( L - R ) Nicholson and Grange

Earl Moxam, Senior Gleaner Writer

Attorney-General A.J. Nicholson was moved yesterday to declare that his Joint Select Committee had no intention of outlawing 'lovemaking' in Jamaica; perhaps leaving thousands of amorous men breathing a huge sigh of relief!

The practice of whispering "sweet nothings" in the ears of women was not a fit matter for legislative action, the jocular minister asserted.

Committee member Olivia 'Babsy' Grange, supporting that position, was quick to humorously remind the Attorney-General that he himself was "very good at saying sweet nothings!"

"You'd be in trouble!" she added, to uproarious laughter.

The issue arose, curiously, in the context of a discussion on indecent assault, during the committee's meeting at Gordon House.

Dr. Neil McGill, the self-proclaimed "village lawyer" on the committee, asked whether there might not also be "seductive attempts", in which the offender seeks to procure the offence, not by physical force, but by the use of words only. This, he said, might even include "sweet nothings", whispered in the ears of the "victim".

Beyond the limit

The Attorney-General has spent many months patiently listening to numerous proposals (some of them quite novel) relating to various old and new forms of sexual offences, during sittings of the committee. This, however, was going beyond the limit, even for him.

Sitting bolt upright, he reached for his gavel, gave the "offending" member a hard stare and issued his injunction: "Look here! Let me tell you this! This committee is not going to outlaw lovemaking in Jamaica! It is not going to outlaw the whispering of sweet nothings! Don't bother with that!" he thundered.

Point made, the matter was quickly dropped.