Wednesday, March 08, 2017

"Although Otis Redding may have enjoyed wasting time by watching ships roll into the Dock of the Bay,* if he were sitting on Cumberland Island’s Brick-Kiln Dock, he truly would be wasting his time, waiting in vain for ships that would never come."

That was how Judge Rosenbaum started this opinion with the following footnote:

1 STEVE CROPPER & OTIS REDDING, (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, on THE DOCK OF THE BAY (Volt/Atco 1968). Redding tragically died in a plane crash in December 1967, just two days after he finished recording “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” so the song was released posthumously on January 8, 1968. Marc Myers, Then I Watch ‘Em Roll Away Again, WALL ST. J. (Jan. 3, 2013 6:20 PM), http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323320404578213 633398825300. It later won the 1968 Grammy Awards for the Best Rhythm & Blues Male Vocal Performance and the Best Rhythm & Blues Song. RockPopInfo Song Facts: (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay, ROCKPOPINFO, http://www.rockpopinfo.com/songs/sittin-on-the-dock-ofthe-bay--2/song-facts (last visited Aug. 2, 2016).
If the site was last visited on August 2, 2016, it seems that the opinion has been waiting to be published for a while.  What am I missing appellate clerks?

Hat Tip: Stephen Ludovici at Jones Walker
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9 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:35 PM

    Why do some judges try to be so cute or creative or whatever? Seems largely or entirely unnecessary. Are they trying to impress? Just bored?

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  2. Anonymous8:41 AM

    Don't be such a hater! Actually. appellate decisions traditionally had some flair to them. Somewhere along the way, they became uniform and bland. No coincidence that some of the best judges (Kozinski, Reinhardt, Fernandez in the 9th, Posner, Easterbrook in the 7th, just to name a few) write very eloquent and interesting opinions. I would certainly add Rosenbaum to that group. She's good.

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  3. Anonymous8:53 AM

    I doubt that Otis enjoyed watching ships roll into the Dock he was sitting on; she’ll probably reread that later and cringe a little.

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  4. Anonymous8:59 AM

    Cringe-worthy attempts at flair are the norm now. This is no exception.

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  5. Anonymous9:08 AM

    What she said was he enjoyed wasting time while watching ships roll in

    Here are the lyrics:

    Sittin' in the mornin' sun
    I'll be sittin' when the evenin' comes
    Watchin' the ships roll in
    Then I watch 'em roll away again, yeah
    I'm sittin' on the dock of the bay
    Watchin' the tide roll away, ooo
    I'm just sittin' on the dock of the bay
    Wastin' time

    No need for her to cringe

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  6. Anonymous11:15 AM

    We are all aspiring authors. Enjoy the fun while its around!

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  7. Anonymous1:28 PM

    You know what's really cringe-worthy?
    When the 11th Cir. goes out of is way to screw criminal defendants.

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  8. Anonymous2:44 PM

    Rosenbaum was tops as a Mag., tops as a District Judge, and is tops now. Lyrical references need to match not only the subject matter (which it did), but also be situationally appropriate. The opinion was fine, nobody was hurt, it was a rather mundane case, etc.

    Now, do I like when Pryor or Carnes start an opinion affirming some poor guy's 200 year sentence with snark? No, I do not, not appropriate for the matter.

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  9. Anonymous5:13 PM

    You're missing that Judge Tjoflat takes months, sometimes years, to write opinions or sign off on others' opinions.

    ReplyDelete