The decision was written by the judge before he died, which means it was already voted on and agreed to - you don't get to write the majority opinion before the votes are cast. That the settled decision wasn't ISSUED until after he died doesn't change the fact that it was reached while he was still alive or that he took part in making it.
So what they're saying is that his recorded vote and the opinion he wrote were no longer valid after he died, simply because the court hadn't taken the step to release the decision before he died. Other than the fact that he died before the decision could be released, nothing had changed. This makes no sense. |