Letting the Cat Out of the Bag

Everyone knows the iconic scam that gave rise to not one, but two classic cliches. The scammer offers to sell the scammee something wriggling in a sack. The scammer claims that the wriggling entity is a pig, but it is, in fact, a cat. If the scammee bites, he has bought a pig in a poke. If, however, someone releases the cat before the deal is closed, that person has let the cat out of the bag! Presto! Two cliches for the price of one! But this story is about pushback, about what happened when the scammee took the scammer to court.

The case of Smith v Jones, Inc. was accepted by the Supreme Court. Jones, Inc. was accused of selling Smith a cat at an exorbitant rate and under false pretenses. Jones, Inc. claimed that the cat was a pig and prevented Smith from ascertaining the true species of the creature by concealing said creature in a sack or poke. The Hale Court heard the case, deliberated, and reached a decision. Chief Justice Force Hale, speaking for the majority, delivered the decision.

"The Court finds," said Justice Hale, "for the defendant, Jones, Inc. Nowhere, I repeat: nowhere, in the Constitution does it say that a cat is not a pig. Therefore, a cat is a pig. That's obviously what the Founding Fathers intended."