No, 42 is Not the Answer!

By Editor-in-Chief-in-Error, Benjamin G. Shatz

In the classic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, pandimensional, hyper-intelligent beings create a supercomputer called Deep Thought to figure out the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything. After seven and a half millions years to compute and check the answer, Deep Thought finally presented its answer, which was the number 42. This answer was rather disconcerting.

Similarly disconcerting was how our last issue presented a chart on page 14 accompanying Professor Uelmen’s article on the California Supreme Court that inexplicably contained numerous errors, including the astounding figure that Justice Corrigan had supposedly published a large number of dissenting opinions in the 2015-2016 fiscal year: 42 dissenting opinions, according to the table, to be precise. And that’s precisely—and obviously—wrong, of course.

Accordingly, recognizing that 42 is not always the answer—and can be a disturbingly wrong answer—we present the correct figures below, and hope that our 42 was not nearly as upsetting as Deep Thought’s.