No. 12-307
In The
U
NITED
S
TATES
,
Petitioner
, v. E
DITH
S
CHLAIN
W
INDSOR
,
IN
H
ER
C
APACITY AS
E
XECUTOR OF THE
E
STATE OF
T
HEA
C
LARA
S
PYER
,
ET AL
.
,
Respondents. O
N
W
RIT OF
C
ERTIORARI
TO THE
U
NITED
S
TATES
C
OURT OF
A
PPEALS
FOR THE
S
ECOND
C
IRCUIT
BRIEF FOR COURT-APPOINTED
AMICA CURIAE
ADDRESSING JURISDICTION
Patricia A. Millett Ruthanne M. Deutsch Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP 1333 New Hampshire Ave, NW Washington, DC 20036 202-887-4000 Michael C. Small Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP 2029 Century Park East Suite 2400 Los Angeles, CA 90067 (310) 229-1000 Vicki C. Jackson
Counsel of Record
1545 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 496-0555 vjackson@law.harvard.edu
(i)
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
I
.
Whether the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the United States House of Representatives has Article III standing in this case.
II
.
Whether the Executive Branch’s agreement with the court below that DOMA is unconstitutional deprives this Court of jurisdiction to decide this case.
ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BLAG’s Generalized Claim of Injury Is Insufficient for Article III Standing As No Special Congressional Prerogatives Are At Stake .................................................................. 8
One House Lacks Standing to Assert an Injury to Congress .......................................... 15
BLAG Was Not Authorized to Represent the Views of the House ......................................... 17
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH’S AGREEMENT WITH THE DECISION BELOW THAT DOMA IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL DEPRIVES THIS COURT OF JURISDICTION ............................... 23