Statutes must be interpreted in light of their whole historical and systemic context.

Evidence

Statutes are to be interpreted, not alone according to their simple, literal or strict verbal meaning, but in connection with their development, their progression through the legislative body, the history of the times, prior legislation, contemporary customs and conditions and the system of positive law of which they are part, and in the light of the Constitution and of the common law, to the end that they be held to cover the subjects presumably within the vision of the legislature and, on the one hand, be not unduly constructed so as to exclude matters fairly within their scope, and, on the other hand, be not stretched by enlarge- ment of signification to comprehend matters not within the principle and purview on which they were founded when originally framed and their words chosen. — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1318

Categorization

• DEFINE: States the Massachusetts court’s contextualist canon: meaning from development, history, prior legislation, customs, and the surrounding legal system.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Courts should attribute purpose to statutes and interpret words to serve it — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process: Basic Problems in…, 3499; Legal history is inseparable from the full history of society — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4409; Legislative history supplies evidence of an enactment’s purpose and intended meaning — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2460 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Prior law context is always relevant to interpreting a statute’s purpose. #corroborates (0.90) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1713
• Courts should attribute purpose to statutes and interpret words to serve it #expands (0.85) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 3499
• Legislative history supplies evidence of an enactment’s purpose and intended meaning #expands (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 2460
• The social forces pushing a statute explain its draftsmanship and form #expands (0.80) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 482
• A statute’s purpose is qualified by the costs its legislature contemplated #qualifies (0.78) — Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Albert M. Sacks, The Legal Process, 1432
• Legal history is inseparable from the full history of society #expands (0.75) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 4409
• Valid literary judgment requires knowing the work’s historical context #exemplifies (0.72)