DON'T FORGET YOUR LATIN GRAMMAR AND CLASSICAL ALLUSIONS WHEN YOU GO TO COURT

Here is a little tidbit from a judicial opinion I was reading today by the famous Judge Posner: 

". . . [T]he theft of the cans of soda pop was rendered nonactionable by the venerable legal maxim de minimis non curat lex.  (The lawyers on both sides of this case, no Latin grammarians they, call it the "de minimus" doctrine.)"

Hessel v. O'Hearn, 977 F.2d 299, 301 (7th Cir. 1992).

Note the slightly different spellings of "minimis" and "minimus" indicating a different grammatical form of the word -- "minimus" with a "u" being incorrect Latin in this context.  Typical judicial snottiness.  So unnecessary. 

I was once in court when a State Police Trooper was attempting to prosecute one of his first cases. (Police officers often prosecute misdemeanor bench trials in my jurisdiction.)  The judge was trying to muscle him into plea bargaining the case by persuading him that it had significant weaknesses.  The green State Police Trooper was hesitating, unsure what to do.  Finally, the judge said, "Don't stand there trying to be like Horatio at the Bridge!"  Of course, the poor State Police Trooper was even more befuddled after that.  Even I, who took a number of courses towards a Classics major in college, could barely remember the story of the Roman hero Horatio who stood his ground so his comrades could escape across the bridge as the Etruscan hordes swooped down.  There was no need for the judge to torment this poor cop with an obscure classics reference when the cop was already in over his head -- but I suppose the judge's need to intimidate with his superior erudition was the most important thing.   

Comments

[NBlack]

Ah yes. Judges who feel it's their personal duty to put people in their place. My favorite.

And, I wouldn't have gotten the "Horatio" reference either, so, I feel for the poor trooper. Can't believe that I actually feel empathy for a cop. A first for me;)

[BEG]

Well...here's the funny thing. I work in a classics dept. and so I actually happen to know how Latin is supposed to be pronounced. I also happen to speak enough French to know how *that* is pronounced. When I worked thru my paralegal certificate (finishing up last class next saturday -- YAY -- ), I was endlessly amused at HOW MISPROUNOUNCED ALL THIS WAS.

Ahem.

So...maybe youse got the spelling and grammar right, but youse ain't got the pronunciation right... I got "corrected" every time I opened my big mouth. I finally had to make up flash cards with the bad pronunciations to get it straight.

--BEG

this is a "fun" guy!

http://dannysmensstudies.blogspot.com/

[will]

Res ipso loquitor

And every trial lawyer also needs to know a couple good biblical references too.

[Cassandra]

de minimis non curat lex = the law does not care for/about trivial/minimal things?

(please, please let some of my 7th-11th grade latin have remained. it's only been a year. pleeeease).

[Chipmunk]

In Posner's defense (yeah, like he needs me to defend him, but we don't know if he reads your blog) he sees so much bad writing by lawyers that it probably becomes offensive to him after a while. If you can see this brief on my desk written by the appellate chief of one prosecutor's office, you'd become nauseous.

[The Happy Feminist]

Cassandra -- you're way ahead of me. I haven't looked at anything in Latin since 1989. But your translation sounds about right -- and makes sense in the context. That is certainly what the legal doctrine means!

[Sidebar--for the other half]

Well, perhaps the judge thought that boot included not only Latin classes, but Roman mythology as well. Reasonable or simply batty? You decide.

[Sidebar-for the other half]

"Boot" = "the police academy"

Where'd "boot" come from, you ask? I was thinking "police academy", but it translated to "boot camp" in my head as I was typing, and then I had the nerve to include a typo.

I humbly apologize for the error.

[ps3 hdmi kabel]

Wow! You write fascinating things. My love of sociology is connected with my love of humanities. Civilizations and the way people create meaning (though the Latin language, for example) are so interesting to me. Thank you!