Article
An Economic Framework for Statutory Interpretation
Law and Contemporary Problems
(1987)
Abstract
This article outlines an economic model for analyzing the judicial interpretation of statutes. It focuses on the relationship between the appropriate judicial interpretive stance and the degree of vagueness of statutes. The model represents only a beginning in the sense that it does not explicitly address several other important factors which may interact with judicial interpretation, such as standards of proof and legislative vagueness. Nevertheless, the model presented here yields interesting and potentially far reaching implications for the appropriate interpretive stance in a variety of circumstances. Some implications contradict, while others support, previous analyses of statutory interpretation. Regardless of its compatibility with recent literature or the correctness of the model's substantive conclusions, it offers, at a minimum, a consistent framework for analyzing a variety of questions that have as yet been treated in only an ad hoc fashion.
Keywords
- legislative intent,
- vagueness,
- rights,
- over- and underinclusion error,
- judicial cost mimimization
Disciplines
Publication Date
Fall 1987
Citation Information
Mario J Rizzo and Frank S. Arnold. "An Economic Framework for Statutory Interpretation" Law and Contemporary Problems Vol. 50 Iss. 4 (1987) p. 165 - 180 ISSN: 0023-9186 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mario_rizzo/61/