Texas Supreme Court judge uses “Ferris Bueller” references in libel case dissent

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The classic 1986 John Hughes film starred Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck and Jennifer Grey. Ferris Bueller's Day Off

The classic 1986 John Hughes film starred Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck and Jennifer Grey. Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close Texas Supreme Court judge uses “Ferris Bueller” references in libel case dissent 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

A Texas Supreme Court judge has used "Ferris Bueller’s Day Off" references and quotes in his dissent piece regarding a libel case, according to court documents filed on Friday.

Justice Don R. Willett peppered his dissenting comment, regarding a case involving a janitorial union and a Houston janitorial company, with lessons gleaned from the 1986 teen comedy, written and directed by John Hughes.

"Of all the empowering, life-altering lessons Ferris Bueller taught us — for example, you can't erase telltale mileage off a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder by jacking up the car and running it in reverse — his 'life moves pretty fast' insight rings truest," Justice Willett writes.

In May 2007, Professional Janitorial Service of Houston filed suit in state district court against the SEIU Local 5, accusing the union of publishing defamatory statements about the company on its website’s blog.

The company says that a report posted by the union, alleging that the company violated federal wage-and-hour laws by not paying its employees for all hours they worked, is libel.

The case has been batted around for over seven years now. A bit more background can be read here.

Willett writes that just who qualifies as a member of the electronic media under Texas law, with the constantly changing winds and whims of the Internet, is increasingly hard to decipher.

Or in "Bueller" terms, via Willett:

"The modern Internet age moves far faster than the pre-digital grind from which Ferris Bueller played hooky almost thirty years ago."

"Life in 2014 moves blazingly fast, and nowhere faster than online, where an increasing number of Americans consume news and political information."

"Given the warp-speed evolution of digital news-gathering and dissemination, we should insist on clear rules, clearly defined and clearly applied," he writes.

He even ends the piece by quasi-quoting Ben Stein’s economics teacher character, asking for the case to be moved onto the Supreme Court.

His dissenting piece, on what could otherwise be a very bland subject, is made a bit clearer with his “Bueller” references.

Justice Willett describes himself as a “former drummer and rodeo bull rider” in his Twitter bio and by all accounts is a fun public figure to follow on social media.

We're waiting on the first "Big Lebowski"-quoting Supreme Court ruling from Chief Justice John Roberts.