Abstract

For some reason, Justice Thomas has taken to inserting commas in places they don’t belong. In particular, he writes one clause of a compound sentence, followed by a comma before any conjunction, and, then he throws in a comma after the conjunction as well (as I just did—incorrectly—for illustrative purposes). Or, he begins a sentence with a conjunction and then he routinely drops a comma after the conjunction (again, as I did incorrectly). This article explains the grammatical problem—with copious citations to texts on writing—and then ponders why the Justice is doing this. One hypothetical: as a good originalist, he is following the practices of the founders, who used commas throughout the Constitution in places where the commas don’t seem helpful. We should study and generally follow the founders’ political theories, but let’s consign their use of commas to the dustbin.

Keywords

Commas, Justice Thomas, legal writing

Publication Date

2025

Document Type

Article

Publication Information

28 Green Bag 2d 99 (2025)

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COinS Erik M. Jensen Faculty Bio