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Abstract
Designed from its inception to be insulated from public pressure, the Supreme Court is generally regarded to be above the political fray by which the other two governmental branches are culturally defined. Quietly but surely, however, influence has seeped in. Inspired by interest groups’ use of the Court’s amicus arm as a lobbying mechanism, Christian-nationalist groups have begun building a wave of amicus briefs designed to pull the Court toward their perspectives. Their use of the amicus machine is starkly different from that of the interest groups who sparked such utilization, though, as their presentation of their purpose in front of the Court is starkly disparate from how they speak about it in public forums outside the Court’s purview. The Court historically has not policed these briefs and accepts them for consideration without critical review. In this way, these amicus—“friends of the court”—have found friends on the Court.