Learning from The Beatles (Part 5 - Songs 41 to 50)
This fifth installment of "Learning from the The Beatles" continues my attempts to tie almost every Beatles song back to some important legal rule or tip for the bar exam.
Previous installments:
41. Piggies
Everywhere there's lots of piggies
Living piggy lives
You can see them out for dinner
With their piggy wives
Clutching forks and knives to eat the bacon
(Album: The Beatles (the "White Album"))
Constitutional Law: George Harrison intended this song as social commentary against the Establishment. However, many people interpreted it as an anti-government or anti-police anthem.
The Constitution applies only to government action, which can be federal, state, or local.
Tip: When examining government action for purposes of examining constitutional violations, try not to lump government action into a broad category of “state action,” since government action can be federal action, state action, or local action. This distinction of federal action versus state and local action is important when determining whether the Fifth Amendment or the Fourteenth Amendment applies.
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
Why don't we do it in the road?
No one will be watching us.
Why don't we do it in the road?
(Album: The Beatles (the "White Album"))
Constitutional Law: Paul McCartney wrote this song after seeing two monkeys having sex in the middle of the street while the Beatles were on retreat in India: He later said: “A male [monkey] just hopped on the back of this female and gave her one, as they say in the vernacular. Within two or three seconds he hopped off again and looked around as if to say, ‘It wasn't me,’ and she looked around as if there'd been some mild disturbance ... And I thought ... that's how simple the act of procreation is ... We have horrendous problems with it, and yet animals don’t.”
The government may regulate obscenity, which is deemed a lesser-protected category of speech. The Miller test, named after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Miller v. California (1973), is the standard for determining whether expression constitutes obscenity. Miller identified three prongs for determining whether speech is obscene. They are: (i) whether the average person applying contemporary community standards would find the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (ii) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (iii) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Tip: Remember “POV” to help you remember the three prongs of the Miller test:
P = Prurient interests
O = Offensiveness
V = Values
Also, remember “LAPS” to help you remember the kinds of “Values” that must be seriously lacking:
L = Literary
A = Artistic
P = Political
S = Scientific
43. No Reply
This happened once before,
When I came to your door,
No reply.
They said it wasn't you,
But I saw you peep through
Your window.
(Album: Beatles For Sale)
Contracts and Sales: "No Reply" is about a young man who is unable to contact his apparently unfaithful girlfriend. He tried knocking on her door, but she didn’t answer the door. He saw her through the window, but she didn’t reply. When he tried to call her, he was told she wasn’t home.
When it comes to acceptance, the offeree must accept the offer within the time period specified or, if no time period is specified, within a reasonable time. If she doesn’t accept within a reasonable time, then she will have allowed the offer to terminate.
Tip: To determine what amount of time is reasonable, ask yourself what a reasonable person in the offeree’s position would have believed given the surrounding circumstances.
44. I Need You
You don't realise how much I need you,
Love you all the time and never leave you,
Please come on back to me, I'm lonely as can be, I need you.
Said you had a thing or two to tell me,
How was I to know you would upset me.
I didn't realise as I looked in your eyes
(Album: Help!)
Criminal Law: George Harrison wrote this for his girlfriend Pattie Boyd and revealed his feelings—he needed her. They eventually got married.
A conspiracy, by definition, requires an agreement between two or more persons. Beware, though! The requirement of “two or more persons” differs between the common law and the modern approach. At common law (the “bilateral approach”), a conspiracy requires at least two “guilty minds.” This means that both conspirators must have intended to enter into the agreement to commit the crime. On the other hand, the modern approach (the “unilateral approach”), requires that only one party have genuine criminal intent.
Tip: Under the modern approach, a defendant can be convicted of conspiracy if he conspires with another person (usually an undercover police officer or informant in a test question) even though that other person is just feigning participation in the crime.
45. Free as a Bird
Free as a bird
It's the next best thing to be
Free as a bird
Home, home and dry
Like a homing bird I'll fly
As a bird on wings
(Album: The Beatles Anthology 1)
Criminal Procedure: John Lennon originally wrote and recorded "Free as a Bird" in 1977 as a home demo. In 1995, a studio version of the recording, incorporating contributions from Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, was released as a single by the Beatles, 25 years after their break-up.
The Fifth Amendment’s Double Jeopardy Clause (incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment) prohibits a defendant from being prosecuted twice for substantially the same crime. In other words, the defendant is “free as a bird”—at least when it comes to being retried the same offenses.
Tip: The government may retry a defendant whose trial ends in a hung jury. So, if the jury doesn’t return a verdict, double jeopardy won’t bar retrial on any of the charges.
46. I Me Mine
All through the day
I, me, mine
I, me, me, mine
I, me, me, mine
I, me, me, mine
I, me, me, mine
All I can hear
I, me, mine, I, me, mine, I, me, mine
Even those tears
I, me, mine, I, me, mine, I, me, mine
(Album: Let It Be)
Criminal Law: George Harrison wrote “I Me Mine” about his revelations regarding the ego and his frustrations with people around him being self-centered. “I,” “me,” and “mine” are all first person singular pronouns.
Embezzlement is the fraudulent conversion of another’s personal property by one in lawful possession.
Tip: Don’t confuse embezzlement with larceny. In embezzlement, the defendant takes property while he has lawful possession of it, (e.g., “it’s mine”). In larceny, the defendant takes the property from someone who had a right of possession that was superior to the defendant’s.
47. In My Life
There are places I'll remember
All my life, though some have changed.
Some forever, not for better;
Some have gone and some remain.
All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall.
Some are dead and some are living,
In my life I've loved them all.
(Album: Rubber Soul)
Real Property: In response to a journalist’s question as to why his songs weren’t more serious, John Lennon wrote “In My Life” to tell how key places in Liverpool had played pivotal roles in his life.
A life estate is a present possessory estate that lasts only for the lifetime of the person by whose life it is measured.
Tip: In most cases, the grantee in whom a life estate is created is also the measuring life. It is possible, however, to create a life estate in one person that is measured by the lifespan of another person. In such cases, this estate is called a life estate pur autre vie.
48. Chains
Chains
My baby's got me locked up in chains
And they ain't the kind
That you can see
Whoa, these chains of love
Got a hold on me, yeah
Chains
Well, I can't break away from these chains
Can't run around
'Cause I'm not free
Whoa, these chains of love won't let me be, yeah
(Album: Please Please Me)
Criminal Law: This song was originally recorded by the Cookies in 1962 and covered by the Beatles for inclusion on their first album, Please Please Me, in 1963.
A chain conspiracy refers to several conspirators participating in a single conspiracy. Each person (conspirator) is responsible for a single act and has a different role in the overall crime or conspiracy. Each conspirator will be characterized as a “link” in the overall “chain” relationship.
Tip: The classic example of a chain conspiracy is the sale of narcotics. The producer or manufacturer, the importer, the wholesaler, and the distributor are all on the chain to sell and distribute narcotics. All participants are interested in the overall scheme and are liable for all other participants’ acts in furtherance of that scheme.
49. Act Naturally
They're gonna put me in the movies
They're gonna make a big star out of me
We'll make a film about a man that's sad and lonely
And all I gotta do is act naturally
Well, I'll bet you I'ma gonna be a big star
Might win an Oscar you can't never tell
The movie's gonna make me a big star
'Cause I can play the part so well
(Album: Help!)
Criminal Procedure: Ringo Starr covered this former number one hit from country musician Buck Owens for the Beatles' Help! soundtrack.
There are some limited exceptions to the requirement that probable cause exists prior to a lawful search and seizure. One such exception is called a Terry stop. This is where “reasonable suspicion” comes in. Under Terry, law enforcement officials may conduct warrantless searches and seizures based on the officer’s “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has been, is being, or is about to be committed. Reasonable suspicion requires that the law enforcement officer have specific facts—not just a hunch—that a person is or was involved in criminal behavior. So, defendants would be well-advised to “act naturally” so as not to raise any reasonable suspicions.
Tip: The Supreme Court hasn’t specifically defined “reasonable suspicion,” but it requires something more than a vague suspicion. Whether the standard is met is judged under the totality of the circumstances. So make sure you examine all the facts in test questions before reaching a conclusion that there is—or isn’t—reasonable suspicion to justify a stop.
I've got a feeling,
A feeling deep inside,
Oh yeah, oh yeah, that's right.
I've got a feeling, a feeling I can't hide,
Oh no, no, oh no, oh no.
Yeah, yeah, I've got a feeling, yeah, whoo.
(Album: Let It Be)
Criminal Law: “I’ve Got a Feeling” was one of the last—if not the last—song that was co-written by Paul McCartney and Paul Lennon. It’s a combination of two unfinished songs: McCartney's “I’ve Got a Feeling” and Lennon’s “Everybody Had a Hard Year.”
As noted for “Act Naturally,” a police officer may stop a person without probable cause for arrest if she has an articulable and reasonable suspicion of criminal activity under Terry. In addition to the stop, the police officer may also conduct a protective sweep if the officer reasonably believes that the suspect may be armed and presently dangerous. During this patdown, the officer may reach into the suspect’s clothing and seize any item that the officer reasonably believes is a weapon or contraband based on its “plain feel.”
Tip: For the “plain feel” doctrine to apply, the police officer must feel what is “immediately recognized” as contraband while conducting a valid stop and frisk for a weapon. The incriminating nature of the contraband must be immediately apparent. If the officer manipulates the item to discern whether it is contraband, then the evidence isn’t lawfully seized.
“The End”
