[cyclotic]

One of the men at my church is a well known attorney and overall brilliant guy. He was talking a few weeks ago about some case where he said he spent hours reviewing the law. He said it came down to one word.

The word was “may.” He said if the law read “Shall” he would have won his case, but since it said “may,” try as he might he was stuck.

I think that’s a good example of textualism.

[fwdude]

Text isn’t dead, it is a proxy for ideas. And ideas convey truth.

[Sopater]

The word was “may.” He said if the law read “Shall” he would have won his case, but since it said “may,” try as he might he was stuck.

I write policies and procedures for a medical device manufacturer, and am always VERY careful about using words like "shall", "should", "may", "must", "can", "cannot", "will" etc. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.