Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-2019
Abstract
In the Journal’s September- October issue, Part I of this article sampled recent federal and state judicial opinions that cite themes, scenes, or characters from movies listed on the American Film Institute (AFI) “100 Greatest American Films of All Time.” This Part II picks up where Part I left off. The discussion below samples recent judicial opinions that cite other well-known movies that have captivated American audiences without winning places on the “100 Greatest” list. Part II concludes by explaining why brief writers should feel comfortable following the judges’ lead by carefully using movie references to help make written substantive or procedural arguments (as Justice Scalia put it) “more vivid, more lively, and hence more memorable.”
To chronicle the breadth of the courts’ use of movie references, the appendix following this Part II presents an array of movies that (not discussed in either part of the article) appear in recent judicial opinions. For economy’s sake, the appendix is confined to movies that are cited or discussed in decisions handed down beginning in 2000.
Recommended Citation
Douglas E. Abrams,
References to Movies in Judicial Opinions and Written Advocacy, Part 2, 75 Journal of the Missouri Bar 297
(2019).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/facpubs/952