m
Previously: Robocalls, legal interpretation, and Bryan Garner
All three canons that are in play in Facebook v. Duguid (the Last Antecedent, Series Qualifier, and Nearest Reasonable Referent Canons) have precursors in U.S. and English caselaw. That’s no surprise, given that all 57 canons in Reading Law are presented as being well established in the law. But as my last post noted, each canon departs from the previous caselaw in one respect or another. And in the case of the Series Qualifier Canon, the departure is quite substantial.
To lay the groundwork necessary in order to describe those departures, this post will summarize the prior law from which the three canons deviate. Continue reading