This Federal Judge Is As Obsessed With Game Of Thrones As The Rest Of Us

What's this federal judge like underneath his robes?

Judge John Ownes / Game of Thrones fan

Judge John Owens / Game of Thrones fan

It is frequently fascinating for lawyers to speculate what judges are really like underneath their robes — hell, the twisted origins of this website come from pondering that very question. Sitting up on the bench, regal robes flowing, judges are the ultimate authority of the courtroom and it is natural to seek a confirmation there’s an actual human being behind the imperious figure.

That’s why it is so fun when judges drop in little hints as to their real personalities in their decisions.

That’s what happened in the Ninth Circuit case of Flores v. City of San Gabriel. Judge John Owens, an Obama appointee to the federal judiciary, writes a concurrence to distinguish why he believes reliance on a particular line of cases in the context of the statute of limitations under the Fair Labor Standards Act was wrong. In the closing paragraph of the concurrence, Judge Owens notes the Circuit’s interpretation on that particular point was coming “very close to a qyburnian resurrection of [a rejected case law] standard (emphasis added).”

Qyburn-S5Nice burn.

For those that may not be fully versed on the intricacies of Westeros, Qyburn is the former maester and healer who’s fallen into disrepute due to his unsavory tendency to perform vivisection on humans. He claims it is all for the knowledge though, and that his work can save people. One of his most recent experiments was on The Mountain, Ser Gregor Clegane. After a battle, conventional medicine said there was nothing to be done to save Clegane, but Qyburn is able to resurrect him into a changed, but still strong champion for Cersi Lannister.

Kudos to Judge Owens for making his point vividly, and for letting us all know he can’t get enough of Game of Thrones either.

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(Gavel bang to court/throne watchers, An Ear For A Baby. You can read the full decision on the next page.)


Kathryn Rubino is an editor at Above the Law. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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