In Maryland v. Craig, the United States Supreme Court relied heavily on a brief prepared by a committee of the American Psychology-Law Society on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA). The APA brief concluded that sexually abused children may be particularly vulnerable to distress in the legal process, especially when forced to confront the defendant face to face, and that such acute distress may be inconsistent with the state's interests in promotion of reliable testimony and child welfare. APA also argued that psychological theory and research provide foundations for individualized determination of the need for measures to protect children from face-to-face confrontation,The first amicus curiae brief prepared by a committee of the American Psychology-Law Society was filed in the United States Supreme Court on behalf of the American Psychological Association (APA) in Maryland v. Craig 1 (see Appendix). Craig was the latest in a series of cases to test the circumstances under which * Requests for reprints should be directed to Gary B. Melton, Center on Children, Families, and the Law, Law

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The authors describe the American Psychological Association's (APA's) efforts to affect social policy and judicial decision making by delineating APA's participation as amicus curiae in five cases concerning the civil rights of lesbians and gay men. They discuss the function and importance of amicus briefs, review the legal principles used to advance the constitutional rights of lesbians and gay men, outline the facts in the cases APA entered, sketch the legal theories and scientific evidence that APA brought to the courts' attention, and relate the courts' decisions in those cases. They conclude with recommendations for the use of such briefs in future litigation and legislative efforts to advance the rights of lesbians and gay men.

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