Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Law
A Textualist Interpretation Of The Visual Artists Rights Act Of 1990, Brian L. Frye
A Textualist Interpretation Of The Visual Artists Rights Act Of 1990, Brian L. Frye
Law Faculty Scholarly Articles
For numberless generations, jurisprudes waged total war in the
conflict among textualism, intentionalism, and purposivism.
Textualists insisted that courts must interpret statutes based on the
meaning of their text, intentionalists insisted on the intention of the
legislature, and purposivists insisted on the purpose of the statute.
Eventually, textualism prevailed. Courts universally recognize
that they are obligated to interpret statutes in light of their text, or
at least pretend that the text of the statute determined their
interpretation. And the few remaining heretics are swiftly identified
and corrected by their superiors. As Justice Kagan famously
observed, “We’re all textualists now.” Whether …