# Friends of the Court

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 1, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298 "2003-03-01T02:36:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298/1 "2003-03-01T02:36:45Z")

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I know what a Friend of the Court brief is, but why is it called that?

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**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298/2 "2003-03-01T02:38:14Z")

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I sure put that one on the wrong board. I meant it for General Questions. Sorry.

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**Author:** ![peepthis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9d8465/32.png) [@peepthis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peepthis)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298/3 "2003-03-01T03:09:52Z")

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The OED tells us that Friend of the Court comes from the Latin _amicus curiae_, and refers to a disinterested party (that is, a party without a direct interest in the case at hand, not one that doesn’t care) advising the court on a point that may have been overlooked. Hence, they’re helping out the court without having a claim in the outcome.

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**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298/4 "2003-03-01T04:51:13Z")

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They’re usually filed by groups with an agenda that the decision in the case will benefit or injure, but without a direct interest in the case. For example, in a lawsuit part of which revolves around the legal status of colonial land grants in a given area, a landowners’ association in the area might hire a lawyer to prepare a brief demonstrating the grants’ validity, even though they’re not a party to the lawsuit. And they’re prepared by extremely competent lawyers to provide beneficial background and argumentation that may help the judge(s) decide the case. I believe that many appellate courts have restrictions on who can file _amicus_ briefs regarding a case.

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**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\
**Post date:** [March 1, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/friends-of-the-court/158298/5 "2003-03-01T05:56:11Z")

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I thought a friend of the court’s brief was a fetishist.

## Peace.

Funniest, briefest joke/pun I’ve ever seen… a headline from the onion (no story, just a headline):

Jurisprudence fetishist gets off on a technicality.

[The Onion](http://www.theonion.com/)