Amicus Briefs

AHA Signs On to Amicus Curiae Brief in United States v. Skrmetti Supreme Court Case (2024)

The AHA, along with the Organization of American Historians, the LGBTQ+ History Association, and several individual historians, signed on to an amicus curiae brief in United States v. Skrmetti, a court case considering Tennessee’s ban on gender–affirming care for minors slated to be heard by the Supreme Court of the United States. The brief, based on decades of study and research by professional historians, aimed to provide an accurate historical perspective of the long history of gender–affirming care and sex–identity transition.

AHA and OAH Discuss Amicus Brief in Haaland v. Brackeen (2022)

The AHA and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) jointly co-sponsored an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court case Haaland v. Brackeen. This brief, based on decades of study and research by professional historians, aimed to provide an accurate historical perspective as the court deliberated the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA). In the brief, the AHA and OAH supported the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), which was enacted in 1978 with strong support from Native Americans to end the forced removal of Native children from their families.

History, the Supreme Court, and Dobbs v. Jackson: Joint Statement from the AHA and the OAH (2022)

The AHA and the Organization of American Historians jointly issued a statement expressing dismay that the US Supreme Court “declined to take seriously the historical claims of our [amicus curiae] brief” in its Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision. “Instead, the court adopted a flawed interpretation of abortion criminalization that has been pressed by anti-abortion advocates for more than thirty years. … These misrepresentations are now enshrined in a text that becomes authoritative for legal reference and citation in the future. The court’s decision erodes fundamental rights and has the potential to exacerbate historic injustices and deepen inequalities in our country.”

AHA Amicus Curiae Brief in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2021)

The AHA, along with the Organization of American Historians, was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This brief, based on decades of study and research by professional historians, aims to provide an accurate historical perspective as the Court considers the state of Mississippi’s challenge to a woman’s right to abortion, a right that was affirmed by the Court in Roe v. Wade.

Lepore v. United States: AHA Signs On to Amicus Curiae Brief on Records Release (2021)

The American Historical Association signed on to an amicus curiae brief in Lepore v. United States regarding the release of the records of two 1971 Boston, Massachusetts, grand juries that investigated the Pentagon Papers leak. Although grand jury records are usually kept under seal in perpetuity, the AHA supported the court’s original position that these records can be released as a matter of exceptional historical significance, a precedent the government is working to overturn. Relevant to this case is the AHA’s comment on Rule 6(e).

AHA Signs On to Amicus Brief in Ahmad v. Michigan (2020)

Along with the Association of Research Libraries and other partners, the AHA has signed on to an amicus curiae brief in the Michigan Supreme Court case Ahmad v. University of Michigan concerning “the use of a public records request to circumvent a deed of gift” of private papers to the University of Michigan Library. The brief asserted that an early release of the papers, which would violate the deed of gift, would set a dangerous precedent resulting in individuals destroying their personal papers rather than making them available to historians and other researchers.

AHA Signs On to Amicus Curiae Brief Providing Historical Context to the Decision to Rescind DACA (2019)

The AHA joined the Korematsu Center for Law and Equality (Seattle University), the Organization of American Historians, and numerous individual historians on an amicus curiae brief supporting respondents in Department of Homeland Security, et al. Petitioners v. Regents of the University of California, et al. Respondents. The brief explained the relationship between the history of anti-Mexican and Latinx racism and the use of related racist code words in the decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

AHA Signs On to Amicus Brief in Pitch v. United States (2019)

The AHA signed on to an amicus brief in Pitch v. United States regarding the release of grand jury records from a 1946 court case about the Moore’s Ford Lynching in Walton County, Georgia. Though grand jury records are usually kept under seal forever, the AHA supported the court’s original position that these records can be released as a matter of exceptional historical significance, a precedent the government is working to overturn.

AHA Signs On to Amicus Curiae Brief in Obergefell Case on Same-Sex Marriage (2015)

The AHA signed onto an amicus curiae brief received from AHA member Nancy Cott (Harvard Univ.) in the case of Obergefell, et. al. v. Beshear, Gov. of Kentucky regarding whether states can prohibit same-sex marriage and are obliged to recognize marriages performed in other states.