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U.S. v. Lococo (9th Cir. - Dec. 27, 2007)

By Shaun Martin

It may be a holiday. There may be no new opinions to read. It may even be raining (as it is) in ordinarily sunny San Diego. But there are still cases about which something can be said.

For example, this one's from a couple of weeks ago, but there's no reason -- at least that I can see -- to publish this opinion. Which basically doesn't say anything other than (1) conclusions, that (2) are totally fact-specific.

Wholly beyond publication, while I'm a fan of short(er) opinions, I do think that this one goes off the deep end. The defendants are in prison. For a long time. So there's lots at stake. And each of the parties have filed long briefs that make a variety of different arguments.

I think that the resolution of these appeals require more than just mere recitation of the judicial conclusions. Which is basically what happens here. Maybe a lengthy exegisis on each point is unnecessary. But more -- a fair piece more -- than what's here seems to me to be the bare minimum.

I think this is a good example of what happens when (potentially) good intentions go way too far. Brevity ain't always the soul of wit.

Full post as published by California Appellate Report on January 21, 2008 (boomark / email).