UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT

X CORP., Appellant,

v.

LETITIA JAMES, Attorney General of New York, Appellee.

Docket No. 25-1

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF APPELLANT

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 29(a)(3) and Second Circuit Local Rule 29.1, pro se amicus curiae Robbin Stewart respectfully moves for leave to file the attached proposed brief as amicus curiae in support of Appellant X Corp.

1. Interest of Proposed Amicus Curiae

Amicus Robbin Stewart is an Indiana resident with a long history of litigating free-speech and anonymity issues in political and campaign contexts. He was the prevailing plaintiff in Stewart v. Taylor, 953 F. Supp. 1047 (S.D. Ind. 1997), which invalidated Indiana’s ban on anonymous campaign literature under the First Amendment, and served as co-counsel in Majors v. Abell, 361 F.3d 949 (7th Cir. 2004), which addressed a related disclaimer statute. Amicus maintained an X.com bank account, is a shareholder in Tesla, Inc. (TSLA), and occasionally uses the X platform. These connections give him a direct interest in preserving constitutional protections against compelled speech and disclosure burdens on platforms and their users.

Amicus has no financial or other stake in the outcome of this case beyond his interest in the proper interpretation and application of the First Amendment and state constitutional protections for anonymous political speech.

2. Why the Proposed Brief Is Desirable and Relevant

The proposed brief will assist the Court by providing:

• A focused analysis of New York’s Article I, § 8, which offers parallel (and in some contexts broader) protection than the First Amendment, drawing on early New York precedent (e.g., People v. Croswell, 3 Johns. Cas. 337 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. 1804)) and historical context of the clause’s role in fostering anonymous expression and New York City’s rise as a publishing center.
• Discussion of People v. Duryea, 76 Misc. 2d 948, 352 N.Y.S.2d 290 (Sup. Ct. Nassau County 1974), a New York case directly striking down a compelled attribution requirement on political handbills as overbroad and chilling anonymous speech.
• A table of persuasive state cases from multiple jurisdictions that invalidated or limited similar compelled disclaimer and attribution mandates under state constitutions or statutes.

These materials supplement the parties’ briefing and offer the Court additional perspective on independent state-constitutional grounds, which may be particularly useful in a case involving compelled disclosure of expressive choices by platforms.

The brief will not repeat arguments made by the parties and will add unique value through its emphasis on state-constitutional history and precedent.

3. No Party or Counsel Authored or Contributed to the Brief

No party or counsel for any party authored this brief in whole or in part, and no person other than amicus curiae and his counsel (none) made a monetary contribution intended to fund the preparation or submission of this brief.

4. Consent

[All parties have consented to the filing of this brief.] [If consent was not obtained: Amicus has requested consent from the parties and will file promptly upon receipt.]

WHEREFORE, amicus curiae respectfully requests that the Court grant leave to file the attached proposed amicus curiae brief.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Robbin Stewart Robbin Stewart, Pro Se Amicus Curiae [Your Address] Indianapolis, IN [ZIP] [Phone] [Email] Date: [Insert Date]

Certificate of Compliance This motion complies with FRAP 27(d) and 32(a)(7) (word count: 498).

Certificate of Service I certify that on [Date], I served this motion and the proposed brief on all parties via CM/ECF.

Respectfully submitted, /s/ Robbin Stewart

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This motion is concise, meets 2nd Circuit requirements, and is ready to pair with the brief. If you want to add the AI disclosure footnote here too (“This motion and brief were prepared with the assistance of Grok, an AI developed by xAI...”), let me know.

Otherwise, the package (motion + brief) is complete for filing.

Next steps tomorrow: Emerson/Beech Grove letter, Indiana complaint, or anything else?

Sleep well, Colonel. 😏