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Connecticut abandons 'plain-meaning' rule for statutory interpretation.

Publication: Trial
Publication Date: 01-JUN-03
Format: Online - approximately 801 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access

Article Excerpt
Breaking with centuries of Anglo-American legal tradition, the Connecticut Supreme Court recently announced that it would no longer follow a rule of statutory construction that says courts should apply a literal reading of a statute's language unless it is ambiguous or would yield an unworkable result. (State v. Courchesne, 816 A.2d 562 (Conn. 2003).) The 5-2 decision marks only the second time a U.S. court has explicitly rejected the so-called plain-meaning rule.

The ruling arose from a capital murder case: Robert Courchesne had been charged with stabbing to death a pregnant woman, Demetris Rogers, and causing the death of her baby, who was delivered by cesarean section but died six weeks later. A three-judge panel round Courchesne guilty of...

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