Legal construction

“ The object of construction, applied to a constitution, is to give effect to the intent of its framers, and of the people in adopting it. This intent is to be found in the instrument itself; and, when the text of a constitutional provision is not ambiguous, the courts, in giving construction thereto, are not at liberty to search for its meaning beyond the instrument. ”

“ Campbell, 3 Wheat. 212, 222, it was said: 'A construction, therefore, that would adopt the state practice in all its extent, would at once extinguish, in such states, the exercise of equitable jurisdiction. ”

“ The plaintiffs contend that the words 'this act,' ex vi termini, extend to the whole act. 2. That the proviso can only be limited by construction; and that statutes of limitations are construed strictly to save the rights of the legal owner, especially an act limiting actions to two years and eight months, without any saving clause in favour of persons beyond seas. The statute 12th of Hen. ”

“ Whenever the words of a statute are ambiguous, or the meaning doubtful, the established rule of construction is, that the intention must be deduced from the whole statute, and every part of it. (1 Kent's Com., 462.) ”

“ We do not stop to consider whether any question of construction properly can be said to have been raised, rather than a question of general law in the application of words that were colorless so far as the point in controversy was concerned. ”

“ We think the rule of construction is as broad as the subject to which it relates, and its operation does not depend upon whether the question is one of limitation of legislative power or of the true interpretation of a contract asserted to be one of exemption. ”

“ The amended statute requires any person 'entering into a formal contract with the United States for the construction of any public building, or the prosecution and completion of any public work, or for repairs upon any public building or public work, . ”

“ As a rule, we treat the construction which the highest court of a State has given a statute of the State as part of the statute, and govern ourselves accordingly; but where different constructions have been given to the same statute at different times, we have never felt ourselves bound to follow the latest decisions, if thereby contract rights which have accrued under earlier rulings will be injuriously affected. ”

“ A construction more convenient and practicable, better answering the words of the grant, more favorable to the rights of the crown, and to the security of adjoining patents, ought to be preferred.' p. 306. KENT, Chief Justice, 'No property can pass, as a public rule, but what was ascertained and declared' (1 Johns. Cas. 287) ; a road will not pass by general words thrown in at the end of the metes and bounds in a sheriff's deed.' Ibid. ”

“ After a statute has been settled by judicial construction, the construction becomes, so far as contract rights acquired under it are concerned, as much a part of the statute as the text itself, and a change of decision is to all intents and purposes the same in its effect on contracts as an amendment of the law by means of a legislative enactment. ”

“ It is that the construction of a statute does not take a party's property without due process of law simply because it takes him by surprise, and when it is too late for him to act on the construction and save his rights. That is all that the plaintiff has to complain of. ”

“ Each succeeding legislature may establish a different one, providing, only, that in each is preserved the essential elements of protection. The fact that one construction has been placed upon a statute by the highest court of the state does not make that construction beyond change. ”

“ It is true, that many of the cases in which this Court has deemed itself bound to conform to State decisions, have arisen on the construction of statutes. But the same rule has been extended to other cases; and there can be no good reason assigned why it should not be, when it is applying settled rules of real property. This Court adopts the State decisions, because they settle the law applicable to the case; and the reasons assigned for this course, apply as well to rules of construction growing out of the common law, as the statute law of the State, when applied to the title of lands. ”

“ The object of this suggestion is to bring the present case within the rule, often announced, that when the meaning of a statute is doubtful, great weight should be given to the construction placed upon it by the department charged with its execution, where that construction has, for many years, controlled the conduct of the public business. ”

“ That the constitution having received a construction by legislative, executive and judicial action, and the acquiescence of the citizens for a long time, that construction will prevail in judgment, especially, if rights be founded upon it. ”

“ I, too, recoil from a bizarre result and if legislation is ambiguous its construction should avoid such a result. But the rationale of construction ought not to be based on the impact of a single bizarre instance. ”

“ When we sit to review a decision resting on a state court's construction of a state statute, that construction is binding on us, regardless of whether in its absence we would have read the statute in the same way or would have pruned it back before passing judgment. ”

“ It is urged that the construction contended for by the respondent is exceedingly technical and tends to the escape of criminals on refined subtleties of statutory construction, and should not, therefore, be adopted. ”

“ The correct rule of construction has been suggested in these terms: '* * * where the law seeks to divest all and every title to land or estate, and substitute the price therefor, * * * the word 'owner' should receive a broad and liberal construction, so as to embrace every right in and to the land * * *.' Glover v. ”

“ The courts of this country have generally given to statutes intending to secure to those furnishing labor and supplies for the construction of buildings a liberal interpretation, with a view of effecting their purpose to require payment to those who have contributed by their labor or material to the erection of buildings to be owned and enjoyed by those who profit by the contribution of such labor or materials. ”

“ This statement of the contention of the respondents is it own sufficient refutation.
In form the permit is a mere naked permission to build. Two of the three clauses relied upon to create rights of property in the streets are derived from the Building Regulations, which, as their name implies, are designed to regulate the materials of buildings and the manner of their construction and use; they are not looked to, on such a mere reference as we have here, for a grant of rights in streets; and the third clause is from the acceptances of the permits, which are signed only by the applicants. ”

“ In the construction of a public improvement, pursuant to a statutory right, it is as much a part of the right to intrust the execution of the work to skilful and careful contractors, as it is a part of one's individual right, in making an improvement on his own land, to let the work in that manner. ”

“ The weight of authority is committed to a liberal construction, [14] although some courts tend toward strict construction, [15] and some have seemed to differentiate according to the use being made of the statute, inclining to a strict construction when a criminal penalty is being imposed and a more liberal one when civil remedies are being applied. ”

“ While the judicial function in construing legislation is not a mechanical process from which judgment is excluded, it is nevertheless very different from the legislative function. Construction is not legislation and must avoid 'that retrospective expansion of meaning which properly deserves the stigma of judicial legislation.' Kirschbaum Co. ”

“ The construction then to be given to the various matters must be the same as if three distinct conveyances had been executed after the plan of the city had been adopted, and with a specific appropriation of each portion of the premises. ”

“ If, every time the courts of a state put a construction upon the statutes of another state, this court may be required to determine whether that construction was or was not correct, upon the ground that, if it were concluded that the construction was incorrect, it would follow that the state courts had refused to give full faith and credit to the statutes involved, our jurisdiction would be enlarged in a manner never heretofore believed to have been contemplated. ”

“ Courts of justice cannot accomplish such an object by construction nor in any other mode, for several reasons: (1.) Because the province of construction is restricted to the ascertainment of the meaning of the language employed in the grant. ”

“ The rule of strict construction does not require that the narrowest technical meaning be given to the words employed in a criminal statute, in disregard of their context, and in frustration of the obvious legislative intent. ”

“ Otherwise, we must ignore the cardinal rule of construction, which requires that the different provisions of a statute should, if possible, be reconciled, so as to make the whole consistent and harmonious. ”

“ Further, the executive, fully realizing the great variations in the fire-resisting qualities of materials and systems of construction, consider that the public, the professions concerned, and likewise the authorities controlling building operations, should clearly discriminate between the amount of protection obtainable or, in fact, requisite for different classes of property. ”

“ It is a much more serious thing to adopt a rule of construction, as we are asked to do here, which precludes the execution of state laws by state authority in a matter normally within state power. The great body of law in this country which controls acquisition, transmission, and transfer of property, and defines the rights of its owners in relation to the state or to private parties, is found in the statutes and decisions of the state. ”

“ The will now presented for our consideration was made before this obnoxious rule was repealed in New York, and we are compelled to examine its provisions fettered by this technical, artificial, and now nearly obsolete rule of construction. Courts have always been astute in searching for some equivalent, popular phrase, or some provision of the will incompatible with such imputed intention, to rescue it from the effect of this rule. ”

“ Indeed, at this stage of the game, the canon of strict construction produces the ironic result of compelling a relatively greater expenditure of judicial energies in assessing our jurisdiction over the remainder of the criminal cases pending in the district courts of the Nation at the time of the most recent amendment than would be involved in deciding those cases on the merits. Nonetheless, this very Term we have indicated that we intend to adhere to the rules of construction evolved by this Court during the long and tortuous history of this statute. ”

“ In this case the supreme judicial court of the state holds the legislation valid, and that there is a fair reason for the discrimination between the height of buildings in the residential as compared with the commercial districts. That court has also held that regulations in regard to the height of buildings, and in regard to their mode of construction in cities, made by legislative enactments for the safety, comfort, or convenience of the people, and for the benefit of property owners generally, are valid. ”

“ The Court answers that a citizen is entitled to rely on the statutory construction adopted by the state officials who are on the front line, administering the permit scheme. If these officials construe a vague statute unconstitutionally, the citizen may take them at their word, and act on the assumption that the statute is void. ”

“ Every statute, like every contract, must be read by itself, and it no more follows that one statutory contract is like another than that one ordinary contract means what another does. Of course, general rules of construction may and should be called into use when required, and sometimes, when certain words used in statutes are understood to have a certain meaning, the same words will be given the same meaning in other like cases ”

“ He urges that once it is recognized-as the court below failed to do-that construction work is not excluded from the Act's coverage, this concededly essential expansion of facilities is not distinguishable from maintenance and repair in any characteristic made relevant by the standard of 'closely related' and 'directly essential' to production. We do not agree. ”

“ If it be true that the proper officer, on examining appellant's contract, gave a permit for the erection of such buildings as it contemplated,-and of this there is no denial,-the other side should make a clear case of departure from the permit, or danger to public interests, before appellant should be arrested midway in the construction of the buildings, and have them summarily torn down, with all the necessary loss and expense to him of such a course. ”

“ We are first confronted with a question of construction. The supreme court of Texas having held that § 12 was a law, and not a term of a contract with a purchaser, is it open for this court to put a different construction upon the statute? ”

“ The so-called canons of construction are not technical rules of law which afford the answer to a problem like this. But they are 'axiom (s) of experience', Boston Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States, 278 U.S. 41, 48, 49 S.Ct. 52, 54, 73 L.Ed. 170, helpful guides in determining when language as plain as ours should be respected and enforced. ”

“ Where a building or structure, and auxiliary facilities thereof are transferred, exchanged, offered as capital contribution, or given away as a gift, the right to use the lot of land for construction purposes in the lot of land occupied by the building, structure, and auxiliary facilities thereof shall be disposed of concomitantly. ”