Document Type
Article
Abstract
Maybe it would be best if judges left their dictionaries on the shelf. That’s the conclusion I reached after reading an Illinois court opinion last month, in which the decision turned on the dictionary definition of a commonplace word – “presence” – whose statutory meaning was in dispute. The construction eventually adopted by the court was reasonable enough. But by relying solely on a dictionary as authority, the court reflected a troubling trend nationwide. Increasingly, dictionaries are used to make the resolution of cases appear to be the product of common sense and unchallengeable authority, rather than of policy decisions made by judges.
Publication Date
10-24-2013
Recommended Citation
Marc D. Falkoff, Dictionary Blues: Judicial Reasoning Muddied by Definition Wrangling, Chi. Daily L. Bull., Oct. 24, 2013.
Department
College of Law
ISSN
0362-6148
Language
eng
Publisher
Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
Suggested Citation
Marc D. Falkoff, Dictionary Blues: Judicial Reasoning Muddied by Definition Wrangling, Chi. Daily L. Bull., Oct. 24, 2013.
