An “Amicus” filing in the Roger Stone matter … (UPDATED)

A motion in United States of America v. Roger Stone, Jr. (Crim. No. 19-cr-18-ABJ) was filed on July 15, 2020. It was titled: Motion for Leave to File Letter Brief of Amici Curiae Professors Ethan Lieb and Jed Shugerman. It was signed by Ronald A. Fein, a member of the bar for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and the Legal Director of Free Speech For People. The motion’s certificate of service stated:

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that on July 15, 2020, I electronically transmitted the foregoing to the Clerk of Court at dcd_cmecf_cr@dcd.uscourts.gov, and that service on both the United States and the defendant Roger J. Stone will be accomplished by email to counsel.

Can a represented “party” do that—serve a document by e-mail—and, thereby, avoid the federal courts’ electronic CM/ECF filing system?

As to substance, Paragraph 5 of the motion states:

5. This motion and the proposed brief are timely. Although “there is no rule of Federal Criminal Procedure that permits non-parties to join the proceedings to put their two cents in,” Minute Order (Mar. 15, 2019), this motion is filed just one day after the Court’s deadline for submission of the Executive Grant of Clemency that is the subject of the proposed amicus brief.

Here is what the Court’s March 15, 2019 minute order states:

The movant and other interested onlookers should be aware that, as the Court has emphasized on multiple occasions already, there is no rule of Federal Criminal Procedure that permits non-parties to join the proceedings to put their two cents in, or to intervene and file motions on the defendant's behalf. Leave to file any future pleadings submitted by this movant will be denied. Signed by Judge Amy Berman Jackson on 3/15/19.

Id. (emphasis added).

Does Mr. Fein expect that there is some reasonable likelihood that his motion will be granted? Or is this filing just a media event and fund-raising opportunity for his organization?

Here is a link to the brief.  <link>.

Seth

Seth Barrett Tillman, An “Amicus” filing in the Roger Stone matter …, New Reform Club (July 16, 2020, 3:01 PM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2020/07/an-amicus-filing-in-roger-stone-matter.html>;

UPDATE: On July 17, 2020, the Clerk of the Court (DDC) filed this motion on the docket. See <https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.203583/gov.uscourts.dcd.203583.396.0_3.pdf>. It does not appear that the Court has ruled on the merits of the motion for leave to file the proposed amicus brief.