Answering a Defense of Textualism—and of the Skyrocketing Use of Dictionaries in the Michigan Supreme Court

Abstract

In a 2023 Michigan Supreme Court case, a dissenting justice offered a defense of textualism and of the Court’s strikingly heavy reliance on dictionaries in deciding cases. The majority had cited my earlier article in the Wayne Law Review with supporting data. See https://ssrn.com/author=624332.
This article responds to the justice’s argument point by point.

Keywords: textualism, dictionaries, judicial interpretation, plain meaning, ordinary meaning, canons, Michigan Supreme Court, ideology