It is worth adding that judges' writing styles have likewise faced criticism--often for the length of
judicial opinions, but also for other shortcomings, such as lack of clarity and consistency.
This essay aims to remedy those misconceptions or misguided fears by helping undergraduate instructors, particularly historians, teach students how to handle
judicial opinions effectively and confidently.
It may strike you as odd, when you think about it, as to why a court that communicates with words would need someone assigned to explain to the wordsmiths of the media--and sometimes to the public itself--what judges meant by the collections of words in their
judicial opinions.
POSNER, THE ESSENTIAL HOLMES: SELECTIONS FROM THE LETTERS, SPEECHES, JUDICIAL OPINIONS, AND OTHER WRITINGS OF OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, JR.
So the typical communicative context of
judicial opinion writing involves a rich set of common knowledge shared by the authors of the opinions and their intended audience.
independent (though not unrelated) attributes of
judicial opinions.
Not everyone, however, is so pleased with PACER, which is an Internet-based service that allows attorneys, litigants, and other interested parties to access docket sheets,
judicial opinions, and other documents related to federal cases.
relief for a property owner who believes that a
judicial opinion has
Cavendish treats the opinion as Florida's own Dred Scott, and does not mince his words, labeling it the "worst
judicial opinion ever written in Florida," but simultaneously advances compelling arguments for widespread study of the opinion as an "anticanon.
62) Yet judicial unanimity, as one can see, is only one part of the analysis; the more a
judicial opinion is supported by executive action and deference, and by subsequent congressional legislation, the greater the likelihood that succeeding courts will endorse the holding.
All the rest is, as the lawyers say, obiter dictum--"A judicial comment made while delivering a
judicial opinion, but one that is unnecessary to the decision in the case and therefore not precedential (although it may be considered persuasive).
Prior to this, Schway was West's vice president of cases and third-party content, where she managed the
judicial opinion collection and editorial enhancements and oversaw staff.
