Court Opinion

ID: 9780087
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 01:17:39.928373+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:33:55.187525
License: Public Domain

WARNER, J.,
concurring specially.
I fully concur in the majority opinion. I write only to address the appellant’s brief in which Justice Denise Johnson of the Vermont Supreme Court is referred to as “he.” Justice Johnson, a well-respected jurist, who retired this September, is a personal and professional acquaintance of mine, so I was attuned to the error in the brief immediately.
I point out the inappropriate use of the male pronoun, because too often I see female jurists referred to as males. For instance, many times I noted Judge Winifred Sharp of the Fifth District Court of Appeal also referred to with a male pronoun.
It is easy enough to find the gender of a judge, either from Westlaw or LexisNexis, or by going to a court’s website and finding the judge’s biography. In this day and age, mistakes like this should not be made and it shows inattention in brief-writing that should be avoided. My advice is that if the lawyer does not wish to take the time to find out the gender of the judge being quoted in the brief, then no personal pronouns should be used.