friend of the court

noun phrase

Examples of friend of the court in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The Texas Blockchain Council has opened a new front in the cryptocurrency industry's battle over regulations by submitting a friend of the court brief to a case challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) policy of requiring silence in all settlement agreements. Brady Dale, Axios, 11 July 2024 In June, Durbin tried to pass Whitehouse’s stalled bill codifying for the Supreme Court a code of conduct, gifts reporting, recusal standards and disclosures about friend of the court briefs. Justin Jouvenal, Washington Post, 6 July 2024 Downwind states such as Maryland, New York, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania filed a friend of the court brief in the case, saying pollution that wafts into their states from upwind sources has major health consequences for their residents. Maxine Joselow, Washington Post, 27 June 2024 During arguments before Cannon on Friday, Trump’s defense lawyers aided by outside attorneys invited by the judge — known as friends of the court — jumped at the chance to pick at the arcane laws and regulations authorizing the special counsel appointments over the years. David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 24 June 2024 The judge’s decision was a win for Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and several other state attorneys general, who had filed as friends of the court arguing that the district court made an error in not considering whether the complaint provided an exemption to federal immunity law. José Luis Martínez, Hartford Courant, 24 Jan. 2024 Members of Congress, former Department of Homeland Security officials and former consular officers were among the dozens of parties who submitted friend of the court briefs in support of Muñoz and Acensio and who called on the court to uphold basic due process protections. Andrea Castillo, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024 The groups say in a friend of the court, or amicus, brief that the selection criteria for the internship do not include race or ethnicity and that application materials do not limit entry to any race or ethnicity. Suzanne Gamboa, NBC News, 18 Mar. 2024 Richard Painter, a former top Republican White House ethics lawyer, was one of 17 former prosecutors and defense attorneys who wrote in a recent friend of the court brief that no evidence exists for disqualification. USA TODAY, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'friend of the court.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of friend of the court was in 1776

Dictionary Entries Near friend of the court

Cite this Entry

“Friend of the court.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/friend%20of%20the%20court. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Legal Definition

friend of the court

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