Stolen Valor Case Heard by the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court heard arguments today, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203960804577239330547805116.html?mod=googlenews_wsj, on United States v. Alvarez,  http://www.oyez.com/cases/2010-2019/2011/2011_11_210, which is an interesting first amendment case involving the Stolen Valor Act that was passed and signed into law in 2006.  I might post more on it when the Court rules.  However, I can't help but notice how many amici briefs these prominent cases attract.  It seems a little excessive though it probably keeps the law clerks busy.   Deluging any judge with paper is generally ineffective.  I can't imagine that it is any different at the Supreme Court level.  The docket is below:

No. 11-210 Title: United States, Petitioner v. Xavier Alvarez Docketed: August 18, 2011 Linked with 10A1199 Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Case Nos.: (08-50345) Decision Date: August 17, 2010 Rehearing Denied: March 21, 2011 ~~~Date~~~ ~~~~~~~Proceedings and Orders~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jun 8 2011 Application (10A1199) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from June 19, 2011 to July 19, 2011, submitted to Justice Kennedy. Jun 17 2011 Application (10A1199) granted by Justice Kennedy extending the time to file until July 19, 2011. Jul 8 2011 Application (10A1199) to extend further the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from July 19, 2011 to August 18, 2011, submitted to Justice Kennedy. Jul 14 2011 Application (10A1199) granted by Justice Kennedy extending the time to file until August 18, 2011. Aug 18 2011 Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due September 19, 2011) Sep 16 2011 Brief of respondent Xavier Alvarez in opposition filed. Sep 16 2011 Motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed by respondent Xavier Alvarez. Sep 28 2011 DISTRIBUTED for Conference of October 14, 2011. Sep 29 2011 Reply of petitioner United States filed. (Distributed) Oct 17 2011 Motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed by respondent GRANTED. Oct 17 2011 Petition GRANTED. Dec 1 2011 Joint appendix filed. Dec 1 2011 Brief of petitioner United States filed. Dec 7 2011 Brief amici curiae of Professors Eugene Volokh and James Weinstein filed. Dec 8 2011 Brief amici curiae of Texas, et al. filed. Dec 8 2011 Brief amici curiae of Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, et al. filed. Dec 8 2011 Brief amicus curiae of Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation filed. Dec 8 2011 Brief amicus curiae of Intellectual Property Clinic of the University of New Hampshire filed. Dec 8 2011 Brief amicus curiae of The American Legion filed. Dec 8 2011 Brief amici curiae of Legion of Valor of the United States, et al. filed. Dec 15 2011 The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including January 13, 2012. Dec 19 2011 SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Wednesday, February 22, 2012. Dec 23 2011 Record received from U.S.C.A. for the 9th Circuit. (1envelope) Dec 23 2011 The record from U.S.D.C. for District Court for the Central District of California is electronic. Jan 3 2012 CIRCULATED. Jan 13 2012 Brief of respondent Xavier Alvarez filed. (Distributed) Jan 18 2012 Sealed record from U.S.D.C. for Central District of California. Jan 19 2012 Brief amicus curiae of Professor Jonathan D. Varat filed. (Distributed) Jan 19 2012 Brief amici curiae of American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, et al. filed. (Distributed) Jan 20 2012 Brief amici curiae of Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al. filed. (Distributed) Jan 20 2012 Brief amicus curiae of National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed. (Distributed) Jan 20 2012 Brief amicus curiae of Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression filed. (Distributed) Jan 20 2012 Brief amici curiae of American Civil Liberties Union, et al. filed. (Distributed) Jan 20 2012 Brief amicus curiae of First Amendment Coalition filed. (Distributed) Jan 27 2012 Brief amicus curiae of First Amendment Lawyers Association filed. (Distributed) Feb 13 2012 Reply of petitioner United States filed. (Distributed)

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~~Name~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	~~~~~~~Address~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~	~~Phone~~~
Attorneys for Petitioner:
Donald B. Verrilli Jr.	Solicitor General	(202) 514-2217
Counsel of Record	United States Department of Justice
	950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
	Washington, DC 20530-0001
	SupremeCtBriefs@USDOJ.gov
Party name: United States
Attorneys for Respondent:
Jonathan D. Libby	Deputy Federal Public Defender	(213) 894-2905
Counsel of Record	Office of the Public Defender
	321 East 2nd Street
	Los Angeles, CA 90012
	Jonathan_Libby@fd.org
Party name: Xavier Alvarez
Other:
Kevin N. Ainsworth	Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC	(212)-692-6745
	666 Third Avenue
	New York, NY 10017
	kainsworth@mintz.com
Party name: Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation
Michael A. Bamberger	SNRDenton US LLP	(212) 768-6700
	1221 Ave. of the Americas
	New York, NY 10020
	mbamberger@snrdenton.com
Party name: American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, et al.
Robert L. Corn-Revere	Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP	(202) 973-4200
	1919 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 800
	Washington, DC 20006-3401
	bobcornrevere@dwt.com
Party name: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al.
Arthur C. D'Andrea	Assistant Solicitor General	(512) 936-2868
	Texas Attorney General's Office
	P. O. Box 12548 MC059
	Austin, TX 78711
	arthur.dandrea@oag.state.tx.us
Party name: Texas, et al.
John M. Greabe	University of New Hampshire	(603)-746-6138
	School of Law
	2 White Street
	Concord, NH 03301
	John.Greabe@law.unh.edu
Party name: Intellectual Property Clinic of the University of New Hampshire
Jameel Jaffer	American Civil Liberties Union Foundation	(212) 549-2500
	125 Broad Street
	New York, NY 10004
	jjaffer@aclu.org
Party name: American Civil Liberties Union, et al.
Jean-Paul Jassy	Bostwick & Jassy LLP	(310) 979-6059
	12400 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 400
	Los Angeles, CA 90025
	jpjassy@bostwickjassy.com
Party name: First Amendment Coalition
Reed Lee	J.D. Obenberger & Associates	(312) 558-6427
	70 West Madison Street, Suite 3700
	Chicago, IL 60602
	reedlee@strictscrutiny.net
Party name: First Amendment Lawyers Association
Cary B. Lerman	Munger Tolles & Olson LLP	(213) 683-9163
	355 South Grand Avenue 35th Floor
	Los Angeles, CA 90071-1560
Party name: Professor Jonathan D. Varat
Michael T. Morley	Winston Strawn LLP1700 K Street NW	(202)-282-5791
	Washington, DC 20006
	mmorley@winston.com
Party name: Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, et al.
Michael V. Schafler	1000 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 600	(213)-629-9040
	Los Angeles, CA 90017
	schafler@caldwell-leslie.com
Party name: National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
Kent S. Scheidegger	Criminal Justice Legal Foundation	(916) 446-0345
	2131 L Street
	Sacramento, CA 95816
	kent@scheidegger@CJLF.org
Party name: Legion of Valor of the United States, et al.
Aaron M. Streett	Baker Botts L.L.P.	(713) 229-1234
	910 Louisiana Street
	Houston, TX 77002
	aaron.streett@bakerbotts.com
Party name: The American Legion
Eugene Volokh	UCLA School of Law	(310) 206-3926
	405 Hilgard Ave.
	Los Angeles, CA 90095
	volokh@law.ucla.edu
Party name: Professors Eugene Volokh, and James Weinstein
J. Joshua Wheeler	Thomas Jefferson Center for Protection of Free Expression	(434) 295-4784
	400 Worrell Drive
	Charlottesville, VA 22911
	jjw@tjcenter.org
Party name: Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression s/ Kurt Koehler 308 1/2 S. State Street Suite 36 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48198 (Washtenaw County)