NASW and its California Chapter, through the NASW Legal Defense Fund, filed an amicus brief in the case People v. Garcia with the California Supreme Court.

The issue in the case addresses the scope of the psychotherapist-patient privilege and whether it is appropriate to require a mandatory waiver of the psychotherapist-patient privilege as a condition of probation for individuals convicted of sexual offenses.

NASW supports the review and reversal of the California Court of Appeals’ decision that requires a mandatory waiver of the psychotherapist-patient privilege as a condition of probation for individuals convicted of sexual offenses.

As the success of psychotherapy is intrinsically tied to the protection of confidentiality and because in California a number of statutes protect therapist-client confidentiality, the case presents an issue of substantial importance to the California Chapter and NASW’s social work practitioners.

NASW states that if the court’s decision is allowed to stand, it will have adverse consequences on social workers and their clients.

NASW, through its LDF, filed an amicus brief in the case, Conde-Vidal v. Ruis-Armendariz, filed in the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The case is an appeal from the U.S. District Court of Puerto Rico.

The brief notes Puerto Rico’s law banning same-sex marriage and refusing to recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages is an instance of institutional stigma.

“It conveys Puerto Rico’s judgment that, in the realm of intimate relationships, legally united same-sex couples are inherently less deserving of society’s full recognition than heterosexual couples,” the brief states. It urges the court to reverse the lower court’s decision to ban same-sex marriage.

NASW, through its LDF, filed an amicus brief in the combined cases, Brenner v. Armstrong and Grimsley v. Armstrong, with the Eleventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief urges the court to uphold the ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida that Florida’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.

These and other briefs can be found in the NASW Amicus Brief Database.