I came across this usage in excerpts from the dissent by Justice Kagan to the US Supreme Court's decision [see image I will attempt to attach, that I snagged from here: https://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2023/06/john-roberts-demonstrates-a-justified-lack-of-confidence-in-his-arrogation-of-congressional-and-presidential-authority]. I'm going to guess that it indicates a tense change, so like in my example in the post title maybe the quote was "asked you" and I changed it to "ask[ ] you" to fit my sentence. I went to a lot of schooling but I don't recall this empty brackets usage. I figure, why not Ask Kbin!
Legal minds, what do empty brackets mean inside a quote? Like this: Can I "ask[ ] you?"
6 Comments
readbeanicecream@kbin.social · 11 pts · 3y
@RMiddleton Yep. Means the author removed a letter from the word. So in the image above the author removed a d or s from the word waive. It just helps the quote make sense in context of the passage.
Drusas@kbin.social · 11 pts · 3y
It's worth noting that this is nothing to do with legal writing in particular. You'll find this in all academic writing as well, and in journalism.
RMiddleton@kbin.social · 7 pts · 3y
For some reason I have never noticed this before, or else I have just forgotten it in the 3 decades since I was in college.
mPony@kbin.social · 11 pts · 3y
Your analysis is correct. This is how you attribute a quote where you have removed a letter for readability in a different context.
aidan@kbin.social · 1 pts · 3y
And here I’ve been using an elipsis like a fool