Archive for February, 2008

Attempted Murder in Mississippi?

Published
by
Christopher Meredith
on Feb 19, 2008
in Criminal Law and Current Events
. 0 Comments

Last week the rumblings began to emerge that there is no crime of “attempted murder” in the state of Mississippi. This was apparently prompted by this story which ran in a TV news spot and was discussed on radio programs as well.

“Attempt” offenses are a common law category and therefore, the state would either have to refuse to recognize the crime on the judicial level, or eliminate it at the legislative level. In Mississippi, neither of these appear to be the case.

The Mississippi Code specifically provides for “attempt” crimes.

Every person who shall design and endeavor to commit an offense, and shall do any overt act toward the commission thereof, but shall fail therein, or shall be prevented from committing the same, on conviction thereof, shall, where no provision is made by law for the punishment of such offense, be punished as follows: If the offense attempted to be committed be capital, such offense shall be punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary not exceeding ten years; if the offense attempted be punishable by imprisonment in the penitentiary, or by fine and imprisonment in the county jail, then the attempt to commit such offense shall be punished for a period or for an amount not greater than is prescribed for the actual commission of the offense so attempted.

Miss. Code Ann. ยง 97-1-7. Further, a cursory search of the recent state cases turns up numerous cases of attempted murder convictions. Even more apparent is that there is ample evidence in the news. Someone should tell Flora Shearill that there is no attempted murder in Mississippi.

So I don’t know what those police offers were talking about when they told Mr. Register that there is no charge of “attempted murder.” HB 644 makes sense when one considers that the legislature might want to exercise more control over the elements and/or sentences for attempted murder. But clearly, a person can be charged with attempted murder in the state of Mississippi.

Butchering English to Stay PC

Published
by
Christopher Meredith
on Feb 13, 2008
in Law School and Politics
. 2 Comments

When I was in the 10th grade only a decade ago, my English teacher made it perfectly clear: in English, the generic singular pronoun is masculine. If someone wants to object to this convention, he should take it up with the Saxons. This is not difficult and following this rule merely places us in a long line of English-speaking people. But now that I’m in law school, I’m noticing an apparently concerted effort to change this convention. What I don’t see is a good reason for doing so.

The issue has been discussed in many fora, including this representative article. The use of the masculine pronoun is now viewed by our culture as inherently sexist. The alternatives range from illogical to utterly bizarre:”she,” “(s)he,” “he/she,” and, “they” are some common examples, the latter of which amounts to a decision to replace the singular pronoun altogether with the plural. Some of the more creative approaches involve alternating “he” and “she” every time a generic pronoun is required.

The solution to this imaginary problem which legal writers have apparently adopted is the blanket use of the feminine. Therefore, whenever examples are given in law school (and there are lots of examples), all the criminals, tortfeasors, parties, judges, attorneys, witnesses, and victims are women.

Since English has no separate generic pronoun, we obviously have to use something. The compound pronouns (he/she) are unwieldy and the plural pronoun (they) is just simply wrong: Any student interested in the optional seminar should bring their enrollment form to class. That is (and should remain) a wrong answer on the SAT.

So then what’s the answer? It is suggested that using the masculine is sexist. If this is true, using the feminine is no less sexist. Since we are resolved that our only options are sexism or the devolution of the English language, let us err on the side of sexism. Furthermore, though the number of women in the legal profession is increasing, men still constitute the vast majority of American judges, lawyers, and criminals. So if we are going to be sexist anyway, let us do so in a way that is not only supported by over a millennia of tradition, but is also likely to be accurate four times out of five.

Getting Off the Ground

Published
by
Christopher Meredith
on Feb 7, 2008
in About This Site
. 0 Comments

Justin Hayden, a 3L here at Mississippi College School of Law and a contributor at The Legal Scoop has noted that law student blogs are a good exercise, not only in in analytical thinking and writing but also in initiative and creativity. These things are not only beneficial in our studies but also demonstrate positive qualities to potential employers.

To that end, I’ve decided to launch this blog. I and the other authors will be using this space to discuss our studies, the law, and pretty much anything of general interest to law students and people in the legal community. As with all such places, the life of this website is dependent upon the interaction of its users. So we will make a deal with you: we’ll strive to provide interesting content on a regular basis as long as you agree to feed our egos by commenting and critiquing. Deal?