Court Decisions Quote Rockers and others

Not all cases heard by the Court have the widespread interest that the death penalty for child rapists or the right to own a handgun for self-defense generated. In an article by Adam Liptak, The Chief Justice, Dylan and the Disappearing Double Negative, published in the New York Times on Sunday June 29, 2008, we learn that Chief Justice Roberts wrote the following in his dissent in a case involving telephone companies, Sprint v. APCC Services:

“The absence of any right to the substantive recovery means that respondents cannot benefit from the judgment they seek and thus lack Article III standing,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote. “ ‘When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.’ Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965).”

Bob Dylan appears to be the most cited Rocker according to a study done by Alex B. Long published in 2007 in the Washington and Lee Law Review; Long found 26 instances using a Lexis Nexis Database. The Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel along with others all provided quotes in opinions by various courts.

In the article Liptak writes: “The correct rule on the necessity of expert testimony has been summarized by Bob Dylan: ‘You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows,’ ” a California appeals court wrote in 1981, citing “Subterranean Homesick Blues.” Eighteen other decisions have cited that lyric.

Former Chief Justice William Rehnquist was known to put lines from Gilbert and Sullivan in his opinions. In a per curiam decision, Allied Chemical Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36 (1980), "What never? Well, hardly ever!" a line from Gilbert and Sullivan appears.

The law and lawyers as well as judges are often featured in Gilbert and Sullivan and then quoted by numerous court opinions to make their point. The footnotes to an article about the Cultural Influences of Gilbert and Sullivan in Wikipedia provided the specific examples that follow.

U.S. v. Weaver, 1992 U.S. App. Lexis 14552, 27 (4th Cir. 1992): "Throughout history, the object of sentencing has been 'to let the punishment fit the crime'";

De Sole v. United States, 947 F.2d 1169, 1176 (4th Cir. 1991) ("It, therefore, is instructive to take a lesson from the law described by Gilbert and Sullivan as that of the monarch of the sea.");

Borer v. American Airlines, Inc., 19 Cal.3d 441 (1977) ("The majority raise the spectre of liability not only to the victim's spouse but also to a Gilbert and Sullivan parade of 'his sisters and his cousins, whom he reckons up by dozens'", Dissent of Justice Mosk);

Ayers v. Landow, 666 A.2d 51, 57 (D.C. 1995) (referring to the Mikado’s "disfavored 'billiard sharp'"); and Gallimore v. Children's Hosp. Med. Center, 67 Ohio St. 3d 244, 252 (1993) (limiting consortium damages to parents only, not "a Gilbert and Sullivan cavalcade of 'his sisters and his cousins... and his aunts'").

In re Stevens, 119 Cal.App.4th 1228, 15 Cal.Rptr.3d 168 (2d Dist. 2004) ("a felon's 'capacity for innocent enjoyment' is just as great as any honest man's.")

"Let the punishment fit the crime" which is quoted by the public in response to a number of questions comes from the Gilbert and Sullivan show The Mikado.

Many years ago Justice Blackmun writing the majority opinion in Flood v. Kuhn (1972) included all the words to the poem Casey at the Bat in footnote.

Lyricists and poets alike tend to get a message across in a pithy manner. Unfortunately all too many court decisions, because of the need to weave the beliefs of all who sign an opinion and provide the legal reasoning behind the decision, tend to be quite lengthy. Thus these insertions make the decisions more enjoyable to read and more importantly underline the point that is being made.