Quasi-Party in the Guise of Amicus Curiae
![handle is hein.journals/cumlr7 and id is 307 raw text is: COMMENTS
QUASI-PARTY IN THE GUISE OF AMICUS CURIAE
As America enters its third century, still wrestling with the
democratic process in an effort to secure those elusive Blessings
of Liberty' for its citizens, it seems more important than ever to
pursue a rational development of the law, having as its objective
the preservation of a free government and protection against
judicial arbitrariness! If America is to continue to live by the rule
of law, that law, as expressed by the decisions of its courts, must
be just and correctly determined. Judicial decision is not merely
personal opinion, but operates on the content and persuasiveness
of the information presented to the judge. The law is the end-
product of the submission and the decision.3 One method em-
ployed to assist courts and to help insure correct decision-making
has been the intervention of amicus curiae.'
The traditional role of amicus curiae in common law juris-
prudence is articulated by the court in In re Perry:5
[Almicus curiae is one who, as a stander-by, when a judge is
in doubt or mistaken in a matter of law, may inform the court.
He is only heard by leave, and for the assistance of the court,
upon a case then before it . . . . [The practice is] to allow an
attorney, or other person, to appear as a friend of the court in a
case, to act as an adviser of the court, and to make suggestions
as to matters appearing upon the record, or in matters of prac-
tice.'
While the friend of the court device was apparently known in
Roman law7 as well as the early common law,8 its age has not
U.S. CONST. preamble.
R. COLLINGWOOD, THE NEW LEVIATHAN ch. XXXIX, XLI (1942); R. MCIVER, THE
WEB OF GOVERNMENT 74 (1947).
Llewellyn, The Modern Approach to Counselling and Advocacy-Especialh' in
Commercial Transactions, 46 COLUM. L. REV. 167 (1946).
' See note 14 infra. For more recent American decisions, see Laufman v. Oakley Bldg.
& Loan Co., 404 F. Supp. 791 (S.D. Ohio 1975); National Merritt, Inc. v. Weist, 376
N.Y.S.2d 571 (Sup. Ct. 1975); Franklin v. Krause, 83 Misc. 2d 42, 371 N.Y.S.2d 757 (Sup.
Ct. 1975).
' 83 Ind. App. 456, 148 N.E. 163 (1925).
' Id. at 458, 148 N.E. at 165.
1 BOUVIER's LAW DICTIONARY 188 (3d rev. F. Rawle 1914).
See notes 9-10 infra.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/cumlr7&div=28&collection=journals&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Quasi-Party in the Guise of Amicus Curiae
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