exapnomapcase --
The current oath used to swear in witnesses in Pennsylvania civil and
criminal state courts is as follows:
"I, [name], do swear by almighty God, searcher of all hearts, that the
testimony which you will give to the court, in the issue now trying,
shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, and
that you shall answer to God on that last great day." (Title 42,
Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, Section 5901)
In February 2002, State Sen. Mike Waugh introduced a bill (Senate Bill
1318) that would update this oath to conform its text to that now
commonly used in most other jurisdictions. According to Sen. Waugh's
press release upon introduction of the bill, the current oath is based
on a 1718 colonial law and is difficult to comprehend. Here is a link
to Sen. Waugh's press release:
Senate Republican Communications: 2/13/02
http://www.pasenategop.com/Newsroom/Releases/Archived/2002/02-2002/waugh-021302-oath.htm
Here is the complete text of Sen. Waugh's bill, which includes the
proposed new oath:
General Assembly of Pennsylvania: Senate Bill No. 1318, Introduced
February 19, 2002
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BT/2001/0/SB1318P1746.HTM
As of the end of the 2002 session of the Senate General Assembly, the
bill was still pending in the Senate. Here is the summary of the
action taken on the bill during the 2002 legislative session:
History: Senate Bill No. 1318
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/BH/2001/0/SB1318.HTM
Google Search Terms:
oath swear Pennsylvania "great day"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=oath+swear+Pennsylvania+%22great+day%22
"S. OR Senate Bill No. 1318"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22S%2E+OR+Senate+Bill+1318%22
pennsylvania "status of legislation"
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=pennsylvania+status+of+legislation
I am confident that this is the information you were seeking. If any
of the above information is unclear or any of the links don't work,
please let me know.
markj-ga |
Clarification of Answer by
markj-ga
on
07 Jan 2003 14:00 PST
exapnomapcase --
The colonial law of 1718 that is referred to in Sen. Maugh's press
release very likely is a statute entitled "An Act for the Advancement
of Justice and More Certain Administration Thereof." That Act was
apparently a comprehensive codification of English criminal law, and
among its many provisions was one relating to oaths and affirmations
in judicial proceedings. The scope of the Act and the circumstances
of its passage may be found at this link to a draft essay prepared by
a Yale Law School student in 1977:
The Vanishing Idealism of Criminal Law in Colonial America: James Kalb
(Yale Law School)
http://216.239.57.100/search?q=cache:iFF9mhVDgMwC:bfn.org/~cd431/criminal.html+Pennsylvania+adoption+of+criminal+law+England+1718&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
(This is a copy of the document as cached by Google. The original is
not available.)
The interesting discussion of the 1718 Act begins about 1/3 of the way
down the linked page and continues for seven paragraphs.
After considerable searching, I have not been able to find the text of
all or the relevant part of the 1718 Act using online resources. The
citation to the Act provided in Footnote 47 in the linked essay above
is: "An Act for the Advancement of Justice and More Certain
Administration Thereof, 3 Statutes at Large of Pennsylvania 199
(Harrisburg 1896)." I expect that this volume could be found in a
large law library, at least in Pennsylvania. Other possible sources
for the text of the Act would be treatises on the legal history of the
colonial period. These might be found in many law libraries and
specialized bookstores.
I could take on this new search, but it would be time-consuming. I
suggest that perhaps it would be appropriate to post a new question
seeking that material if you are sufficiently interested in pursuing
this new aspect of the subject.
Finally, I should clarify my original answer in one respect. The
quotation of the full text of the Pennsylvania oath current in use is
from Sen. Maugh's legislative press release, not from the current
statute. The current statute mandates the use of the colonial-era
language at the beginning and end of the oath that make it unusual,
but it does not incorporate the language ("the truth, the whole truth
and nothing but the truth") that is common in standard oaths.
Supplemental Google Search Terms:
pennsylvania judicial oath 1718
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=Pennsylvania+judicial+oath+1718+law
pennsylvania "adoption of criminal law" England 1718
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=Pennsylvania+adoption+of+criminal+law+England+1718
"an act for the advancement of justice" 1718 Pennsylvania
://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22An+Act+For+The+Advancement+of+Justice%22+1718+Pennsylvania
This has been an interesting question to work on, and I hope you are
completely satisfied with the answer, as clarified.
markj-ga
|
