<story><title>William Alsup, the coding judge who decides tech cases</title><url>https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/16503076/oracle-vs-google-judge-william-alsup-interview-waymo-uber?</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>matt4077</author><text>I you can, read some of the transcripts of Alsup&amp;#x27;s oral arguments. He is incredibly witty, he doesn&amp;#x27;t take any bullshit, yet always seems to remain fair.&lt;p&gt;Especially on HN, I often see (a) cynicism, and (b) the idea that a judge cannot have and show emotions, or that it&amp;#x27;s somehow &amp;quot;unprofessional&amp;quot; to make a joke. Alsup is the perfect counterexample how judges (should ideally) behave.&lt;p&gt;One remarkable passage was in one of the early Waymo vs Uber transcripts, where he makes an impressive case for the proceedings to be public. There is nothing he personally gains from public access to these arguments and documents–he simply believes it to be important for the rule of law.</text></comment>
<story><title>William Alsup, the coding judge who decides tech cases</title><url>https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/19/16503076/oracle-vs-google-judge-william-alsup-interview-waymo-uber?</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>jancsika</author><text>&amp;gt; These are bad inside jokes, embarrassing markers of an insular culture that never anticipated having to explain itself in a court of law.&lt;p&gt;I love this sentence.&lt;p&gt;Edit: context-- lawyer talking about GNU, judge asks what GNU stands for, lawyer tells him, judge responds, &amp;quot;That doesn&amp;#x27;t make sense.&amp;quot; A judge who himself codes.</text></comment>