Steve R. Johnson (Florida State University – College of Law) has posted Supertext and Consistent Meaning (State Tax Notes, p. 675, May 25, 2009) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Opponents of textualism as an approach to statutory interpretation sometimes deride it as myopic. The textualist, those opponents contend, puts on blinders, narrowing the perhaps vast panorama of possible perspectives on meaning to a narrow slice of the whole. Modern textualists beg to differ. They view that criticism as reductionist and are often quick to distinguish textualism from mere literalism.
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