Verb Tenses and the Law

Why is grammar important? Beyond just helping us create clear sentences, it may also protect us from criminals as a recent legal case in Georgia illustrates.

Apparently, a convicted sex offender accused of killing a Georgia hiker has been set free because of a technicality in the wording of the federal sex offender registration law.
The defendant’s lawyers argued that the law is written in the present tense, implying that the sex offender must be actively moving from state to state in the present moment to be affected by the legislation, but their client traveled between state lines in the past.

A judge agreed with their argument…until Congress revises the verb tense in the law. Read more at: http://www.wfrv.com/entertainment/weirdnews/story.aspx?content_id=13438fba-cb9a-42ce-b6f6-22758e7e0d67

Lake Superior State University Releases Its Banned Words List

Lake Superior State University just released its annual list of banned words. Some of the honories included on this list include such politically loaded words as "surge" to such redundant phrases as "it is as it is". See the full story at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071231/ap_on_re_us/banned_words;_ylt=AmkqbUysYKY_b86reHktamVH2ocA

What words would you liked to see banned?