The U.S. Supreme Court has announced the schedule for submitting legal briefs in pending DOMA litigation, making the deadline for the first round of such documents Jan. 22.
Here’s when each brief should be filed in case of Windsor v. United States, the lawsuit against DOMA the Supreme Court agreed to hear last week. The briefing schedule was announced in an orders list on Friday.
No announcement was made on the briefing schedule for Hollingsworth v. Perry, the case the Supreme Court has also agreed to take up challenging California Proposition 8.
For the briefs on the merits of the lawsuit:
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- the brief of the House Republican-led Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, not to exceed 15,000 words, must be filed by Jan. 22;
- the brief of the U.S. solicitor general, not to exceed 15,000 words, must be filed by Feb. 22;
- the brief of lesbian plaintiff Edith Windsor, not to exceed 15,000 words, must be filed by Feb. 26;
- and the reply brief of BLAG, not to exceed 6,000 words, must then be filed within the court’s established rules.
On the jurisdictional question on whether the U.S. Justice Department and BLAG have standing to petition the court in the case:
- the brief of Court-appointed friend-of-the-court Harvard law professor Vicki Jackson, not to exceed 10,000 words, must be filed by Jan. 22;
- the briefs of the U.S. solicitor general, BLAG and Windsor, not to exceed 10,000 words each, must be filed by Feb. 20;
- and reply briefs of the litigants and Jackson, not to exceed 4,000 words, will then be filed within established rules of the court.
The orders lists says other friend-of-the-court briefs must be filed under established rules of the court, except for briefs supporting the positions of Windsor and the solicitor general, which must be filed seven days after the brief of the solicitor general on the merits has been submitted.
