Roberts’s First Opinion

Chief Justice Roberts issued his first Supreme Court opinion yesterday. Here’s a stylistic analysis of the opinion. My favorite part of the analysis:

For anyone who attended the oral argument in the case, Wednesday’s decision also shows that Roberts is unafraid of standing up to Justice Antonin Scalia. One of the relevant precedents in the case was a 1968 case called Newman v. Piggie Park Enterprises. When one of the lawyers at argument referred to the case by the shorthand Piggie Park, Scalia interrupted and said, only half-jokingly, “You know, it really would improve the dignity of this Court if we referred to Piggie Park as Newman.”

Without apology, Roberts referred to the case throughout his opinion Wednesday as Piggie Park.