Amicus Briefs

Americans for Prosperity and Americans for Prosperity Foundation frequently write amicus curiae briefs to support other litigants and present important issues to courts. Please contact us at amicus@afphq.org if you would like amicus support for your case.

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Year

Issue Area

Court

2026
Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce
Question Presented

Does the Magnuson-Stevens Act give the National Marine Fisheries Service the authority to require that certain fishermen pay the salaries of agency-approved at-sea monitors, and did the district court properly apply Loper Bright’s independent, best-judgment interpretive standard?

2026
Hirsch et al. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue
Question Presented

Whether the Internal Revenue Code violates the Seventh Amendment and Article III by authorizing the IRS to order the payment of monetary penalties for fraud without providing the taxpayer a jury trial.

2025
The Buckeye Institute v. Internal Revenue Service
Question Presented

Whether exacting scrutiny governs a First Amendment challenge to 26 U.S.C. § 6033(b)(5)’s requirement that nonprofit organizations disclose their “substantial contributors.

2025
Canna Provisions Inc. v. Bondi
Question Presented

(1) Should the Court overrule Raich’s holding that Congress can regulate purely local economic activity if there is any “rational basis” that such activity substantially affects interstate commerce? (2) Has Congress validly prohibited the purely local growing, distribution, and possession of state-regulated marijuana under the Commerce Clause and Necessary and Proper Clause?

2025
National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo
Question Presented

When it is obvious that a government official’s conduct violates the Constitution under longstanding Supreme Court precedent, is the violation clearly established for purposes of qualified immunity despite some factual distinctions that are irrelevant under the governing constitutional rule?

2025
Gun Owners of America, Inc. v. ATF
Question Presented

Does a federal court enjoy equitable authority under the Freedom of Information Act to order the return or destruction of records released by an agency, even when such disclosure is allegedly inadvertent, and can it also prohibit further use or dissemination of such records by their recipient.

2025
In re Liam M.
Question Presented

Does a family court order, which authorizes Child Services to enter and search an innocent mother’s home and supervise her parenting, violate the mother’s Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches?

2025
Leck v. Wyoming Education Association
Question Presented

Does the Wyoming ESA Program violate the Wyoming Constitution?

*The Wyoming Supreme Court denied leave to file this brief.

2025
Trump v. Slaughter
Question Presented

Whether the statutory removal protections for members of the Federal Trade Commission violate the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor v. United States should be overruled.

2025
First Choice Women’s Resource Centers, Inc. v. Platkin
Question Presented

Whether, when the subject of a state investigatory demand has established a reasonably objective chill of its First Amendment rights, a federal court in a first-filed action is deprived of jurisdiction because those rights must be adjudicated in state court.

2025
Villarreal v. Alaniz
Question Presented

(1) Whether it obviously violates the First Amendment to arrest someone for asking government officials questions and publishing the information they volunteer; and (2) whether qualified immunity is unavailable to public officials who use a state statute in a way that obviously violates the First Amendment, or instead shields those officials.

2025
Case v. Montana
Question Presented

Whether law enforcement may enter a home without a search warrant based on less than probable cause that an emergency is occurring, or whether the emergency-aid exception requires probable cause.

Amicus Commentary

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Freelancing or free speech? California’s AB5 gets speaking professionals coming and going

Threats to free speech can be veiled as restrictions on economic activity. California’s AB5 is the latest example. Many people who don’t prefer traditional office environments have benefited from independent contracting. From freelance photographers to truckers to massage therapists, workers can find freedom in setting their own hours and being their own boss. California took…

Read More about Freelancing or free speech? California’s AB5 gets speaking professionals coming and going
Censorship by stealth: Can government officials censor speech by pressuring third parties to do it for them?

For this newsletter, I’m delighted to have Cindy Crawford, AFPF Senior Policy Counsel, take over to discuss censorship by stealth and two upcoming cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. – Casey UPDATE: On 5/30/2024, in a win for the First Amendment, the Supreme Court unanimously decided in NRA v. Vullo that government officials…

Read More about Censorship by stealth: Can government officials censor speech by pressuring third parties to do it for them?
The Supreme Court can stop unelected bureaucrats and private corporations from imposing taxes

Americans for Prosperity Foundation recently filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Consumers’ Research v. Federal Communications Commission, urging the Court to grant Consumers Research’s cert petition and enforce the Constitution’s system of checks and balances. At issue is the constitutionality of the Universal Service Fund, a social welfare program that subsidizes certain consumers’ telecommunications services at…

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Corner Post gives Supreme Court a chance to keep the courthouse doors open to new businesses harmed by stale, lawless regulations

by Michael Pepson Americans for Prosperity Foundation filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Corner Post, Inc. v. The Federal Reserve, urging the Court to allow Corner Post’s challenge to a 2011 debit-fees regulation that Corner Post believes to be beyond the Board’s power.  The question presented may seem dry: when does…

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303 Creative LLC v Elenis: The Biggest Supreme Court Free Speech Case You Might Not Have Heard About

A small independent website designer in Colorado is getting national attention. Why? The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case next week about whether the government can force her to say something that goes against her personal beliefs. It’s one of the biggest free speech cases this Supreme Court term. And you may not have…

Read More about 303 Creative LLC v Elenis: The Biggest Supreme Court Free Speech Case You Might Not Have Heard About
Tiwari v. Friedlander asks: Is depriving patients of medical services rational?

Commonplace in the market for medical services, certificate-of-need  laws prohibit medical providers from practicing or expanding unless they can demonstrate not only “need” for their proposed services but also survive a bureaucratic gauntlet that can take years, cost thousands of dollars, and allow competitors — existing and potential — to challenge the application. The result…

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303 Creative LLC v. Elenis asks whether artists can be compelled to speak

Public accommodations laws help ensure a free and open economy. Traditionally, these laws have been applied to, well, public accommodations, such as hotels, or “what the old common law promised to any member of the public wanting a meal at the inn, that accepting the usual terms of service, they will not be turned away…

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Kennedy v. Bremerton School District shows why a high school football coach’s prayer may be important for academic freedom

Government employs a veritable army of teachers, professors, graduate students, undergraduate work-study students, as well as coaches, teachers’ aides, tutors, and administrators. To what degree can government, as an employer, punish the people it hires for their own personal expression? That’s a live question. The First Amendment protects citizens from the government. The government doesn’t…

Read More about Kennedy v. Bremerton School District shows why a high school football coach’s prayer may be important for academic freedom