Page:The Green Bag (1889–1914), Volume 09.pdf/564

 Style in Judicial Opinions.

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STYLE IN JUDICIAL OPINIONS. By HENRY C. MERWIN. I. IT might be thought that style has very proceedings." " It is claimed that a sub little to do with the value of a judicial sequent statute, passed by the State, has opinion, even when the opinion is written impaired the obligations of the contract as down and reported; and many judges, es claimed by the party." " It is claimed by pecially modern judges, seem to act upon the plaintiffs that in any mixed community this view. The learned magistrate, for ex the reputation of belonging to the dominant ample, who composed the paragraph which race ... is property." "The plaintiff states I am about to quote could hardly be ac three propositions, each of which it claims cused of wasting time upon the style of his is established by the evidence." " The de fendants claimed that the whole judgment opinions : — "The decision of the motion was postponed to of the State court was right," etc. A long fight against this misuse of the argument upon the merits, and upon that argument counsel for plaintiffs in error, clearly " claim " has been waged by lovers of the recognizing the necessity they were under of English language, but now that the Supreme showing that the State court did give effect to Court have gone over to the enemy perhaps the subsequent legislation, in order to show the the fight will have to be abandoned. I have existence of a Federal question, claimed that it seen a volume of Connecticut reports, pub appeared in the record that no judgment could lished fifty or sixty years ago, which was have been given for the defendant in error in the court below without necessarily giving effect to once the property of Daniel Webster. The some of the subsequent legislation, and they margin contains, as I remember, only one claimed that an examination of the whole record comment written by Mr. Webster, and that is placed against a passage in which the would show such fact, notwithstanding the state ment contained in one of the opinions of the word "claim" is used in the wrong sense. State court already alluded to." "In the language of the present day," wrote It is a fact, almost an incredible fact, that Mr. Webster, " this word ' claim ' means al this long and slovenly paragraph, which no most everything." If the Supreme Court human being could read without distress, had only stood by the .purists, the fight emanated from the Supreme Court of the might have been kept up for another fifty United States. It is not even clear, for or one hundred years. The slovenly passage in one part of it, somewhere about the which I have quoted from a recent Supreme middle, the omission of a comma would Court opinion might be supposed to be change the whole meaning of the sentence. merely the accidental and exceptional lapse It will be observed also that the word of a great man, were it not that other pas sages as bad and even worse might easily be "claim " is twice misused in this one para graph, in the sense of assert. The abuse cited. I add the following specimens: — of this word, which amounts to a literary "The foreman in this case bore no resem vulgarity, is not uncommon in recent opin blance in the importance and scope of his ions of the Supreme Court. Thus we find authority to that possessed by Murdock in the in the same volume such sentences as the Woods case." following: "It is claimed that the rights "In addition to the liability of the master for of the accused were disregarded in the his neglect to perform these duties, there has