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Over the summer of 2006, Seton Hall Law School students Natalie
Flores and Angela Kopolovich had the opportunity to work on an
amicus brief submitted to the US Supreme Court through the Center
For Social Justice’s Pro Bono Service Program, directed by Professor
Phillip Ross, in conjunction with the New Jersey Crime Victims Law Center
(NJCVLC).
The
NJCVLC, headed by Richard Pompelio, joined as amicus curie in
support of petitioner in Carey v. Musladin, 126 S. Ct. 1769
(U.S. 2006), which was granted certiorari by the United States
Supreme Court in April of this year. Angela Kopolovich and Natalie
Flores worked closely with Mr. Pompelio over the course of only a
few weeks to compile and submit the brief.
The case involves a California state murder
conviction that was on habeas corpus review with the Ninth Circuit.
The defendant claimed that his Sixth Amendment rights were infringed
when the trial court failed to instruct family members of the victim
to remove the buttons they wore displaying the victim’s photograph.
In overturning the conviction, the Ninth Circuit relied on its own
precedent rather than Supreme Court precedent, sharpening the
circuit split over the statutory interpretation of the Antiterrorism
and Effective Death Penalty Act.
Angela and Natalie had a very unique
opportunity to assist in the arduous preparation that complying with
Supreme Court filings entails and to have their research and
writings substantially incorporated into the final brief. “It is
both exciting and terrifying to know that right now a clerk of a
clerk of Scalia is reading what I wrote.” Angela said. The case was on the Supreme Court docket for the fall with oral
arguments heard on October 12, 2006.
To
read the full brief, please click on the link below.
NJCVLC Brief
To view a transcript
of the oral arguments, click the link below.
Supreme Court Oral Arguments |
