Use of a striking phrase.

• Jurisdiction: United States

Section 123. Use of a striking phrase.—In order to present your contentions in simplified form, it is frequently useful to employ a striking phrase—a dignified slogan, if you please, but a slogan nonetheless.

Perhaps this point will become clearer after a discussion of examples.

(a) The issue turned on the constitutionality of an involved regulatory statute. The entire case was effectively summed up by the statement, "Petitioner is not being denied due process; on the contrary, this statute affords him undue process."¹⁹

(b) One of the cases involving the military trials of civilian dependents, where it was proposed to retry the relator by court-martial at Boiling Air Force Base in the District of Columbia;

The question in this case is whether a woman, who all of her life has been a civilian, may be tried by an Air Force court-martial in time of peace, here in the District of Columbia and literally within the shadow of the Capitol dome.²⁰

(c) A pay case in the Court of Claims: "The question is whether a correction of a military record 'for all purposes' means something less than 'all', so that it is to be interpreted as 'for all purposes except pay and allowances.' "²¹

(d) A denaturalization case: "The issue is whether a good Nazi can be a good American."²²

(e) Habeas corpus to review a conviction by court-martial, the contention being that the preliminary investigation under old Article...