The curse of right-wing textualism

[Draggingtree]

Protein Wisdom:

The curse of right-wing textualism

January 10, 2013

 

Revealed, yet again — and yet again by a “conservative” lawyer. Starting to see a trend?

[H]ere’s what we’re talking about. 31 U.S.C. § 5112(k):

The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.

[...]

Is the platinum coin legal?

Several folks on the left have taken the lead claiming that the platinum coin trick is illegal. Kevin Drum over at Mother Jones and Tom Maguire at Just One Minute are in that camp, but this argument takes two flavors.

Drum argues that the platinum coin trick is illegal because it’s not what Congress intended by the platinum coin statute. I’m not sure where Drum has been living all these years, though, because what Congress intends and what the laws actually accomplish do not generally have much to do with each other. Certainly there is no legal requirement that laws accomplish Congress’ purpose in passing them. Look no further than the so-called Affordable Care Act.

Legally, if statutory text is unambiguous on its face, there is no reason to look outside the text — at either the context or at congressional intent

In the case of the platinum coin statute, the language is simple and direct. There is no ambiguity and it therefore doesn’t matter a lick what Congress thought it was doing when it passed the law.