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Commentary: Viewing Law Blogs As a Vast Amicus Brief

By Howard J. Bashman
September 01, 2006

Given the continued proliferation of law-related Weblogs, including blogs written by law professors and attorneys with expertise in various substantive areas of the law, one frequently finds on the Internet a robust and insightful discussion of cases pending before the courts for resolution. What should judges do if, while visiting the legal blogosphere, they encounter discussions about how pending cases ought to be decided?

Suppose a law professor with expertise in search and seizure of electronic data has a thoughtful post about a pending Fourth Amendment challenge to the search of a computer's hard drive. Or a law professor with expertise in constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech may have an insightful post concerning a defa-mation case in which the party being sued has asserted a defense under the First Amendment.

With increasing regularity, the legal blogosphere (legal blogs are often referred to as 'blawgs') generates these types of discussions of noteworthy pending cases, and it is not unusual for those discussions to include thoughtful recommendations about how a court should rule based on existing law and policy considerations. In such instances, the Internet can be regarded as a vast amicus brief through which legal experts who are otherwise unconnected to pending court cases may potentially influence their outcomes.

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