textualism
Text means text
Textualism is a method of legal interpretation that focuses on the ordinary meaning of a statute's words rather than legislative intent or broader purposes.
A textualist asks what the law says, not what lawmakers meant to accomplish: The court took a textualist approach, refusing to consider congressional debates.
The philosophy is associated with originalism in constitutional interpretation but applies more broadly to statutory analysis.
Direct, straightforward interpretation
- judicialOf courts and judges
- originalismInterpreting by founding-era meaning
- black-letterAngular medieval script style
- adjudicationFormal decision on disputes
Scalia · constitutionality · legislation · codification · statutes · precedent · formalism · positivism
Critical textual interpretation
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- philologyStudy of historical texts
- semioticsStudy of signs, symbols
- meaningWhat something signifies
signifier · signified · hermeneutics · structuralism · deconstruction · close reading · literary theory · phenomenology
First definition of something
- ConstitutionGoverning principles document
- foundersThose who begin institutions
- ratificationFormal approval by authority
- amendmentChange to official text
Bill of Rights · Founding Fathers · enactment · constructionism · originalist · Madison · Hamilton · Federalist Papers
Lawmakers' goal in enacting
- spirit of the lawA statute's underlying purpose
- teleologyStudy of purpose in nature
- purposeReason something exists
- BreyerFormer Supreme Court justice
In identical wording
- literal meaningExact, non-figurative interpretation
- word-for-wordExactly as stated
- face valuePrinted denomination shown
- letter of the lawExact statutory language
plain meaning
Direct, straightforward interpretation
- judicialOf courts and judges
- originalismInterpreting by founding-era meaning
- black-letterAngular medieval script style
Scalia · adjudication · constitutionality · legislation · codification · statutes · precedent · formalism · positivism · legalism
exegesis
Critical textual interpretation
- interpretationAssigned meaning
- philologyStudy of historical texts
- semioticsStudy of signs, symbols
meaning · signifier · signified · hermeneutics · structuralism · deconstruction · close reading · literary theory · phenomenology · post-structuralism
original meaning
First definition of something
- ConstitutionGoverning principles document
- foundersThose who begin institutions
- ratificationFormal approval by authority
amendment · Bill of Rights · Founding Fathers · enactment · constructionism · originalist · Madison · Hamilton · Federalist Papers · ratifiers
legislative intent
Lawmakers' goal in enacting
- spirit of the lawA statute's underlying purpose
- teleologyStudy of purpose in nature
- purposeReason something exists
verbatim
In identical wording
- literal meaningExact, non-figurative interpretation
- word-for-wordExactly as stated
- face valuePrinted denomination shown
letter of the law · unambiguous · explicit · surface meaning · common usage
- lawlaw, lawyer, lawyers, attorney, attorneys
- constitutional lawConstitution, Bill of Rights, First Amendment, Second Amendment, Fourth Amendment
- Court JurisprudenceSupreme Court rulings, landmark cases, landmark decisions, court opinions, majority opinions
- legal formalismoriginalism, literal interpretation
- legal interpretationoriginalism, plain meaning, historical interpretation, literal interpretation, narrow interpretation
- literary theorystructuralism, deconstruction, formalism, post-structuralism, poetics