Topic
Statutory Interpretation
508 published works
PrawfsBlawg
Textiness in Statutory Interpretation
Main Monday, March 07, 2022Textiness in Statutory InterpretationIs there any point to "textiness" in statutory interpretation? I use the term to refer to performative textualism -- that is, judges' emphasizing…
Sentencing Law and Policy
"Faithful Execution in the Fifty States"
The title of this post is the title of this notable new paper authored by Zachary Price now available via SSRN. Here is its abstract: Amid increasing political conflict over…
The Faculty Lounge
To All the Statutes I’ve Ever Loved
This excerpt from Learned Hand's Eulogy for Thomas Swan caught my attention today: [T]he words of such an act as the Income Tax, for example, merely dance before my eyes…
Workers’ Compensation Law Prof Blog
NFIB v. Department of Labor, OSHA in a Few Sentences
In my first reading of the opinion this morning, I conclude that all the Supreme Court said in the big National Federation of Business vs. OSHA case is that OSHA…
Adams on Contract Drafting
Principles of Interpretation Aren’t “Rules of Grammar”!
By Ken Adams
A tipster with a sense of humor sent me a link to an opinion of the Minnesota Court of Appeals, Borth v. Borth, No. A21-0571, 2022 WL 90612 (Minn. Ct.…
Long Island Land Use and Zoning
Slings and Arrows At The Court Of Appeals
On January 4, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals heard oral argument in the case of Hunters For Deer, Inc. v Town of Smithtown, where conflicting provisions of a…
TortsProf Blog
Long on Tort Law, Statutes, and the Workplace
Alex Long has posted to SSRN The Statutification of Tort Law Involving the Workplace. The abstract provides:The phenomenon of the "tortification" of employment law involves the consideration and importation of common-law…
Georgetown Journal of Law & Public Policy Legal Blog
A Former Congressional Staffer’s Plea to Judges: Do Not Rely on Legislative History
By Kgw40
INTRODUCTION I am not the first, nor will I be the last, person within the legal profession to look down on legislative history as a tool of statutory interpretation. The…
The Faculty Lounge
Textualism, Purposivism, and Intentionalism for a Dime
This is a true story about an event around five years ago, which I offer for potential insight on statutory construction. On my way home from the law school one…
PrawfsBlawg
The Great Detroit Charter Fight: A Case Study in Statute-Specific Purpose Versus Trans-Statutory Substantive Canons
Main Thursday, July 22, 2021The Great Detroit Charter Fight: A Case Study in Statute-Specific Purpose Versus Trans-Statutory Substantive CanonsIn Sheffield and Harbin v. City Clerk, the Michigan Supreme Court is…