Reprieve's EC Project encourages European governments to submit amicus briefs on behalf of their nationals facing imminent execution abroad.
Amicus curiae is a Latin term meaning "friend of the court". Amicus briefs are the vehicle through which representatives of special interest groups, who are not party to a case, can nonetheless volunteer to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it. Amicus curiae briefs are filed in many Supreme Court matters, both at the Petition for Writ of Certiorari stage, and when the court is deciding a case on its merits. Some studies have shown a positive correlation between the number of amicus briefs filed in support of granting certiorari, and the Court's decision to grant certiorari. Amicus briefs can provide valuable information about legal arguments, or how a case might affect people other than the parties to the case.
There have been several cases in which amicus briefs submitted to the Supreme Court have had a bearing on death penalty cases:
- Atkins v Virginia - mentally retarded defendants ineligible for execution
- Medellin v Dretke - VCCR and foreign nationals
- Carty v Thaler - Linda Carty’s amicus brief on VCCR
- Riechmann v State of Florida - involvement of Germany in US death penalty case
- Sanchez-Llamas v State of Oregon - Mexican Government intervention
- Ford v Wainwright - competency
- Roper v. Simmons - juveniles ineligible for execution
- Ake v Oklahoma - right to court-appointed psychiatric evaluation
- Lockhart v McCree - death qualified juries
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