Joseph D. Kearney

The Influence of Amicus Curiae Briefs on the Supreme Court

INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ............................................................ 744 I. THE RISING TiDE OFAMICUS CuRIAE BRIEFS .................................. 751 A. The Level ofAmicus Curiae Activity, 1946-1995 ........................... 751 B. Citation and Quotation of Amicus Briefs, 1946-1995 .................... 757 II. THE OPEN DOOR POLiCYTOWARD AMICUS BRIEFS ........................ 761 III. PREVIOUS STUDIES OF THE INFLUENCE OF AMICUS BRIEFS ON SUPREME COURT OUTCOMES ........................................ 767 IV. THREE MODELS OFJUDGING AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS FOR AMICUS BRIEFS ......................................................................... 774 A. The Legal M odel .......................................................................... 775 B. The Attitudinal Model ................................................................. 779 C. The Interest Group Model ............................................................. 782 V. AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF THE INFLUENCE OFAMICUS BRIEFS ......... 787 A. The Overall Success Rates ofAmicus Filers ..................................... 789 B. Disparities in Amicus Support ....................................................... 793 C. The Impact of Amicus Brief Quality .............................................. 801 1. Success Rates of Institutional Litigants ............................... 801 2. Success Rates of Cited Briefs ............................................... 811

The Origins of the American Public Trust Doctrine: What Really Happened in Illinois Central

Introduction ......................................................................................................... 800 I. The Standard Illinois Central Narrative .................................................. 805 II. Setting the Stage ........................................................................................ 811 A . The Lay of the Land ......................................................................... 811 B. Legal Uncertainty over Property Rights in Submerged Lands....826 C. Implications for the Lakefront ........................................................ 836 III. 1867: The Lakefront in Play ...................................................................... 838 IV. 1868: Debating the Future of the Lakefront ........................................... 842 V. 1869: Chicago and the Illinois Central Go to Springfield ...................... 853 A. A Note on Newspapers and State Legislatures in the M id-N ineteenth Century .................................................................. 853 B. The Lake Front Act of 1869 ............................................................. 860 C. The Motives of the Illinois Central ................................................. 877 D . The Public Interest ............................................................................ 881 E. The Question of Corruption ............................................................ 887 V I. A fter the A ct .............................................................................................. 894 A. 1869-1870: North Lake Park ............................................................ 895 B. 1870-1872: The Outer Harbor ......................................................... 900 C . 1873: R epeal ....................................................................................... 905 V II. The Lake Front Case ................................................................................. 912 VIII. What Illinois Central Really Tells Us about the Public Trust D octrine ................................................................................ 924 C onclusion ........................................................................................................... 930