Unanswerable questions

Law Library Journal

Volumn 100, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 581-586

  Whisner, Mary ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 50049111845     PISSN: 00239283     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Short Survey

References (7)

1. Gildon v. Simon Property Group, Inc., 145 P.3d 1196 (Wash. 2006) (argued Sept. 27, 2006, decided Oct. 26, 2006).
2. Andersen v. King County, 138 P.3d 963 (Wash. 2006) (argued Mar. 8, 2005, decided July 26, 2006).
3. I was persuaded by Lisa Stone, the executive director of the Northwest Women's Law Center, which represented eight of the plaintiff couples in Andersen, that this term better characterizes the issue than "gay marriage" or "same-sex marriage." The plaintiffs weren't asking for a new legal construct ("same-sex marriage") but to be able to participate in an existing legal status ("marriage") on the same terms as their similarly situated, but heterosexual, neighbors. When the court had already taken over a year and observers were speculating about the justices' work, Ms. Stone said, "This is an extremely important decision that will be analyzed and dissected all over the country and the world. From our perspective, the justices should take all the time they need-as long as they get it right." Lernet Turnbull, Gay-Marriage Case: 15 Months, No Ruling, SEATTLE TIMES, June 8, 2006, at A1. As it turned out, the justices went 5-41 against her position-but her point is still good. Sometimes analyzing, deciding, writing, and negotiating among the judges takes time.
4. The Nature of Suit codes are listed at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov/ documents/natsuit.pdf (last visited Apr. 9, 2008).
5. The same professor asked us for an English translation of the opinion in the Madrid bombing case the day he read in the New York Times that the National Court had released "written arguments." Victoria Burnett, Convictions and Key Acquittals End Madrid Bomb Trial, N.Y. TIMES, Nov. 1, 2007, at A3. It seemed possible that such a newsworthy ruling would be translated into English-that is, until the reference librarian working on it (Cheryl Nyberg) found news stories that said the ruling was 700 pages long! Tracy Wilkinson, 21 Convicted in Madrid Train Blasts, L.A. TIMES, Nov. 1, 2007, at A3. Vicenç Feliú at LSU sent us a link for the Spanish text (http://www.poderjudicial.es/eversuite/GetRecords? Template=cgpj/cgpj/pjexaminarjurisprudencia.html&TableName=PJJURISPRUDENCI A&dkey=913), but that instant English translation remained elusive.
6. THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN LEGAL QUOTATIONS (Fred R. Shapiro comp., 1993).
7. Appeal and Error, key number 994 ("Credibility of witnesses"), subheadings (1) "In general," (2) "Province of jury," and (3) "Province of trial court." 8. We also give this advice to law students going off to their summer jobs. When they can't find the authority the assigning attorney sent them for, they should be able to explain where they looked and what they tried.