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81 " But the general/ specific canon makes all the difference if the general provision has been enacted later. "
― Antonin Scalia , Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts
82 " Where there is no clear intention otherwise, a specific statute will not be controlled or nullified by a general one, regardless of the priority of enactment. "
83 " As we have said before, the fact that a statute can be ‘applied in situations not expressly anticipated by Congress does not demonstrate ambiguity. It demonstrates breadth. "
84 " A specific statutory provision that contravenes a general constitutional injunction or prohibition is invalid. "
85 " My mind isn't shit! (Really!) "
― Antonin Scalia
86 " Oh God, get over it. "
87 " Expressio unius, also known as inclusio unius, is a Latin name for the communicative device known as negative implication. "
88 " Mandatory words impose a duty; permissive words grant discretion. "
89 " Notwithstanding performs a function opposite that of subject to. "
90 " Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, a continuing-legal-education provider approved by the state bar may conduct seminars without fulfilling any other requirement.” There may be nothing to the contrary anywhere in the document—even nothing that could be thought to be to the contrary. But the catchall notwithstanding is a fail-safe way of ensuring that the clause it introduces will absolutely, positively prevail. "
91 " What is the effect of failing to honor a mandatory provision’s terms? That is an issue for a treatise on remedies, not interpretation. "
92 " precious metals. "
93 " The ejusdem generis canon asserts that a general phrase at the end of a list is limited to the same type of things (the generic category) that are found in the specific list. "
94 " [E]jusdem generis . . . says that if a series of more than two items ends with a catch-all term that is broader than the category into which the preceding items fall but which those items do not exhaust, the catch-all term is presumably intended to be no broader than that category. "
95 " Following the general term with specifics can serve the function of making doubly sure that the broad (and intended-to-be-broad) general term is taken to include the specifics. "