Briefs filed in five U.S. Supreme Court cases currently pending on the merits
April 24, 2018
(Read briefs at links below)
Our firm has filed five amicus curiae briefs in cases which are now pending on the merits in the U.S. Supreme Court. Decisions on all five cases are
expected before the end of the current term.
1. Carpenter v. United States
(Brief filed August 14, 2017; argued November 29, 2017)
We argued that the government may not seize and search cell site location information, created by use of a cell phone, without a warrant under the
Fourth Amendment. This brief follows two earlier briefs that we filed on this same issue in United States v. Graham in the U.S. Supreme Court, and
one in United States v. Zodhiates in the Second Circuit.
2. Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
(Brief filed September 7, 2017; argued December 5, 2017)
We defended the rights of a Christian baker to refuse to bake a wedding cake for a homosexual couple. He told them he would sell them any other type
of baked goods, but could not participate in the celebration of their sinful union. After "dropping the F bomb" as they walked out the door, the
homosexuals filed a complaint with a non-judicial Colorado agency, which took up the case against the baker.
In our brief, we reminded the Supreme Court of its promise in Obergefell, that those who hold religious beliefs opposing gay marriage would be
protected — a promise that was not borne out in this case. Next, we took issue with the idea that a small family run bakery is a "place of public
accommodation" under the law. As we pointed out, the common law concept of a "public accommodation" was strictly limited to businesses providing
necessities to travelers — and certainly did not apply to every single business that serves the public. There was no necessity about obtaining a
wedding cake from this particular Christian baker, and the homosexuals quickly found another bakery willing to cater to them. Rather, this was a
political case brought by radical activists with a coercive and corrosive political agenda — to make all Americans facilitate and participate in a
same-sex celebration.
3. Collins v. Commonwealth of Virginia
(Brief filed November 20, 2017; argued January 9, 2018)
This Fourth Amendment case involved a warrantless search of a motorcycle under a tarp located in the "curtilage" of a home — the area immediately
surrounding it. Under the deeply flawed rule which the Virginia Supreme Court applied, the Fourth Amendment has no bearing at all whenever an
automobile (or anything that resembles an automobile) is being searched, irrespective of where the automobile is located.
4. NIFLA v. Becerra
(Brief filed January 16, 2018; argued March 20, 2018)
Our brief sought to protect the Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPCs) of California from a California law which mandates that the CPCs provide state-mandated
information about the availability of abortions from other providers. (We had earlier filed an amicus brief in support of NIFLA's petition for certiorari.)
5. Trump v. Hawaii
(Brief filed February 28, 2018; argued April 25, 2018)
This was our eighth brief in support of President Trump's efforts to restrict travel from persons coming from terror-prone areas of the world to the
United States. This case will be argued on April 25, 2018, which is the last day for oral arguments before the current terms ends at the end of June.
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