USA v. Andrew Auernheimer

Filing 43

ECF FILER: Motion filed by Appellee USA to accept noncompliant filing of Appellee's Brief, to stay briefing schedule pending disposition of the motion. Certificate of Service dated 08/05/2013. (GJM)

No. 13-1816
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE THIRD CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES
v.
ANDREW AUERNHEIMER,
Appellant

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United States’ Motion for a Word
Limit Extension to 26,500 Words &
A Stay of the Briefing Schedule

Marcia M. Waldron, Clerk
United States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit
U.S. Courthouse
601 Market Street, Room 21400
Philadelphia, PA 19106-1790
Dear Ms. Waldron and Counsel:
The United States respectfully requests permission to file a brief containing
26,500 words in the above-entitled matter. The United States also requests that the
briefing schedule be stayed pending disposition of this motion. In support of this
request, undersigned counsel, on behalf of appellee United States represents:
1. I am the attorney who has been assigned principal responsibility for
preparing the Government’s brief in this matter.
2. Appellant Andrew Auernheimer has filed his opening brief in the abovecaptioned matter. That brief contains 13,899 words, and raises five issues on
appeal. The brief raises serious substantive challenges to the Government’s

prosecution of Mr. Auernheimer, and several of the legal issues raised are
questions of first impression in this Circuit.
3. This appeal has received considerable attention in the legal community,
and as a result, four amicus briefs on defendant’s behalf have been filed. The
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has filed a brief containing
6,882 words. A group of professional security researchers has filed a brief
containing 4,983 words. A brief on behalf of the Mozilla Foundation and others,
written by the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School, contains
6,399 words. Finally, a brief on behalf of the Digital Media Law Project, written
by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School, contains
6,757 words. In total, the amicus briefs supporting Auernheimer’s position total
25,021 words. (No amicus briefs have been submitted supporting the
Government’s positions.)
4. The Government is aware of this Court’s concern about the frequent
requests from parties to exceed the word limit. With that in mind, the Government
is not seeking permission to match the total number of words submitted in all of
the briefs seeking reversal of the judgment below. Many, but not all, of the
arguments and details presented in the four amicus briefs will need to be addressed
by the Government when defending the judgment below. This case presents
serious issues that have been well briefed by capable counsel, and just as the Court
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will benefit from the additional briefing provided by the amici, the Court will
benefit from additional responsive briefing from the Government. The 26,500
words requested by the Government represents the 14,000 words automatically
permitted by the rules, plus 12,500 words, which is one-half of the more than
25,000 words submitted by the amici seeking reversal.
5. Undersigned counsel is, at present, only beginning to formulate his
responses to the issues raised by the appellant and further developed by the amici.
If, in the course of briefing, the Government finds that it can address adequately
the issues raised with fewer than 26,500 words, it will certainly do so.
6. Finally, the Government requests that the briefing schedule be stayed
pending disposition of this motion.
WHEREFORE, the United States respectfully requests that it be permitted to
file a brief containing 26,500 words, and that the briefing schedule be stayed
pending disposition of this motion.
Respectfully submitted,
PAUL J. FISHMAN
United States Attorney

By:

s/ Glenn J. Moramarco
GLENN J. MORAMARCO
Assistant United States Attorney

Dated: August 5, 2013
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CERTIFICATION OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that on August 5, 2013, I caused the attached motion to be
filed with the Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and
served on the relevant parties via the Court’s ECF filing system.

/s/ Glenn J. Moramarco
GLENN J. MORAMARCO
Dated: August 5, 2013