Probably the most famous case in rhyme is Fisher v. Lowe, 333 NW 2d67 (1983).
In it the judge writes a parody of "Trees" and they headnote in rhyme. We use
it as an illustration in How to Find the Law, and I still used it in the new
edition of Finding the Law. It's too odd to give up. When we first ran it the
West folks were a bit unhappy because they thought it made them look too
whimsical. 99.9% of headnotes are as serious as taxes, but every once in a
while the judge is so idiosyncratic the headnote writers follow him/her.
Bob Berring
Boalt Hall
_______________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: 67 F3d 1021
From: kcollins@netcom.com at BOALT
Date: 12/21/95 5:50 AM
Jerry--
Your reply reminded me of an opinion I heard about years ago. I THINK it
was somewhere in the 7th Circuit: an opinion written in rhyme.
Over the years, I have tried unsuccessfully to locate the case. I
thought it was mentioned in the Q&A section of _LLJ_, along with other
amusing cases, but I've gone thru back issues and can't find it. If
anyone can identify this, I would really appreciate it.
I wanted to use these some of them in the library orientation course I
used to teach for new hearings officers. It was a
seek-and-ye-shall-find exercise.
For example, my favorite ALR annotation deals with a case of an individual
who maintained his right to use marijuana because it was part of his
church ceremony. As I recall, he said that if Native Americans could use
peyote, he could smoke grass. I'm at home, so don't have the cite. But
it's a great example of ALR taking a seemingly insignificant case to
annotate. The hearings officers got a good laugh AND learned about
ALR.
--Kay Collins (furloughed) Head Librarian US Railroad Retirement Board
Chicago
On Wed, 20 Dec 1995, Jerry Stephens wrote (in pertinent part):
> RE: In re Thinking Machines Corp., 67 F3d 1021
>
> One suggestion here, and you've apparently begun to do some
> of that already. The frequent reader of judicial opinions
> can come up with many examples of creative writing. Judge
> Selya is only of
> the better writers in this regard.
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