Vacation of judgment

It's not unusual for judicial opinions to make Attractive Nuisance feel very, very sleepy. But with today's Seegmiller v. Laverkin City, No. 07-4096 (10th Cir. June 10, 2008), Judge Tymkovich serves up the judicial equivalent of a bottle of Tylenol PM chased down with a generous handful of Ambien. As a service to any readers suffering from insomnia, A-Nu has helpfully isolated one of Seegmiller's primary yawn-inducing features, which she likes to think of as the "nounified verb."

Now, don't misinterpret A-Nu's comments as linguistic bigotry: A-Nu is cool with the fact that certain words might swing different ways depending on the circumstances. If a noun wants to get all gussied up and mince around as an adjective for an evening, far be it from her to pass judgment. She fails to comprehend, however, why legal professionals in general, and judges in particular, insist on taking a perfectly healthy and active verb and tacking on an "-ation," leaving behind a feeble and enervated noun.

In Seegmiller, for instance, Tymkovich talks about a jilted husband's "recantation" of "allegations" he made up about his ex. Come on: recantation? Why not say the husband recanted the things he alleged? The opinion then explains that a reprimand from the plaintiff's employer led to her "eventual resignation" from her job. Why not say she resigned? Instead of saying the plaintiff alleged "violations" of her constitutional rights, why not say she alleged that the defendants violated her rights? Instead of saying the Fourteenth Amendment "provides protection" against certain government actions, why not say it protects? Rather than referring to the "recognition of a broad notion of privacy," why not say that the Supreme Court has recognized such a broad notion?

A-Nu could give a few dozen more examples from Tymkovich's soporific specimen, but she thinks that she's made her point. Verbs keep the action moving, and nounifying everything brings the momentum to a grinding halt. Sure, the nounification saves the trouble of having to come up with a subject to go with the verb -- but especially in the legal context, A-Nu always thinks it's better to be clear about who's doing what.

But it's late, and A-Nu is off to bed. Somehow she doesn't think she'll be needing that glass of warm milk.