Is rhyme a crime of judicial decorum when people implore 'em?

Pitsburgh post-gazette ^ | 12-8-2002 | Brian O'Neill

[vannrox]

A very interesting commentary. Gives pause for thought.

[jimtorr]

Pause for thought.

I think that the husband owes the wife the difference in value of the engagement ring between the market value and what he told her it was worth.

She took him at his word and he should be held to that. He put the ring's value in writing in the prenup., after all.

[martin_fierro]

The Edward J. Porreco Center, Edinboro University

[xsmommy]

now THIS GUY was a jagoff!

[martin_fierro]

xsmommy--

Shhh, ya Yunzer! I'm workin' on a limm'rick here! 'N'at.

Stories like this make BOTH my Limerick and 'Burgh Ping Thing lists!

It's a 'Burgh		Thing.TM
Send FReepmail if you want on/off BPT list

[xsmommy]

well good grief, Lord knows i don't want to interfere with the creative genius of a pittsburgher, when he is inspired!; )

[martin_fierro]

Porreco, a smitten old dude,
as his word was not quite as good;
his bride was bimbonic,
her ring was Zirconic,
a surefire way to get sued!

------------------------
Some contend that a Cinquain's the thing,
or a Haiku, with its Yan and Ying;
I pondered a Sonnet,
then said, "Fie upon it!"

And instead send this Limerick

[BradyLS]

I think that the husband owes the wife the difference in value of the engagement ring between the market value and what he told her it was worth. She took him at his word and he should be held to that. He put the ring's value in writing in the prenup., after all.

reat point. However, Susan wanted the pre-nup set aside and went for bigger game. StillI I think Judge Bacon needs to lay off the rhymes. It seems contemptuous of a court of law.

[VadeRetro]

I hope his humorless colleagues don't deter Eakin from the occasional verse.

Can we hope anytime soon to see from the US Supremes anything resembling the following?

We here overturn Circuit Nine.
The Second Amendment's just fine.
The right to bear arms
Should cause no alarms.
At any rate, I'm keeping mine!

[poet]

So, she's another victim just as those stupid women who marry Middle Eastern men who then steal their children and I'm supposed to feel sorry for them? We are all responsible for our own actions or inactions, thank you.

I can feel the flames coming 8>)

FReegards

[xsmommy]

A+

[Demidog]

"She had sufficient opportunity to inform herself fully of the nature and extent of her own assets, rather than rely on Louis' statements concerning the value of her holdings," Justice Sandra Schultz Newman wrote. "We find her failure to do this simple investigation unreasonable."

Bravo!

[Willie Green]

now THIS GUY was a jagoff!

They're BOTH jagoffs.

The husband is a fraud, and the judge should keep poetry the heck out of his official rulings.

[xsmommy]

i agree! no woman should have to get an independent appraisal when accepting jewelry!

[Redhd2]

There once was a judge named Eakin,
Who ruled in a rhyme the side taken,
The Court was aghast,
and cried, It can't last
but the judge merely said
They're mistaken.

[AnAmericanMother]

Georgia judges have been doing this for years.

My personal favorite is Brown v. State, 134 Ga. App. 771 (1975), written by the inimitable Randall Evans, J.:

The D. A. was ready
His case was red-hot.
Defendant was present,
His witness was not. n.1

n1 See Wheat v. Fraker, 107 Ga. App. 318 (130 SE2d 251), for precedent in writing an opinion in rhyme.

He prayed one day's delay
From His honor the judge.
But his plea was not granted
The Court would not budge. n.2

n2 I profoundly apologize to Judge Sol Clark, of this court, for invading the field of innovation and departure from normalcy in writing opinions; especially in the copious use of footnotes.

So the jury was empaneled
All twelve good and true
But without his main witness
What could the twelve do? n.3

n3 This opinion is placed in rhyme because approximately one year ago, in Savannah at a very convivial celebration, the distinguished Judge Dunbar Harrison, Senior Judge of Chatham Superior Courts, arose and addressed those assembled, and demanded that if Judge Randall Evans, Jr. ever again was so presumptious as to reverse one of his decisions, that the opinion be written in poetry. I readily admit I am unable to comply, because I am not a poet, and the language used, at best, is mere doggerel. I have done my best, but my limited ability just did not permit the writing of a great poem. It was no easy task to write the opinion in rhyme.

The jury went out
To consider his case
And then they returned
The defendant to face.

"What verdict, Mr. Foreman?"
The learned judge inquired.
"Guilty, your honor."
On Brown's face -- no smile.

"Stand up" said the judge,
Then quickly announced
"Seven years at hard labor"
Thus his sentence pronounced.

"This trial was not fair,"
The defendant then sobbed.
"With my main witness absent
I've simply been robbed."

"I want a new trial --
State has not fairly won."
"New trial denied,"
Said Judge Dunbar Harrison.

"If you still say I'm wrong,"
The able judge did then say
"Why not appeal to Atlanta?
Let those Appeals Judges earn part of their pay."

"I will appeal, sir" --
Which he proceeded to do --
"They can't treat me worse
Than I've been treated by you."

So the case has reached us --
And now we must decide
Was the guilty verdict legal --
Or should we set it aside?

Justice and fairness
Must prevail at all times;
This is ably discussed
In a case without rhyme. n.4

n4 See Murphy v. State, 132 Ga. App. 654-658 (209 SE2d 101), wherein a well-written and well-reasoned opinion discusses the reasons why a denial of motion to continue in a criminal case was erroneous and subject to reversal.

The law of this State
Does guard every right
Of those charged with crime
Fairness always in sight.

To continue civil cases
The judge holds all aces.
But it's a different ball-game
In criminal cases. n.5

n5 See Hobbs v. State, 8 Ga. App. 53, 54 (68 SE 515), where it is demonstrated that a motion to continue in a criminal case must not be judged with the same meticulous severity as in civil cases.

Was one day's delay
Too much to expect?
Could the State refuse it
With all due respect?

Did Justice applaud
Or shed bitter tears
When this news from Savannah
First fell on her ears?

We've considered this case
Through the night -- through the day.
As Judge Harrison said,
"We must earn our poor pay."

This case was once tried --
But should now be rehearsed
And tried one more time.
This case is reversed!

Judgment reversed.

Deen, P. J., and Stolz, J., concur.

I guess they're just behind the times in Pennsylvania . . . although I think there was an opinion written in rhyme a long time ago by a Federal Court in PA - Mackensworth was the name of one of the parties, it was a Jones Act (seaman's comp) case.

[martin_fierro]

xsmommy and Willie Green
on this ruling are none too keen;
both parties, they said,
were jagoffs to wed;
but she was an ig'ner'nt teen.

<|:)~

[ErnBatavia]

jagoff!

You MUST have some Illinois blood in you, to know that word!

[mountaineer]

she was an ig'ner'nt teen.

'n'at

[PatrickHenry]

Hillary is a goddess for sure,
Her pantsuit is encrusted with manure,
With a dildo for a scepter,
You gotta respect her,
She's Marxist, sweet, and demure.