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amacleod03 commented on the word wag the dog
This phrase entered the legal lexicon in 1986 with McMillan v. Pennsylvania, a significant case regarding sentencing statutes. In the majority opinion then Associate Justice of the Supreme Court WIlliam Rehnquist wrote, “The statute gives no impression of having been tailored to permit the visible possession finding to be a tail which wags the dog of the substantive offense.�?
July 27, 2009