Censoring Legislative History: Justice Scalia on the Use of Legislative History in Statutory Interpretation

Authors

Elizabeth A. Liess, University of Nebraska College of Law

Abstract

I. Introduction

II. A Textualist on the Use of Legislative History ... A. The Textualist Approach ... B. Justice Scalia's Objections to the Use of Legislative History ... 1. Constitutional Objections to Legislative History ... 2. Practical Objections to the Use of Legislative History ... a. Staff Involvement and Poisoning the Process ... b. Erroneous Interpretations Allow for Activism … 3. The Revised Standard for Interpretation

III. The Other Side: An Appraisal of the Value of Legislative History ... A. Critique of Arguments ... 1. Courts Already Approach Certain Legislative History with Caution ... 2. The Textualist Approach Increases the Margin of Error in Interpretation ... B. Justice Scalia's Failure to Propose Workable Solutions

IV. Scalia's Motivation for Igniting the Debate

Recommended Citation

Elizabeth A. Liess, Censoring Legislative History: Justice Scalia on the Use of Legislative History in Statutory Interpretation, 72 Neb. L. Rev. (1993)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol72/iss2/5