Supreme Court’s 5-4 Opinion So Fractured Even The Subjects And Verbs Couldn’t Agree

— The first line in this morning’s Samia v. United States opinion. Everyone struggles with this one because the correct grammatical move does tremendous violence to the ear… but that’s why it’s best to rework sentences to avoid the issue altogether. For example: “Petitioner Adam Samia was arrested by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and charged with a variety of offenses related to the murder-for-hire of Catherine Lee, a real-estate broker. The Government tried Samia jointly with Joseph Hunter and Carl Stillwell in the Southern District of New York.” Ta da!

Not crazy about “was arrested” either, but I digress.