AMICUS CURIAE

MACDL filed an amicus brief in support of Herbert Smulls’ certiorari petition in the U.S. Supreme Court.  Smulls was convicted and sentenced to death by an all white jury in St. Louis County after the prosecutor used a peremptory strike to exclude the only African American venire person.  A panel of the Eighth Circuit ruled in Smulls’ favor on the Batson claim in his deferral habeas corpus case, but the Eighth Circuit in bank reversed that decision and denied relief.  The MACDL amicus brief focused on the history of giving pretextual reasons for peremptory strikes of minority jurors by members of the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office.  Joe Luby of the Public Interest Litigation Clinic in Kansas City authored the brief.

Amicus Request

As a benefit of membership, members have the opportunity to consult with MACDL`s Strike Force if they are threatened in any way for providing legal representation to a client in a criminal proceeding and are subpoenaed to provide information, cited for contempt, being disqualified from the representation, or who become the subject of a bar complaint.

Lawyer Assistance Strike Force Guidelines