District of Columbia v. R.W. · ¶21

To its credit, the Court applies a similar, factor-by-factor approach here. That the Court's analysis is comprehensible shows as much. Like the court below, the per curiam takes account of the facts in turn: a “late-night dispatch call about a suspicious vehicle”; R. W.'s companions' “unprovoked fight”; R. W.'s shift into reverse with a car door still ajar. Ante, at 26 (internal quotation marks omitted). And like the court below, the per curiam explains how much weight it assigns to each. Unprovoked fight, the Court says, is “certainly suggestive” of wrongdoing. Ibid. (internal quotation marks omitted). “[C]ombined” with the fight, the Court continues, R. W.'s abrupt reversal “strongly suggested” wrongdoing. Ibid. This is how courts write opinions.

preliminary print (page proof)
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.