US Supreme Court Justices Prefer Shakespeare

According to a recent article about the top literary references used by US Supreme Court justices in their judgments, Shakespeare and Lewis Carroll top the list. No surprise.

This was followed by:

• George Orwell
• Charles Dickens 
• Aldous Huxley
• Aesop
• Fyodor Dostoyevsky, William Faulkner, Herman Melville and J.D. Salinger (equal number of references)

This reminds of one of my posts on Slaw.ca (back in 2006!) on Popular Song Lyrics in Legal Writing. Oklahoma City University School of Law professor Alex B. Long did a study of citations to pop music stars in law journals.

In descending list of "popularity" among legal scholars:

1. Dylan
2. Beatles
3. Bruce Springsteen
4. Paul Simon
5. Woody Guthrie
6. The Stones
7. Grateful Dead
8. Simon & Garfunkel
9. Joni Mitchell
10. R.E.M.

As I wrote:

"According to Long, R.E.M. is the only alternative or post-punk artist represented in the Top Ten, 'and even their popularity can be explained in large measure by the fact that lawyers just seem to get a kick out of the title of their song, It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)'."

What might the situation be in Canada?

Referring to another study on the topic of cultural/musical references, the Globe and Mail in 2011 wrote:

"A quick search of the Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) database of judgments suggests that Canadian judges, who tend to have a drier, more no-nonsense style, are not likely to quote Mr. Dylan."

  Pity.