US v Dowden, or “The Case of the Pointless Buck”

Both lawyers and non-lawyers should read this 1956 US District Court Court case, US v. Dowden, 139 F.Supp 781 (1956).

The opinion written by Judge Dawkins, Jr., who wrote with considerable wit and intelligence on a matter which he clearly believed should have never reached his bench.  I won’t spoil the plot; it’s a very short read, and you will figure out the story within the first two paragraphs.