent of the individual who proposed the section, the men who spoke on that section, the majority who voted to keep it in the document. This would be hard enough if there were a transcript of the debate, but there was not. We only have the notes of Madison and a few others at different times. And even they did not know the intentions on a given issue of delegates who did not speak. George Washington, for example, never spoke for or against any particular section of the Constitution. We can infer his intentions from other writings sometimes, but what about the delegates who did not write as much or whose letters and papers have not been found or preserved? The judges who must decide on constitutionality do the best that they can, and there is ALWAYS disagreement when judges make such a judgments and render an opinion.

The delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention were all men with different opinions. So the intent of the Framers might mean: The intent of the individual who proposed the section, the men who spoke on that section, the majority who voted to keep it in the document. This would be hard enough if there were a transcript of the debate, but there was not. We only have the notes of Madison and a few others at different times. And even they did not know the intentions on a given issue of delegates who did not speak. George Washington, for example, never spoke for or against any particular section of the Constitution. We can infer his intentions from other writings sometimes, but what about the delegates who did not write as much or whose letters and papers have not been found or preserved? The judges who must decide on constitutionality do the best that they can, and there is ALWAYS disagreement when judges make such a judgments and render an opinion.

Amicus Curia is Latin for Friend of the Court. In the American legal system, in any appeal case any organization or individual may file a brief to the court even though they are not on either side. Some like Brest do not like these briefs because they are not for either side but just want to benefit the country and the society. Others think that these are the best brief’s because they consider the big picture and not the specific parties to the case.