Contractions May Be More Acceptable Than I Once Thought

Brian Garner tweets:

This just in: a majority of Supreme Court justices have used contractions in opinions: Roberts, C.J.; Thomas; Breyer, Alito & Kagan JJ.
— Bryan A. Garner (@BryanAGarner) December 30, 2013

And he follows up with:

Justice Scalia himself: "[W]hat the Commission hath given, the Commission may well take away—unless it doesn't."
— Bryan A. Garner (@BryanAGarner) December 30, 2013

I have avoided contractions in my papers for school and publication since undergrad.  I am a bit more liberal with them in the blog.  But maybe I will be a bit more liberal with them in my papers from now on -- though I hope Garner follows up with some citations that I can put in footnotes to appease those who review my work.

But for those interested in citing the Scalia quote (who wouldn't be?), that is from his dissent in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X Internet Services, 545 U.S. 967 (2005).  I note, with some dismay, that it is a dissenting opinion and therefore may not have the authoritative strength of a majority opinion, but it is at least a place to start.