Negative pregnancy is when someone denies something but actually affirms it, such as saying “I never eat oranges in bed.” It is important in legal interpretation, where rules like pregnant refusal help understand laws. It can also occur in judicial proceedings, where follow-up questions are necessary.
Negative pregnancy, also called pregnancy denial, occurs when an individual makes a statement that is an attempt to deny something, but in fact affirms it. For example, an example of a negative pregnancy would occur if an individual said, “I never eat oranges in bed.” The addition of the words “in bed” suggests that the individual eats oranges elsewhere than in bed.
The concept of negative pregnancy is very important in the interpretation of the statute. Statutory interpretation occurs when the courts attempt to understand and interpret the words of the legislature who made the law. Since legislation by its nature is imperfect and cannot cover every single situation, some degree of interpretation is always required to grasp the full meaning of a law. Therefore, rules have been created, such as the concept of pregnant refusal, to help the courts carry out the statutory interpretation process.
Suppose, for example, that a law stated that people in the park were prohibited from riding their bicycles on the left side of the road. Since the words of the statute specifically said that riding a bicycle was prohibited “on the left side of the road,” it stands to reason that riding a bicycle on the right side of the road would be permitted. Therefore, the court would interpret the statute to mean that individuals had a legal right under the statute to ride their bicycles on the right-hand side, even though the statute never explicitly goes out and says so.
The concept of an unsuccessful pregnancy became important in the court’s interpretation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII reads that it “does not apply to an employer with respect to the employment of aliens outside any State”. Justice Marhsall, in his dissent, suggested that the addition of the words “with respect to the employment of aliens outside any state” meant that the clause applied only to the employment of aliens. In other words, Title VII would apply outside the United States, but not to aliens. This would mean Title VII applied to employers outside the United States who employed US citizens.
In addition to legal interpretation, the concept of a negative pregnancy can also occur when an individual is being questioned in a judicial proceeding. For example, if a witness stated, “I didn’t see him steal the cookie on Tuesday,” the logical question for attorneys would be, “Did you see him steal the cookie at any time other than Tuesday?” When an answer given in a deposition or questioning or on the witness stand contains a pregnant denial, additional follow-up questions are almost always appropriate.
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