Latest news with #legalnorms
New York Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Ketanji Brown Jackson Knows How to Get People's Attention
When Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote her ringing dissent in the case of Trump v. CASA, which severely curtailed the ability of lower courts to serve as a check on unlawful executive orders, she wanted to make abundantly clear the danger of what she regarded as a 'seismic shock' to American legal norms. 'Courts must have the power to order everyone (including the executive) to follow the law — full stop,' she wrote. She continued, in a voice dripping with sarcasm, 'The majority sees a power grab — but not by a presumably lawless executive choosing to act in a manner that flouts the plain text of the Constitution. Instead, to the majority, the power-hungry actors are … (wait for it) … the District Courts.' Social media platforms exploded with outrage. One user asked, in apparent disbelief, 'Did Ketanji Brown Jackson actually pop that stupid little 'wait for it' gag in a SCOTUS opinion?' Another said the dissent 'single-handedly degraded 235 years, four months, and 25 days of SCOTUS precedent.' The worst of them turned the justice's language back on her as a weapon. 'Ketanji Brown Jackson is … (wait for it) …' — well, I won't repeat the insult here, but for good measure, they added, 'full stop.' Her critics were right to note that Jackson was doing something unusual. And it wasn't just those examples. She peppered the whole dissent with expressions like 'Why all the fuss?' 'Do not take my word for it,' 'Here is what I mean,' and the assessment — again with unmistakable sarcasm — 'That is some solicitation.' You won't find anything like that in Marbury v. Madison. What's striking about Jackson's turns of phrase is that they employ what we typically regard as oral language — spontaneous, spoken words — in an extremely serious written text. That choice, and the blowback it encountered, are a chance to consider the arbitrariness and narrowness of the conventions dictating how legal opinions should be written. The expectation that their language be timeless, faceless and Latinate is a matter of custom, not necessity. 'Why all the fuss?' indeed. Jackson is, at 54, the youngest justice on the court. She was raised in the 1980s, a time when America's writing culture was getting markedly less hidebound. Waving aside the hats and girdles and stuffy dance steps of old, the counterculture had shown America how to let its language hang out, too. A new, looser style of writing allowed a play between the oral and the written, and the result enriched the culture rather than impoverishing it. I can't speak for Jackson, but that shift had a big impact on a great many people who grew up in that era's wake. It definitely had a big impact on me. I write in what I hope is a conversational style. Like Jackson, I have sometimes been scolded for it by people who would prefer that I write 'with a tie on,' as it were. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- New York Times
Spurned U.S. Attorney Clings to Job by Being Appointed His Own Assistant
President Trump's embattled interim U.S. attorney in Albany, N.Y., is back leading the office under an unusual new title, just days after a panel of judges refused to appoint him to lead the office permanently. According to a letter from the Justice Department's human resources division, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, John A. Sarcone III has been named 'special attorney to the attorney general.' The appointment, the letter says, gives him the powers of a U.S. attorney, and is 'indefinite.' The move means that Mr. Sarcone is the acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of New York, according to a spokesman for the office, as well as its first assistant. It is unclear how Mr. Sarcone could occupy two positions at once. The title of special attorney has historically been granted to officials with a particular expertise to lead difficult or complex prosecutions, such as that of Timothy McVeigh, the domestic terrorist. It does not appear to have ever been bestowed upon a leader of a U.S. attorney's office. For now, the appointment appears to allow Mr. Sarcone, who has scrapped publicly with journalists and the police, to effectively ignore Monday's decision by the panel of judges to spurn him. Mr. Sarcone declined to comment. Though Mr. Sarcone's situation is unusual, it reflects a presidential administration that has shattered legal norms and continues to appoint lawyers with little prosecutorial experience to run U.S. attorney's offices. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
