legal-terms court
What does &quot;majority at&quot; mean in ruling documents
<p>Example document:
<a href="https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/886946.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/886946.pdf</a></p>

<p>p. 13:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Instead of following Cox, 14 the majority relies on City of Houston v.
  Hill, 482 U.S. 451, 107 S. Ct. 2502, 96 L. Ed. 2d 398 (1987) to
  support the notion that "obstruction statutes may not be used to limit
  citizens' right to express verbal criticism, even abusive criticism,
  at police officers." Majority at 12.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>What does "Majority at 12" mean?</p>

<p>A footnote on page 16 says "Majority at 12 n.9.". What does the "n.9" mean?</p>

<p>A majority of the justices support the first opinion, written by Johnson, so Madsen (writing a separate concurring opinion) is referring to the previous opinion. "at 12" means "on p. 12" (special law talk), so at the top of p. 12 you see the quoted text. "n. 9" means "footnote number 9" (which is on p. 12).</p>
