Professor Richard Hasen of the University of California, Irvine, recently published a sarcasm index for the justices of the US Supreme Court. (Rick is also a former Horvitz & Levy attorney and current consultant to the firm.) Rick’s study shows that Justice Antonin Scalia is the Court’s hands-down sarcasm champion.
Sarcasm doesn’t show up much at the California Supreme Court. (The justices appear to be a rather collegial bunch. They certainly can’t hold a candle to Wisconsin.) When sarcasm does appear (and when we notice it), it’s worth at least a passing mention.
Last week, the court decided People v. Scott, a death penalty case we’ve been following. Justice Goodwin Liu, joined by Justice Leondra Kruger, wrote separately, claiming that the majority’s decision of a Batson/Wheeler issue “puts this court at odds with the majority of state high courts and federal circuit courts that have considered the issue.” The majority was counting differently, because it brushed aside Justice Liu’s authorities as “a handful of cases that have taken an approach similar to the one he espouses.” Justice Liu was equally unimpressed by the number of cases on which the majority relied, responding, “If the cases I have cited are a mere handful, then the pertinent non-California authority cited by the court could fit in a thimble.”
That’s pretty mild. Or, as Justice Scalia would likely scoff at the California justices, “Amateurs!”
