Jan. 9, 2026
When the poet laureate red-pencils the high court
A retiring appellate justice used his farewell speech to publicly scold the California Supreme Court for writing long, murky opinions -- and data suggests he has a point.
Sounding off to the boss is seldom a good idea, but the veteran jurist Arthur Gilbert had a few choice words for the California Supreme Court last month.
The thrust of his polite--yet clearly exasperated--appraisal: badly written opinions are tarnishing the high court's brand.
Gilbert, the outgoing presiding justice of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, Division 6, spoke his mind on the eve of his retirement as he received the California Judicial Council's 2025 Dis...
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