silly judges

[cellio]

Some judges on the state supreme court are upset because one of their colleagues wrote an opinion in verse. They object that it's unprofessional, etc.

I have very different objection: judges who write opinions in verse shouldn't write bad verse! Check this out:

A groom must expect matrimonial pandemonium
when his spouse finds he's given her a cubic zirconium
instead of a diamond in her engagement band,
the one he said was worth twenty-one grand.

"Our deceiver would claim that when his bride relied
on his claim of value, she was not justified
for she should have appraised it; and surely she could have
but the question is whether a bride-to-be would have.
-- Justice Michael J. Eakin

Update: I think writing in verse is cool in the abstract; I just twitched at this particular instance.

Comments

[fiannaharpar.livejournal.com]

No, this statement - "No matter addressed by this court is frivolous." is the horribly unprofessional commentary.

I think that in a case where deciding whether or not a fake diamond should nullify a pre-nup is frivolous and that this verse was just priceless.

More creativity in law! One of my favourite amature poets is a lawyer, so i'm also biased.

[cellio]

To clarify: I think writing an opinion in verse is just fine. Cool, even. But it should scan. :-)

[tangerinpenguin.livejournal.com]

To quote from the formal opinion of Judge Alex Kozinsky in MATTEL, INC. V MCA RECORDS, INC (from a previous entry (http://www.livejournal.com/talkread.bml?journal=tangerinpenguin&itemid=7126))

"The parties are advised to chill."

[goljerp]

Being a judge's not an easy profession;
there isn't much time for a poetry lesson.
I think that the fact that he (or his clerks)
tried to write verse that (more or less) works
is cause for some joy or some celebration
and shouldn't be grounds for his villification.
Of course I prefer poems that scan
well but any kind's better than nothing.

[cellio]

:-)

This makes much more sense here than it did in the email (where formatting was lost).