How can you not love Judge William G. Young, chief judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts? Confronted with a motion for new trial based in part on his allegedly erroneous jury instructions, he stated candidly: “[D]espite case-specific guidance from the court of appeals, I botched the instructions to the jury.”

Even better, Judge Young began his opinion in Suboh v. Borgioli, Case No. 00-10396-WGY (D. Mass. Jan. 4, 2004) by setting forth the lyrics to “a derisive ditty going around the courthouse” set to the music of “Happy Together” by the Turtles. The original version of “Happy Together,” penned by Gary Bonner and Alan Gordon, reached number one on the Billboard charts the week of March 25, 1967. I'm not sure this rewritten version, poking fun at the high-mindedness of federal judges, is going quite that far, but it's still fun. Here’s a taste of the song as set forth in Judge Young’s opinion: