Arizona Christian University v. Washington Elementary School District No. 6

• Court: District Court, D. Arizona
• Decided: April 11, 2023
• Docket: 2:23-cv-00413
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA 8

Arizon a Christian University, ) No. CV-23-00413-PHX-SPL ) 9 ) 10 Plaintiff, ) ORDER vs. ) ) 11 ) Washington Elementary School ) 12 District No. 6, et al., ) 13 ) ) Defendants. ) 14 ) 15 On March 31, 2023, the Goldwater Institute—a non-party in this action—filed a 16 Motion for Leave to File Amicus Curiae Brief (Doc. 17). The proposed amicus curiae brief 17 (lodged at Doc. 18) is written in support of Plaintiff Arizona Christian University’s pending 18 Motion for Preliminary Injunction (Doc. 10). On April 6, 2023, Defendants filed a 19 Response (Doc. 23) in which they oppose the Goldwater Institute’s Motion for Leave. 20 “A non-party seeking to file an amicus brief must state ‘(A) the movant’s interest; 21 and (B) the reason why an amicus brief is desirable and why the matters asserted are 22 relevant to the disposition of the case.’” JZ v. Catalina Foothills Sch. Dist., No. CV-20- 23 00490-TUC-RCC, 2021 WL 5396089, at *1 (D. Ariz. Nov. 18, 2021) (quoting Fed. R. 24 App. P. 29(a)(3)). “The function of amici is to aid the court in resolving a matter of public 25 interest, supplement counsel’s efforts, and illustrate law that might otherwise fail to be 26 considered.” Id. (citing Miller-Wohl Co. v. Comm’r of Lab. & Indus., 694 F.2d 203, 204 27 (9th Cir. 1982)). “The Court generally does not favor amicus curiae briefs and does not 28 1 | permit them to be filed absent consent of all parties or a substantial showing that the amicus 2| curiae will present relevant matters that have not or could not have been brought to the 3 | Court's attention by the parties.” Ariz. Att’ys for Crim. Just. v. Ducey, No. CV-17-01422- PHX-SPL, 2018 WL 1570244, at *6 (D. Ariz. Mar. 30, 2018). 5 Here, Defendants do not consent to the filing of the amicus curiae. Moreover, the 6 | Court finds that the Goldwater Institute has not made a substantial showing that the 7 | proposed amicus curiae brief presents relevant matters that have not or could not have been 8 | brought to the Court’s attention by the parties. The parties’ briefing on Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction is complete, thorough, and more than sufficient for this Court to make a ruling. (See Docs. 10, 21, & 24). Therefore, the Court exercises its discretion to deny the filing of the Goldwater Institute’s amicus curiae brief at this time. 12 Accordingly, 13 IT IS ORDERED that non-party Goldwater Institute’s Motion for Leave to File 14| Amicus Curiae Brief (Doc. 17) is denied. The Clerk of Court shall not file the Goldwater 15 | Institute’s Proposed Amicus Curiae Brief (lodged at Doc. 18) on the record. 16 Dated this 10th day of April, 2023. 17

19 United States District Judge 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28