The use of “which” in a US Supreme Court opinion from April 30, 1934, was to avoid ambiguity. While this usage is not as common today, it does appear at times.
A more recent example is from an April 7, 2020, resolution by the Louisville, CO, City Council regarding electronic hearings during the COVID-19 pandemic:
“Whereas, also on March 25, 2020, the CDPHE issued an Amended Public Health Order 20-24 Implementing Stay at Home Requirements, which Order has since been updated twice.”
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, “which” is a relative adjective that introduces a clause and summarizes details from the preceding clause or sentence. This usage dates back to Anglo-Saxon times.
The first OED citation for “which” used in a similar manner is from the Middle English poem “Confessio Amantis” by John Gower.
While the reason for the decrease in this usage is unclear, there are alternative ways to clarify sentences. For instance, a less formal phrasing of the Supreme Court opinion could be: “The motion of the appellant to amend its assignments of error is now granted.”
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