SEMANTIC CANONS
Canon in which general words that follow specific words in a list are construed to be restricted to include things of the same kind, class, character or nature as those things specifically named.
What is Esjudem Generis?
Rule of Lenity
The court should interpret ambiguous criminal statutes in a light most favorable to the defendant.
Hierarchy
1. Committee reports (including conference reports)
2. Markup transcripts
3. Committee debate and hearing transcript
What the bill manager, floor manager, or bill sponsor (person who introduced the bill has to say carries the most weight.)
4. Transcripts of “hot” (actual) floor debate
The material that you look to when deciding if Congress delegated the agency the authority to promulgate.
What is the organic statute?
BONUS QUESTION!!!! (X2 POINT VALUE)
We know that floor reports are not ranked of high probative value, EXCEPT when....
What is when the floor reports are provided by the sponsor of the bill, bill manager or floor manager?
Canon in which inclusion of one thing is exclusion of another. Meaning that if Congress wanted something in there, they would’ve written it in there.
What is expressio unius?
Avoidance Canon
The court should interpret statutes to avoid serious constitutional problems if it is possible to do so.
It is elementary that the meaning of a statute must, in the first instance, be sought in the language in which the act is framed, and if that language is pure and unambiguous, the court must not go outside of the four corners of the statute for further interpretation. The sole function of the courts is to enforce it according to its terms, and the rules which are to aid doubtful meanings need no discussion.
What is plain meaning
The purpose of the chevron doctrine.
What is to review an agency's construction of a statute?
Each identical term or provision of a code should be viewed as part of a consistent and integrated whole.
Whole code
Canon in which a limiting clause or phrase should ordinarily be read as modifying only the noun or phrase that it immediately follows
What is the rule of the last antecedent?
Nondelegation Canon
The court should read statutes narrowly to constrain the delegation of policy-making authority to executive branch agencies.
Typically courts will assume that the legislature uses words in their ordinary sense: what would these words convey to the ordinary or reasonable reader? To figure this out, judges may consult dictionaries, but they will often rely on their own linguistic experience or intuition to decide the most reasonable meaning of the words, given the context in which they are being used and applied.
What is Ordinary meaning
The definition of deference.
Deference is respect for someone or something.
(So when you read an opinion and they speak to an agency being entitled to deference, they're speaking to their interpretation being respected.)
If a statute aims at remedying an evil or mischief, it should be interpreted as remedying the evil
Remedial Canon
A general word where meaning is ambiguous can be defined by words around it. As another way of saying this, “The meaning of a word depends on the context in which it is found.”
What is noscitur a sociis?
Acquiescence Canon
When Congress reenacts a statute and leaves a provision unchanged that had received a definitive administrative or judicial interpretation, the court sometimes holds that Congress has acquiesced to the interpretation.
is not a canon, but can be used as an interpretive tool
Precedent
The question that must be asked when deciding between the application of Chevron vs Skidmore.
Does the agency have authority to delegate granted within the organic statute?
IF YES- CHEVRON
IF NO- SKIDMORE
Things once decided need not constantly be redetermined.
Stare Decisis
Identify the two canons that apply:
MUST ALSO FILL IN THE BLANK FOR EACH DEFINITION TO GET ALL THE POINTS
a.) Words are to be understood in their (BLANK- guess the word) , everyday meanings – unless the context indicates that they bear a technical sense
b.) when the language is language is (BLANK- guess the word) , pure and unambiguous, the court does go outside of the four corners of the statute for further interpretation.
What is a.) ordinary meaning and b.) plain meaning?
Fill in the blank: a.) ordinary b.) plain
Borrowed Statute Rule
When a statute is modeled after a statute from another jurisdiction, the court’s interpretation of the new statute should be consistent with that of the statute it was modeled after before the new law was enacted.
A provision may be either disregarded or judicially corrected as an error (when the correction is textually simple) if failing to do so would result in a disposition that no reasonable person could approve.
Absurdity Canon
The two parts of the Chevron test AND the implication if the answer is in the affirmative for the first question (AKA once you ask it, and you determine the answer is a "yes" what does that mean? )
1.) Whether Congress has directly spoken to the precise question at issue
If (YES) Congress has made its intent clear, the court, as well as the agency, must give effect to the expressed intent of Congress
2.) If the statute is silent or ambiguous with respect to the specific issue, the question for the court is whether the agency’s answer is based on a permissible construction of the statute.
You can look at a subsequent statute's interpretation and definition of a term and use that definition to interpret the instant issue
In Pari Materia