Bad writing
17 September 2006
The faculties of the Due Process Clause may be indefinite and vague, but the mode of their ascertainment is not self-willed. In each case "due process of law" requires an evaluation based on a disinterested inquiry pursued in the spirit of science, on a balanced order of facts exactly and fairly stated, on the detached consideration of conflicting claims, on a judgment not ad hoc and episodic but duly mindful of reconciling the needs both of continuity and of change in a progressive society.
Rochin v. California, 342 U.S. 165, 172 (1952) (Frankfurter, J.). If your reaction to this passage is, "Huh?", then you'll enjoy Bad Writing: Some Thoughts on the Abuse of Scholarly Rhetoric, by Jethro K. Lieberman. Don't get discouraged by the density of the first page; stay with it into Part II.
For more fun with postmodern gibberish, check out the Postmodernism Generator.