Saturday, October 18, 2008

Chief Justice Channeling Raymond Chandler?

Oh, you just have to love it. In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts pours on the hardboiled prose, in his discussion of a criminal case. To wit:

"North Philly, May 4, 2001. Officer Sean Devlin, Narcotics Strike Force, was working the morning shift. Undercover surveillance. The neighborhood? Tough as a three dollar steak. Devlin knew. Five years on the beat, nine months with the Strike Force. He'd made fifteen, twenty drug busts in the neighborhood.

"Devlin spotted him: a lone man on the corner. Another approached. Quick exchange of words. Cash handed over; small objects handed back. Each man then quickly on his own way. Devlin knew the guy wasn't buying bus tokens. He radioed a description and Officer Stein picked up the buyer. Sure enough: three bags of crack in the guy's pocket. Head downtown and book him. Just another day at the office."

Priceless--simply priceless.

My thanks to The (New) Legal Writer (citing May it Please the Court) for this one.

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