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Bill:
I think Copy Editor magazine, the bible of
my profession, would call this a sidestep situation.
In the first example, dance around
the esses and s's with something like "In the New York Court of
Appeals, the most recent discussion of vicarious liability
......."
Similarly, rather than "the New York and
US Court of Appeals' rulings," write, "both the state and federal appellate
courts have ruled......." (assuming it's the second reference to the NY
State Court).
Irene Silverman
Associate Editor
May
I pose a question to the grammarians on the list? I am one of those who
strongly cling to the convervative view that nearly every plural
possessive
must have an apostrophe-s (i.e., CBS's, etc.). It sets my teeth
on edge
whenever I see an exception to this, usually in the New York Post
or some
other tabloid, and it distracts me beyond endurance when this
artificial
locution actually finds it way into speech. My question, or
rather my
several questions, have to do with the New York Court of Appeals
and the US
Court of Appeals of (for example) the Second Circuit.
Is
it proper (and consistent with the principle expressed above) to write,
"... the New York Court of Appeals's most recent discussion of vicarious
liability in ..." ? Somehow it doesn't sound quite right.
Should
the s be dropped in this case? Would this be an exception to the
general
rule? Or should the s after the apostrophe be retained at any
cost?
Similarly, what happens when you have to write about them both?
For
example, "both the New York and US Courts of Appeals have ruled ..."
Here,
I would prefer to say, "Courts of Appeal" -- but, reasoning that the
title
of both courts is "Court of Appeals" I find myself doubting that
that would
be correct. And then, whichever we decide is correct, what
would be proper
if we wanted to make both courts possessive? "The New York
and US Courts of
Appeals' rulings ..." Well, in that case, I suppose it
would be better to
say, "the rulings of etc." and avoid the problem that
way.
Anyway, I would greatly appreciate an authoritative answer on or
off list.
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