The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-10-09
(New York Tribune)
Queer Uses in Law-Em

or legal fietions" there are an in
finity, probably, and many OF them are
only OF interest TO those who employ
them 10 obtain their daily bread and
ch0p or two now and then. Lawyers
are like the poor only in one respect
they are always with US, and being 50
the layman must always be puzzled by
many things used in legal business. The
reasons for the use of many phrases
and customs IN the legal profession are
not clear 10 many lawyers. IT, indeed.
they ever trouble TO inquire into the
matter, according 10 well known
lawyer.
Now, there is the use Of So on the
cover OF every pleading, just opposite
the name of the court ina which the
case is being brought" said the old
legal Warhorse the other day; mot
one lawyer In ten hundred knows what
they mean or why they are there. There
Is no law compelling their use, yet |
venture TO say that not many lawyers
would accept a document as valid with
out question If 1t had not those silly
two IS on II.
i, myself do not know where they
came from. l think, however, that they
are corruption OF SIS an abbrevia-
ton for the Latin 'Scillcet,' which
means literally, 1t is permitted 10
H..
The word, or its abbreviation was prob
ably used first while the legal profess
sion was recovering from the well
merited public condemnation il had
received from the proceedings of the
early church. After the Star Chamber
and similar disgraceful proceedings it
was necessary, in deed to gain the
public confidence, TO keep informing
the people that the courts were free
and open for that they were permitted
TO know what was going on I'm them.
the letters now have no use that know
or, and can only account for their
sticking to law documents by the well
known reluctance of lawyers to give up
anything that smells of the mould of
the early days of the profession.
speaking of the church, reminds me
OF an interesting point that may not
be generally known. Did you know
that penitentiaFies got their name from
places OF punishment especially re-
served for a favored few? That at one
time to be sent TO penitentiary was TO
receive the lightest form of punish
Tent known then-about like the com
mutation of a sentence of six years in
Sing Sing to ten days in an upstate
Chain gang? No. and IN wager that
not many who are familiar with the
early history of the church in England,
on, in fact, any other country where
monks and churchmen held almost des-
potic sway, know it either.
The privilege of the church was
given TO everyone connected with the
monasteries provided only that they
could prove it by reading and writing.
Any person charged with crime. even
of the most heinOus nature. could have
the trial Of the case transferred to the
ecclesiastical courts. There the pun
ishment melted out was of about the
same severity that you would expect
If the trial of the case against a MEM
Der of the Hip Sing Tong were turned
over to that society. Any person con-
victed by an ecclesiastical court had To
90 penance. Later, when the system
became more refined, they were sent
20 the penitentlary.
The abuses that sprang up from this
system finally obtained its overthrow
There Is one instance on record OF a
church man and a layman being con-
Victed OF completely i'm the same crime,
the former by the ecclesiastical court
and the latter by the civil court. The
church man eXpiated his crime by say
ing some thousand or two prayers.
while the poor layman took a barefoot
ed stroll over d rod or two of hoC
plOughshares.
hen there is another bright little
fiction. which is. I think. without COM
uniting contempt of court, about the
most foolish of any l know of in the
profession. Did you ever see a prisoner
arraigned for sentence? Yes? Well
it may not have struck you as of the
comic opera order for the Judge to ask
the poor devil if he has anything 10
say why sentence should not be pro-