I haven't read one of these in a while. But they're always fun to see. Opinions that, from the very first paragraph, jump out at you and let you know full well who's writing it even before you reach the end where the author of the opinion is listed.
Today's opinion begins:
"The jurisprudence of retroactivity is a labyrinthine edifice of both critical
importance and daunting complexity. It is located at one of those intersections of
freedom, justice, and pragmatism that are all too common in the criminal law, and make
its practice a humbling experience. In this case, we are asked to offer our best judgment
about whether the rule announced in People v. Sanchez (2016) 63 Cal.4th 665 (Sanchez)
is prospective or retroactive. We do so with a caution bordering on apprehension, but we
arrive at a firm conclusion the rule is prospective only."
Now, to be brutally honest, I found the first line to be slightly more linguistically complex than I typically prefer. But the rest of the paragraph is a classic. And made me know from the very outset that I was reading an opinion by this person.
P.S. - Can I just say: What a day. Thus far, the Court of Appeal and California Supreme Court have published nearly a dozen different published opinions. Which collectively total over 400 pages of text. Slow down! Spread it out! Some of us have other work we gotta get done today as well. (And the day's not even over; maybe the Court of Appeal will crank out some other opinions later today as well. Ensuring that, yep, I'll do virtually nothing today except pick up my kids from school and read judicial opinions.)
