- Good grammar isn't just a way to sound professional
or feel morally superior in all of those Facebook debates.
The best way to feel superior is to not participate
in Facebook debates at all.
But as American writer, Robert Brault once quipped,
"Do not be surprised when those who ignore
"the rules of grammar, also ignore the law.
"After all the law is just so much grammar."
So, in answer to the question who gives a (beep)
about the Oxford comma?
Well, I do.
And, so do most lawyers.
Matters of grammar, syntax and yes even a misplaced comma,
have changed the course of history.
On more than one occasion, a poorly placed comma
has cost the US government and businesses
millions of dollars.
Other times, comma placement
has literally cost people their lives.
Such was the case of Sir Roger Casement,
an Irish separatist convicted of treason in Great Britain
during World War I,
who famously is said to have been quote,
"hanged on a comma."
But, more on that later.
Now I know what you're thinking.
Isn't this video just like a half as interesting video?
To which I say no, it's like five half as interesting videos
crammed together.
Sue me.
(upbeat music)
- [Voiceover] Brought to you by audible.
- Let's start off with the case of the $2 million comma.
Few days inspire more anger and frustration
here in the United States than April 15th, Tax Day.
(suspenseful music)
But federal income taxes as we know them today
have only existed since the early 20th century,
following the ratification of the 16th Amendment.
Before that the US government funded its operations
a bit differently.
And on July 4th, 1789,
President George Washington signed the Tariff Act of 1789,
stipulating that duties would be laid on quote, "goods,
wares and merchandise" in order to quote,
"support the government."
Instead of taxing income,
the government taxed imported goods to fund its priorities.
Now, you may know these as tariffs.
And contrary to what president Trump says.
Hm, sorry.
Former president Trump.
Man that's, it feels kind of good.
Now, where was I?
Oh yes.
Contrary to what former president Trump would say,
Tariffs are not paid by foreign companies or Chi-nah.
Tariffs are taxes on imported foreign goods
paid by Americans.
And for over a century after our country's founding,
these foreign import tariffs served as the primary source
of the US government's revenue,
at times accounting for as much as 95%
of the federal budget.
And for an eight year period beginning in 1862,
the US government briefly levied income taxes
as part of a patriotic war effort to
support the Union effort against the Confederacy.
But after the civil war, the US returned to using tariffs
to fund the majority of government operations.
So, enter president Ulysses S. grant
who signed the Tariff Act of 1872,
which sought to ease the burden on the economy
by exempting a variety of goods from tariffs.
And that brings us to how one typo
cost the US government $2 million,
or approximately, $42 million in today's dollars.
And, quick aside, since we're talking about
typos and commas, Grant was actually born
Hiram Ulysses grant,
but he owes his name Ulysses S grant to a typo,
when a Congressman nominated grant
to become a candidate for West Point Military Academy,
due to a typo he accidentally recommended Ulysses S. grant.
And when Grant got to West point,
he registered as Ulysses Hiram Grant,
likely due to concern of being made fun of
for having his initials spelled H.U.G.
Yeah, the guy likes a hug.
But eventually he started going by Ulysses S. Grant.
Like I said, typos can literally change
the course of history.
But, back to what you all came here for,
Hardcore Typographical Syntax,
and a history lesson on US tariff laws.
Now, all prior tariff acts had included a list of goods
that were generally exempt from being taxed
upon importation to United States.
Among these exempt items were quote,
"fruit plants, tropical and semi-tropical
"for the purpose of propagation or cultivation."
Notice fruit plants refers to the plants
not the fruit itself.
Buying fruit used to be quite expensive.
The 1870 Tariff Act levied a duty of 20%
on oranges, lemons, pineapples, and grapes,
and a duty of 10% on limes, bananas,
and essentially all other fruit.
Fruit was a very popular import item,
and thus fruit tariffs represented
a not insubstantial portion of the federal budget.
And in the 1872 Tariff Act revision,
There was a rather unfortunate and costly drafting error.
The list of exemptions in the 1872 Tariff Act
was supposed to read fruit-plants,
with a hyphen in between,
but instead the Statute red fruit, plants.
So with fruits, plants
replacing fruit - plants.
Again, I don't know how we can cover such a
sexy, sexy topic as this.
- I do what I want.
- The importers argue that the Act of 1872 now allowed
free entry of all tropical and semi-tropical fruits,
filing refund claims from the US government
immediately upon arrival of fruit shipments.
The Secretary of the Treasury initially rejected this claim
arguing that the grammatical error
was clearly intended to read otherwise,
importers, hoping to take advantage of this loophole,
filed a series of lawsuits,
and once it was clear that the Treasury Department's
arguments would not hold up in court,
the treasury relented.
And in December 1874, two years after the unfortunate typo,
the US government agreed that imported fruits were tax-free,
under the 1872 Act,
and all taxes collected on imported fruit was refunded,
$2 million worth.
That typo would end up costing the US government
$2 million in revenue which was approximately $42 million
in 2021 dollars.
And that represented 1.3% of the entire government's
total tariff income,
and 0.65% of the entire federal budget.
Needless to say, this case was bananas.
Now, there are certain topics that you just
simply don't talk about in polite company.
Religion, politics, money.
But not even these topics are as polarizing
as the Oxford comma, which ended up costing
one Maine dairy company $5 million.
And if you see someone who is not using an Oxford comma,
please call 911.
That monster has to be reported to the authorities.
So, what is an Oxford comma?
Well, in a list of three or more items,
such as lions, tigers, and bears,
Oh my.
Those who ascribed to the Oxford comma rule
would place a comma after tigers,
while others would simply write lions, tigers and bears,
without the second comma.
And apparently the internet is very, very divided
on the Oxford comma.
Half of the internet likes to be wrong.
- What would you do with the brain if you had one?
- So, why does the Oxford comma matter?
Well, the presence or absence of the Oxford comma
can completely change the meaning of a sentence.
For example, if I say, "For my birthday,
"I went out to dinner with my parents,
"Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush."
That means I had a riveting night out
with my mom, my dad, and two former presidents.
However, if I say, "I went out to dinner with my parents
"Bill Clinton and George W. Bush."
That just raises all kinds of uncomfortable questions.
Like, why weren't my two presidential dads around
for me more growing up.
I guess they had a country to run but still,
they could've come to at least one of my baseball games,
and give me a ride to school in the Marine One Helicopter.
I'll tell you, the holidays were no picnic.
They were extremely divided
I guess I have some things to work out
with my imaginary parents.
Anyway, so here's how a missing Oxford comma
cost the Oakhurst Dairy in Portland Maine $5 million.
In 2014 truck drivers for the Maine Milk and Cream Company
filed a $10 million class-action lawsuit
alleging Oakhurst had failed to pay them owed overtime.
At the time, main law required time and a half payment
for each overtime hour.
But it carved out overtime exceptions
for those who perform the following duties.
Quote, "The canning, processing, preserving, freezing,
"drawing, marketing, storing, packing for shipment
"or distribution of agricultural produce,
"meat and fish products, and perishable foods."
So, what's the problem here?
Well the dispute turns on just one word or, in the phrase
"shipment or distribution" or specifically,
or in the absence of an Oxford comma.
And, why does this matter?
Well here's how NPR's Colin Dwyer explained it back in 2017.
"The presence of that tiny conjunction without a comma
"as a companion, makes for some muddled meanings.
"Is packing for shipment or distribution
"exempt from overtime regulations?
"Or are both packing in shipment and distribution exempt?"
These aren't idle questions for the five delivery drivers
who sued Oakhurst, because as court's notes,
the drivers do distribute
but they do not pack the perishable foods.
In other words, one interpretation of the laws list,
would make the drivers eligible for overtime pay.
The other would mean, they won't get those extra dollars
for extra time on the job.
So in this lawsuit, the delivery drivers argued
that the quote "packing for shipment or distribution"
refers to the single activity of packing,
regardless of whether the packing is for shipment
or for distribution.
And since the drivers handle perishable food
but do not engage in packing them,
they argue that they are not exempt workers under the law.
In response, Oakhurst countered that the phrase
"packing for shipment or distribution,"
refers to two distinct exempt activities.
The first being the packing for shipment
and the second being distribution.
Since the truckers do engage
in the distribution of dairy products,
which are perishable foods,
the truckers are exempt from overtime pay.
A federal court in Maine agreed with Oakhurst
ruling that under state law,
the drivers were not entitled to overtime pay.
And the court concluded that the Maine Legislature
intended to describe two distinct exempt opportunities,
and there was no dispute that the truckers do engage
in the distribution of dairy products.
But a three judge panel
on the First Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed
and reversed the lower courts decision.
Judge David Barron opened the 29 page ruling
saying that quote, "For want of a comma,
"we have this case."
The court reasoned that the lack of an Oxford comma
between shipment and quote, "or distribution of,"
meant that both the phrases referred back
to the singular activity packing,
and since the drivers deliver products but don't pack them,
they were not covered by the main exemption
for overtime pay.
Judge Barron concluded that the lack of a comma
made the Statute ambiguous,
and under the rules of interpreting Statutes,
any ambiguity must be construed liberally.
And as a result the court unanimously
sided with the drivers, sending the case back down
to the lower court.
And shortly thereafter, the parties settled for $5 million.
Afterwards, the Maine legislature stepped in
and addressed the punctuation issue.
But, I think they might have overcompensated
just a little bit.
Take a look at how the law is written now.
"The canning; processing; preserving;
"freezing;
drawing; marketing;
storing;
"packing for shipment;
"or distributing of:
"sub one agricultural produce;
"sub two meat and fish products;
"and sub three perishable foods."
And when asked about replacing all of the punctuation
with semi-colons, the Maine legislature said,
"No comma."
All right, that takes us to the third
And potentially most important comma in History.
As Sir Roger Casement said quote, "God deliver
"from such antiquaries is these
"to hang a man's life upon a comma
"and throttle him with a semi-colon."
When a lawyer takes a client's defense,
particularly one punishable by death,
the best strategy is to force the state to prove their case
and avoid making any damaging admissions on your end.
But that doesn't always go as planned,
particularly when you have a client
like Sir Roger casement.
Charged with high treason against England
during World War I.
Not only did he refuse to deny
the underlying charges against him,
but Sir Roger, an Irish separatists,
wanted to give a passionate speech
explaining why his purported treason,
in the name of Irish independence, was morally justified,
even during World War I.
Seeking to prevent his client
from making the state's case for him,
Sir Roger's lawyer,
in what might have been a miscalculation of legal strategy,
rested his client's defense primarily on punctuation,
namely the interpretation of a comma
in the underlying treason Statute.
And prior to his arrest for treason,
Roger Casement was a highly respected diplomat,
described as the father
of 20th century human rights investigations.
He became Sir Roger Case when upon being knighted in 1911,
for detailing Belgian colonial atrocities
and human rights abuses in Peru.
And despite his service to the Crown,
Sir Roger was an anti-imperialist Irish separatist,
who wanted to see Ireland independent from Britain.
And after being knighted, Sir Roger became active
in Irish Republican Nationalism.
In November, 1914,
just four months after the outbreak of World War I,
Sir Roger negotiated a formal declaration from Germany,
then at war with Britain, pledging that quote,
"under no circumstances would Germany invade Ireland."
And Germany supported Ireland's quest for quote,
"national prosperity and national freedom."
Sir Roger personally went to Germany to seek military aid
in his quest to gain Irish independence.
Sir Roger also sought to persuade
Irish prisoners of war in Germany
to renounce their allegiance to the King,
and form an Irish brigade to fight back against the British.
But for collaborating with Germany during World War I,
Sir Roger casement was arrested and charged with treason.
The Treason Act of 1351,
which had been translated into English
from its original Norman French,
included the following pertinent text.
"If a man do levy war against our Lord
"the King in his Realm, or be adherent to the Kings Enemies
"in his Realm, giving to them Aid and Comfort in the Realm
"or elsewhere," et cetera, et cetera.
Now, the defense argued that the phrase quote,
"or elsewhere" applied only to the words
"Aid and Comfort in the Realm,"
but had no applications the words "be adherent
"to the King's enemies in the Realm,"
or "levy War against our Lord, the King in his Realm."
According to this interpretation,
the Treaty Act only criminalized activities
carried out on British soil,
while activities carried out outside Britain,
like the ones that Sir Roger did in Germany,
did not qualify as treason under the law.
The court rejected this interpretation,
treating the commas around "Aid and Comfort"
like a parenthetical phrase.
And the court concluded that treason was treason,
whether committed at home or abroad.
And after all of his appeals were exhausted,
Sir Roger casement was hanged in London in August, 1916.
And such was the origin of Sir Roger's famous epigram.
Because when Sir Roger complained
that he was hanged on a comma,
he was criticizing his lawyers losing legal strategy,
focusing on punctuation
and not criticizing the statute itself.
In lieu of grammatical analysis,
Sir Roger wanted to give a flowery speech
defending his actions to essentially tell the court,
"Yes, I committed treason, but I would do it again.
"If it meant that Ireland could be free."
So, there you have it Legal Eagles
Grammar and punctuation are consequential things.
One misplaced comma can cost you millions of dollars or,
your life if you're not careful.
So remember, friends don't let friends draft ambiguous laws.
And if you can, be sure to get a designated drafter
or you could regret it for the rest of your life,
or at least until the next legislative session.
Because otherwise you end up with questions like,
"Have you eaten, grandma?"
The difference between being courteous to your grandmother,
and trying to be a bloodthirsty cannibal.
And as it happens, "Have You Eaten Grandma?:
"Or, the Life-Saving Importance of Correct Punctuation,
"Grammar and Good English" by Giles Brandreth, is one of the
many amazing audio books you can listen to on Audible.
But that's just like my opinion, man,
which is why you could also listen
to "The Big Lebowski and Philosophy" by William Erwin
on Audible.
I use Audible almost every day.
It's by far the best source of audio entertainment
on the internet.
And if you tried to listen to everything on audible,
it would take you three centuries.
Unless of course you spit it up, which of course you did.
So theoretically, it's probably only two centuries
worth of stuff.
But they recently launched a new plan called Audible Plus,
that gives you full access to their Plus catalog,
which is filled with thousands and thousands
of select originals, audio books, podcasts, workouts,
and even guided meditations.
And with Audible Plus you can download or stream
without limit.
If you'd like to try audible for free for 30 days,
just go to Audible.com/LegalEagle,
or text LegalEagle to 500 500.
Now, obviously you're not actually going to text that
'cause this isn't a frigging podcast.
So just click on the link in the description.
It's Audible.com/LegalEagle, to get a 30 day free trial
to audible plus.
Plus clicking on that link in the description
really helps out this channel.
So, do you agree with my analysis about commas?
Leave your objections in the comments
and check out this playlist over here
with all the videos I've done on the
Crazy Legal World of Legal Myths,
Wacky Lawyers and Zany Trial.
So click on this playlist or I'll see you in court.