Fwd: Spock as legal authority

<very large><bold>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is now officially a 
legal authority</very large></bold>

[stock photo of Spock on the bridge in STII uniform]

The wisdom of Spock has guided us all for years, but now it's 
enshrined in Texas law. Ruling on the limits of police power, the 
Texas Supreme Court quoted from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Ruling in Robinson vs. Crown Cork Seal Company (PDF at 
http://www.supreme.courts.state.tx.us/historical/2010/oct/060714c2.pdf 
or(?) http://tinyurl.com/18r), Justice Don Willett writes:

Appropriately weighty principles guide our course. First, we 
recognize that police power draws from the credo that "the needs of 
the many outweigh the needs of the few." Second, while this maxim 
rings utilitarian and Dickensian (not to mention Vulcan), it is 
cabined by something contrarian and Texan: distrust of intrusive 
government and a belief that police power is justified only by 
urgency, not expediency.

And there's this footnote after the word Vulcan:

See STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN (Paramount Pictures 1982). The 
film references several works of classic literature, none more 
prominently than A Tale of Two Cities. Spock gives Admiral Kirk an 
antique copy as a birthday present, and the film itself is bookended 
with the book's opening and closing passages. Most memorable, of 
course, is Spock's famous line from his moment of sacrifice: "Don't 
grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh . . ." 
to which Kirk replies, "the needs of the few."

We've always thought Spock would be the best person to defend us if 
we were ever put on trial (other than Samuel T. Cogley, of course) 
but now he's officially an authority on interpreting the 
Constitution. Most logical. [SFWA 
(http://www.sfwa.org/2010/10/star-trek-cited-by-texas-supreme-court) 
and Josh Blackman (http://joshblackman.com/blog/)]