I noticed this when I first read the opinion, but my earlier post was long enough already, so I left out this part of the case. Nonetheless, since multiple loyal readers sent me an e-mail about it, I thought I'd add one additional comment about the opinion. Especially since the Ninth Circuit and California Court of Appeal decided to start out November with a whimper (rather than a bang), with the former publishing nothing except an order that made typographical changes in a single previous opinion and the latter publishing only in relatively snoozerific cases.
The thing that caught my (and other reader's attention) in this opinion was its use of the phrase "f**king pu**y". Mind you, as you certainly understand, these were words that were used by Judge Fisher only in the context of quoting someone else. Still, he used 'em.
The question then arose: How often have published cases employed such a phrase?
The answer: Not many.
I was able to find 25 cases that iterated such language. As you might imagine, the phrase is employed throughout the United States, with one case each from woodsy Oregon, student-friendly Massachusetts, far-flung Hawaii, and even ordinarily mild-mannered Kansas. Moreover, not surprisingly, there are three cases that employ this phrase from New York City, and another from the Eastern District of New York. Chicago gets its licks in as well, with three cases from the Northern District of Illinois (and one from the Central District of Illinois -- a Chicago wannabe, no doubt). Pennsylvania also as three cases; I guess those steel mills often hear rough and tumble language such as this.
California, of course, largely leads the way, with a near-record four cases that employ this phrase. But -- and this came as a fairly large surprise to me -- the number one state whose judicial opinions use such language is . . . . drum roll, please . . . . Ohio. Ohio?! Wow.
Some might argue that it makes sense that the state that leads the way in producing Presidents of the United States would also lead the way in employing this particular vulgarity.
