Amicus Brief to the Supreme Court of Oklahoma in the Case of Oklahoma v. Johnson & Johnson

Authors

Benjamin Lepak

Abstract

This paper is an amicus (or friend of the court) brief urging the Oklahoma Supreme Court to reverse the decision of a trial court that essentially functions as legislation. In this case, the court identified a broad, complex societal problem facing the state, levied a tax on the industry alleged to have contributed to the problem, and then appropriated the proceeds of the tax to a cornucopia of government agencies and programs in an attempt to ameliorate the problem. The judgment of the court construes Oklahoma’s public nuisance statute so broadly that it leaves no limits to future policymaking by litigation.