Some authors of appellate opinions like to try make things sound easy -- and crystal clear -- even though they're anything but.
That's not my preference. When things are tough, and when reasonable minds can differ, I like it when an opinion addresses both sides and seriously confronts (and admits) the complexity of the issues. Sometimes an issue is close, and when it is, I see no harm in saying so.
So I smiled when, in this morning's opinion, Judge Kleinfeld takes that approach a step further. With a neat little line at the end of the opinion that says: "Without much confidence, we conclude . . . ."
The exact opposite of pretending that everything's totally easy.
