Speaking of Mr. Spock, United States District Court for the Central District of California judge Otis Wright issued an 11-page order yesterday with at least 13 references to Star Trek (there may be more, I am not up on all the various TV shows related to the original series). I have to believe that this is a record for Star Trek allusions in a single order. Maybe this is some sort of weird promotion for the latest Star Trek movie.
The thing that interests me about the order is that it is a sanctions order. That is, Judge Wright is ordering one side to pay the other side more than $80,000. This strikes me as serious business. One wonders if references to red shirts help to convey the seriousness with which the Court undoubtedly made the decision to order sanctions.
What do you think Mr. Torvik? How many pop culture references should an order contain? Are some pop culture references more acceptable than others?
I read about this order over at the Popehat blog last night and had kind of a queasy feeling about it. It seems like too much. I know that being a federal judge can be kind of a boring, repetitive job, and clever judges will want to spice things up every once in a while. I get that, and don't mind it in moderation. But something like this, in a sanctions order ... maybe it's a sign that the judge needs to move on to more intellectually stimulating work? I don't know, I'm not up in arms about it, and these Prenda folks certainly deserve ridicule...
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