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Do we need a comma after the conjunction "and" below?

The umpire made a bad call, and, in the interest of fairness, he reversed his decision.

I think that the following sentence is better with just one comma:

The umpire made a bad call, and in the interest of fairness he reversed his decision.

I think the same could be said for the following (just one comma):

She acted like a brat, and quite frankly I think she should be grounded.

Do you agree with my one-comma sentence examples?

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  • You should never put a comma both before, and, after "and".
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jan 18, 2015 at 5:23

2 Answers 2

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It would be unusual to put a comma there.

The comma before the and would be usual; the common practice being that when there are two independent clauses separated by a coördinating conjunction (like and) you put a comma before the conjunction.

You could defend the comma after and by arguing that that "in the interest of fairness" was parenthetical, if it helped reading, but you aren't looking to defend the not-worth-defending; just drop the comma.

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  • So do you agree that only one comma is sufficient in both examples? BTW, I love the diaeresis in "coördinating", a la The New Yorker.
    – whippoorwill
    Commented Jan 18, 2015 at 2:37
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    More that sufficient; having one after would be very strange and arguably just wrong. My fondness for diaereses is probably best not copied, but I got into the habit when I was young and impressionable ;)
    – Jon Hanna
    Commented Jan 18, 2015 at 2:42
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I would use a semi colon before the word "and"

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    That would be an unusual choice. Semicolons between independent clauses are normally only used if there is no coordinating conjunction, so replacing the and with one would be much more normal than following one with and.
    – Jon Hanna
    Commented Jan 18, 2015 at 18:46

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