What Judges Learn in Writing School

Today's issue of the Toronto Star has an interesting article about writing courses for judges:

"The culture is shifting."

"Instead of writing with only lawyers or appeal courts in mind, many judges now consider their most important readers to be the public — and the losing party."

"Justice Jeremy Nightingale, who presides in Meadow Lake, Sask. and northern fly-in communities, is an example of how far things have come."

"He often gives copies of his decisions to his neighbour, a farmer, to make sure they’re readable."

" 'I want someone with little or no education to understand what I’m doing,' Nightingale said."

"And that raises an unusual new controversy"

"In a quest to hook their readers, can judges go too far? To some of their colleagues, a few judges are enjoying the writing process a bit too much, turning out prose worthy of a detective novel and crossing a line into bad taste."