An amicus brief is an opinion filed during a trial by someone who is not a party to the litigation, but who believes that the court's decision may affect its interest. Amicus means "friend," so amici curiae is plural for "friend of the court." En banc means "full bench" and is when all the members of an appellate court are there to hear an argument, not just the three judges who normally preside over an appellate case.
Thank you very much. That makes sense. So the parties of this brief are trying to convince the appeals court to have an en banc hearing of the need for contempt charges based on the fact that Rove didn't break the law, no need for an investigation, so no need to reveal a source, boom! contempt charges dropped..is that kinda the idea?