Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Iowa Law Review
Volume
105
Publication Date
2020
Keywords
legislature, statutory, federal, state, government, judical practice
Abstract
This Essay christens a new canon into the doctrines of statutory interpretation, one that can counter the too-powerful canon that has courts imposing norms against redundancy in their readings of statutes. Judges engaging in statutory interpretation must do a better job of recognizing how and why legislatures choose not to draft with perfect parsimony. Our Essay highlights the multifarious ways legislatures in federal and state governments self-consciously and thoughtfully – rather than regrettably and lazily – think about employing “belt-and-suspenders” efforts in their drafting practices. We then analyze in depth courts’ disparate efforts to integrate a belt-and-suspenders canon into their thinking about anti-surplusage rules and other textual canons. By sketching a promising future for this new canon, we hope to draw judicial practice closer to legislative practice and to enhance the enterprise of statutory interpretation for textualists and intentionalists alike.
Recommended Citation
Ethan J. Leib and James J. Brudney,
The Belt-and-Suspenders Canon, 105 Iowa L. Rev. 735
(2020)
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/faculty_scholarship/990
