It's a short five weeks from now: Talk Like A Pirate Day is Sept. 19.
After 2,000 years or so, you might think that one part of this would be settled. What is a pirate? The Wall Street Journal shows us that the very definition is at the heart of a court case involving a group of Somali men charged with piracy.
Who's A Pirate? U.S. Court Sees Duel Over Definition brings us these insights:
Some 2,000 years after Cicero defined pirates as the "common enemy of all," nobody seems able to say, legally, exactly what a pirate is.
U.S. law long ago made piracy a crime but didn't define it. International law contains differing, even contradictory, definitions. The confusion threatens to hamstring U.S. efforts to crack down on modern-day Blackbeards.
The central issue in Norfolk: If you try to waylay and rob a ship at sea—but you don't succeed—are you still a pirate?
It may seem strange there should be doubt about an offense as old as this one. Piracy was the world's first crime with universal jurisdiction, meaning that any country had the right to apprehend pirates on the high seas.
We have a suggestion. Just wait for Talk Like A Pirate Day. Will the defendants in this case be following just a few of the Talk Like A Pirate guidelines? Will they have to refer to rule books? Will everyone else imitate them?
Some careful courtroom observation on Talk Like A Pirate Day and all will be clear.
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