Summary

Gruber surveys the typographic choices of the 13 U.S. federal circuit courts, ranking them from worst (First and Fourth Circuits using fully-justified Courier New) to best (Fifth Circuit using Matthew Butterick's Equity typeface). He holds up the Supreme Court's century-long use of Century Schoolbook as the gold standard of consistency, noting that older editions actually made better use of small caps. He argues that typography is not superficial but essential to how courts present consequential decisions, and calls on circuits using lesser typefaces to follow the Fifth Circuit's lead in upgrading their typographic standards.

Key Insight

The typography of federal court decisions is not a trivial detail but a reflection of institutional seriousness, and courts that default to mediocre fonts and lazy formatting are failing to present their consequential work with the care it demands.

Spicy Quotes (click to share)

• 5

  Long argument short, Times New Roman isn't bad, but it isn't good. It is the median choice.

• 7

  Courier New (the worst version of Courier, so of course it's the one Microsoft shipped with Windows).

• 3

  The results are typographically sublime (including improved margins).

• 6

  If only that were true of their recent decisions. Rimshot.

• 5

  The current Court's document formatters should aspire only to more closely ape the confidence and sturdiness of this older one.

• 5

  A century from now, U.S. Supreme Court decisions should look as similar to today's as today's do to those from a century ago.

• 5

  If you're a United States federal court, your typographic style should reflect that.

• 6

  Our job is not just to present clear opinions, but to present our opinions clearly.

Tone

opinionated