Last month’s arraignment of Donald Trump was handled by Judge Jonathan Goodman of the Southern District of Florida. On countless occasions over the past decade, Judge Goodman has cited to rock n’ roll lyrics in his opinions -- Springsteen, Tom Petty, REM, The Kinks, Bob Dylan, Elvis, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Beatles and on and on…
Sometimes he offers them as a way of expressing guidance to the lawyers or parties. Other times he uses them to make observations about the case or law generally. But they never take away from the seriousness of what he’s doing.
In this piece for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette I looked at the judge who has cited Meatloaf in an opinion. I hope you can check it out.
https://www.coverageopinions.info/RockLyrics.pdf