Court Opinion

ID: 9528243
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:38:39.716503+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:26:36.718098
License: Public Domain

TANZER, J.,
concurring.
I write separately because I do not wish the concurring opinion of my colleague, Justice Tongue, to be taken as a credible reflection upon the diligence of the author of the majority opinion or of the court. The majority opinion in this case is like the tip of an iceberg: it describes our decision not to modify established principles of negligence and indemnity, but it does not begin to reflect the enormous amount of investigation, analysis, rumination and collegial interplay that preceded its issuance. That the resulting opinion is no milestone in legal history does not mean that the author dawdled or that the court spun its wheels.
Oregon’s appellate judicial system has been fundamentally altered since the publication of Tongue, Delays on Appeal to the Oregon Supreme Court, 36 Or L Rev 253 (1957). The underlying assumptions of that criticism were valid under the conditions of that day but they are no *928longer valid under the changed conditions of a generation later. The Supreme Court is now a court of discretionary review. Speedy action on petitions for review is desirable because litigants are best served by a prompt decision and the decision of the Court of Appeals should not be unduly delayed. We should intervene only where the reason to review is sufficient to justify delaying the effect of the Court of Appeals decision. Where review is allowed, however, there is usually an issue of broader significance. The court may be called upon to formulate law which will influence the future conduct of countless lawyers and clients and the decision of pending and future cases.1 Thus, review is a time for thoughtfulness, not speed; for deliberation, not haste. Judicial dispatch is preferable to quick and dirty judicial work to meet deadlines. Today, the Supreme Court should be evaluated on the quality of its opinions, not the quantity or the swiftness of their preparation. Every judge has his or her own speed and his or her own sense of responsibility of office. Moreover, one-judge opinions are to be avoided, but collegial participation takes time and does not show up statistically. Unless the judge has delayed irresponsibly, there is no reason to scold him. The court has deliberated responsibly in this case and the fact that it was not done fast enough to satisfy one of our members does not detract from that conclusion.
The most important reason for this separate opinion, however, is to protest what I regard as the misuse of the pages of these reports. Judicial opinions should reflect the legal reasoning of the court with the objective of clarifying the law for the assistance of the bench, bar and public. Access to the Oregon Reports for publication of our opinions is a privilege of appellate judicial office. To use that privilege for the publication of one’s non-legal opinions having nothing whatever to do with the rationale of the case before the court is, in my opinion, an improper use of that privilege, however well intended. Criticism of the *929performance of the court is a healthy sign of a free society and judges have the same right of free speech as others, but the place for judges to do so is in the same places as non-judges may do so: in the press, in the law reviews, before the legislature, in political discussion at election time or any other appropriate private or public forum. The place is not the Oregon Reports, however, because they are for our legal opinions. They are not our subscriber-subsidized soapbox. To use the Oregon Reports as a vehicle for the broadcast of personal opinions unrelated to caselaw is an abuse of our official privilege. Having thus violated the principle I have stated, I shall attempt to continue to abide by it in the future.

The ABA Standards for Appellate Courts relied upon by Justice Tongue differentiate between courts of various size whereas the distinction between Oregon appellate courts is one of function: The Court of Appeals is decisional, the Supreme Court doctrinal. See Internal Practices of the Court of Appeals at 1. Thus, the ABA time standards (actually, guidelines rather than standards) are of interest in this respect, but not entirely apt to the Oregon situation.