During the past 24 years at The Union Daily Times I bet I've read hundreds of crime-related stories, covering everything from break-ins to murders, but I must admit I'm still puzzled by the names of some of the charges.

For instance, this week we published a story about three people who were arrested Sunday after a vehicle repossession attempt erupted into a fight. One of those arrested was charged with disorderly conduct and “drawing in affray.”

Pardon me?

Did you say “drawing in affray?”

What were they drawing with, a pencil, pen or charcoal?

According to the definition I found on the Internet, it means to draw a weapon in a fight. In the case of the person arrested on Sunday, he pulled out a night stick and a can of mace.

Affray is defined as “a noisy quarrel or brawl.”

So, putting them both together “drawing in affray” means drawing a weapon during a noisy quarrel.

Wouldn't it make more sense if that's what the charge was called - drawing a weapon during a fight?

Then there's the term “strong-arm robbery,” which conjures up images of Arnold Schwarzeneggar flexing his biceps at someone before taking their wallet.

According to the Uniform Crime Handbook, it refers to muggings or similar offenses where no weapon is used. However, strong-arm tactics, including hands, arms, feet, fists, teeth, etc. are used or threatened as a way of taking a person's possessions.

So, if during a robbery, someone threatens another person by growling at them and showing their teeth, they can be charged with “strong-arm robbery.”

Why not charge them with acting like a dog? It's more accurate and descriptive.

Finally, there's the term “lynching.”

This word brings to mind grainy, black and white photos of nooses, hoods and torches.

By definition, it means to execute without due process of law, especially to hang, as by a mob.

Not in South Carolina.

Under state law, lynching is defined as an act of violence by two or more persons against another, regardless of race.

One article I read said the statute was passed to protect blacks from white mob violence after a white mob murdered a black man accused of stabbing a white cab driver in 1947.

Despite a drop in racially motivated violence since the end of the civil rights era in the 1960s, the law has stayed on the books as a tool for fighting crime, especially gang violence.

NBA star Kevin Garnett was charged with second-degree lynching along with three other young men after a fight in Greenville in 1994 in which the white victim was injured. The charges were eventually dropped.

This is one charge whose name should be changed.

How about “ganging up on someone”? Yes, it's wordy, but it's much less racially charged than “lynching.”