A Texas Judge Cited 'The Big Lebowski' In A Legal Decision

Texas Supreme Court Justice Debra Lehrmann cited a quote from the cult film "The Big Lebowski" in a legal decision earlier this year.

Though the case of Kinney v. Barnes was back in January, we learned of it on Friday from C.J. Ciaramella's FOIA Newsletter. Legal blog Above The Law caught wind of the decision on Thursday.

It was a freedom of speech appeals case, in which Andrew Barnes wrote on two websites that Robert Kinney had been implicated in a kickback scheme while he was Barnes' employee. Kinney sued and demanded a permanent injunction against the allegedly defamatory statements.

"The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is similarly suspicious of prior restraints," wrote Justice Lehrman in the decision highlighting a cornerstone that has "been reaffirmed time and again by the Supreme Court, this Court, Texas courts of appeals, legal treatises, and even popular culture."

That last reference to popular culture contained an interesting footnote citing none other than Walter Sobchak, a character in the 1998 film. This is the footnote:

"For your information, the Supreme Court has roundly rejected prior restraint!" Sobchak ">says in the movie, before continuing: "This affects all of us, man! Our basic freedoms!"

Here's the scene from the film (language warning):

Ciaramella called it the "footnote of the year." We're inclined to agree. Now mark it zero.