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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,788 |
The value of the use of "supra" in legal documents is the economy which is provides in citing cases which have been cited before in a document. The first time a case is mentioned, an enormously long citation must be given to its location in each of a number of reporters (books in which opinions are published). Thereafter, the case may be cited, in much shorter form, by saying "Jones, supra, at 455" which means "The Jones case, which I cited in full above, this time for the point made on page 455 of the official report."
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167
member
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member
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167 |
Yeahbut isn't "above" just as good (and as short as) supra? Eg. "Jones, above, p455)? I have no problem with Latin, but not when there's an English synonym which is just as concise
jj
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
I think what Father Steve is getting at is that it means more than just "above" (you could say that about anything you'd said earlier, or about airplanes flying overhead) but more like "The source which I cited above, where you will find the full citation, and I ain't writing it out again!" Sort of letting you know exactly that there is very specific information above, not just another reference to the same source, say.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Every profession has its jargon. The use of "supra" in this way is a cross that the legal profession throughout the English-speaking world just has to bear, I suppose.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
My favorite of the translations listed : Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam. I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.
Some muggers are eruditer than others!!
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
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