I’m not aware of this happening before. That is, a U.S. Supreme Court Justice citing the words of Bob Dylan in an opinion. (Via Kathryn Jean Lopez at the Corner; thanks to Lyle for the tip.)

And it is gratifying indeed — I’ll make no bones about it — that it comes not from one of the long-haired lefties on that court, but from none other than Chief Justice John Roberts, nominated to that position by President George W. Bush in July of 2005.

The Dylan reference and quote comes in Roberts’ dissent in the decision announced today in Sprint Communications v. APCC Services. I’m not knowledgeable enough to give a thumbnail of the issues involved, but apparently the core of it was whether APCC (a collection agency) had standing to sue Sprint, in a situation where they (APCC) apparently did not stand to gain financially at all. In a 5-4 decision, the court found for APCC’s right to sue. Chief Justice John Roberts said the following in his dissent (link to full pdf file here), which was joined by Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito.

The absence of any right to the substantive recovery means that respondents cannot benefit from the judgment they seek and thus lack Article III standing. “When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.” Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone, on Highway 61 Revisited (Columbia Records 1965). To be sure, respondents doubtless have more than just a passing interest in the litigation. As collection agencies, respondents must demonstrate that they are willing to make good on their threat to pursue their clients’ claims in litigation. Even so, “an interest that is merely a ‘byproduct’ of the suit itself cannot give rise to a cognizable injury in fact for Article III standing purposes.” Vermont Agency, supra, at 773. The benefit respondents would receive—the general business goodwill that would result from a successful verdict, the ability to collect dial-around compensation for their clients more effectively—is nothing more than a byproduct of the current litigation.

So there!

Nice one, Mr. Chief Justice.

And, I might add, I’ll gladly take citations of Bob Dylan lyrics over the penchant of some other judges to cite foreign law in their opinions. We’d all be a whole lot safer relying on Highway 61 Revisited rather than on the opinions of a judge in Zimbabwe, or even Canada, if you ask me.

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