Let’s face it, judges are human too. Beneath the black robes and dispassionate expressions are flesh and blood people, subject to the same cultural influences as the rest of us. And more and more, these influences are seeping into their writing on the bench, resulting in judicial opinions that make their legal points, albeit with a little pop culture flavor thrown in.
Some judges channel their inner superheroes. In a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Justice Elena Kagan took advantage of the fact that Kimble v. Marvel Enterprises revolved around the patent for a Spider-Man toy to liberally sprinkle her writing with allusions to the webslinging crime fighter. Observing that the parties had set up no end date for royalties on the patent, Kagan said the parties were apparently contemplating that royalties would continue “for as long as kids want to imitate Spider-Man (by doing whatever a spider can).”
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