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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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I don’t usually get a great deal of amusement from reading Michigan Supreme Court opinions, but today a passage in a recently released case made me laugh. In a case discussing the extent of the defense of self-defense and the defendant’s duty to retreat, the Court stated:
Michigan law imposes an affirmative obligation to retreat upon a nonagressor only in one narrow set of circumstances: A participant in voluntary mutual combat will not be justified in taking the life of another until he is deemed to have retreated as far as safely possible. One who is involved in a physical altercation in which he is a willing participant -- referred to at common law as a “sudden affray” or a “chance medley -- is required to take advantage of any reasonable and safe avenue of retreat before using deadly force against his adversary, should the altercation escalate into a deadly encounter.
Apparently, somewhere between the drafting and the typing, “melee” became “medley,” and no one further along in the editing process noticed the mistake. At least, that what I thought at first. But upon reflection, I considered that a chance medley -- particularly of the kind heard in airport lounge piano bars (but then, is there any other kind of medley?) -- could well have given rise to a doctrine of self-defense in the context of mutual affray. Perhaps the phrase is “chance medley.”
To my further delight, I have now learned that medley and melee are etymological cousins. From Webster’s:
medley [ME medle, fr MF meslee, mesdlee, medlee, fr fem. Of mesle, medle past part. Of mesler, mesdler, meddler to mix, quarrel, fight …] … 1 archaic: COMBAT, MELEE
So, it seems that the phrase -- if from sufficiently ancient authority -- might well be “chance medley,” although to my disappointment the opinion fails to cite the appropriate authority. Otherwise, the phrase manifests a serendipitous typo.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear Sparteye: re duty to retreat. A Massachusetts Supreme Court Judge thirty or so
years ago asserted that if a burglar entered one end ouf your house, you were obligated
to exit the other end. Your home is no longer your castle.
And when I was young, to "mix it up" meant to be mutually aggressive in boxing.
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Joined: Jul 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>Michigan law imposes an affirmative obligation to retreat upon a nonagressor
When I started reading this I was hoping that you were going to raise as a peeve your feeling that this phrase sucks.
Just think how much clearer it would be if it said:
Michigan law imposes upon a nonagressor an affirmative obligation to retreat
Every day I run into such poor sentence structure, and I sometimes feel an affirmative obligation to treat the author with disdain. Of course if I have already done that I have an affirmative obligation to re-treat.
TEd
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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As soon as I can wipe the tears from my eyes just from reading the subject title of this thread, Sparteye, I'll try to read the rest... as they say in the biz: ROTFLMAO!
(how I wish Traficant had been facing state-level charges in Michigan!)
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Isn't "affirmative obligation" tautology? Would not just "obigation" be sufficient
Is there such a thing as a negative obligation?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Is there such a thing as a negative obligation?
This is Law, Dr. Bill. Anything's possible. I suppose you could be obliged to do something; that'd be an affirmative obligation, or obliged not to do something; that'd be a negative obligation.
And as what's his name said: The Law is a ass
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Joined: Aug 2001
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member
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c'mon Dr. Bill - you KNOW these lawdogs get paid by the word. [hiding behind the jury box - e] 
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veteran
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veteran
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And as what's his name said: The Law is a assOr even an ass to be pernickety, Faldage.  'Twere Dickens in Oliver Twist. Actually would USns have any means of distinguishing between "donkey" (correct interpretation) and "arse" (incorrect, but equally apt) in a statement such as the one above? And would this be why you used an "a" rather than "an", thus specifying donkey? From a position of ignorance this does seem an eensy bit plausible...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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In reply to:
Actually would USns have any means of distinguishing between "donkey" (correct interpretation) and "arse" (incorrect, but equally apt) in a statement such as the one above? And would this be why you used an "a" rather than "an", thus specifying donkey? From a position of ignorance this does seem an eensy bit plausible...
well, that's the whole joke, isn't it? their interchangeability?
and as far as "a" and "an" go, that's all about the vowel sound that follows, no?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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“If the law supposes that,” said Mr. Bumble, “the law is a ass, a idiot.”
Mr. Bumble sounds half-assed.
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