June 30, 2008

Lawyer eschews double negative

From Chief Justice John Roberts's dissenting opinion in Sprint Communications Co. v. APCC Services, Inc., decided June 23:
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. "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose." Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965).
When you ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose.

Nice try. Best stick to the light operetta, C.J.

4 comments:

  1. It could have been worse. What kind of legislating from the bench would Roberts do quoting Kristofferson? "Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose ..."

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  2. The CJ quoted Mr. Dylan correctly. See http://www.lyricsfreak.com/b/bob+dylan/like+a+rolling+stone_20021169.html; http://www.asklyrics.com/display/Rolling_Stones/Like_a_Rolling_Stone_Lyrics/173698.htm.

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  3. Who needs that. Listen to the record.

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  4. Heh ... lyricsfreak and asklyrics are reliable sources? They're worse than Wikipedia and are predominantly "manned" by teenagers.

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