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Saturday, July 15, 2023
The Horseless Carriage of Constitutional Interpretation: Corpus Linguistics and the Which means of ‘Direct Taxes’ in Hylton v. United States
Hon. John Ok. Bush (Decide, U.S. Court docket of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit) & A.J. Jeffries (Legislation clerk to Decide Justin Walker), The Horseless Carriage of Constitutional Interpretation: Corpus Linguistics and the Which means of “Direct Taxes” in Hylton v. United States, 45 Harv. J.L. & Pub. Pol’y 523 (2022):
Quickly after the American Revolution ended, Alexander Hamilton wrote to Gouverneur Morris, “Allow us to each erect a temple to time; solely regretting that we will not command an extended portion of it to see what would be the occasion of the American drama.” Corpus linguistics goes in the other way of Hamilton’s imaginative and prescient: it permits for time journey of types to review a digital file from the start of the drama—the world of the Framers. Like Marty McFly’s DeLorean, corpus linguistics may be improved with modification for subsequent journeys again to the previous.
However the automobile, as is, proved usable sufficient for our functions. First, the corpus confirmed that the Founding technology did in truth communicate of “direct taxes” with confidence that the time period may very well be outlined. Second, our findings revealed consensus as to not less than some forms of taxes that have been thought of to be direct. Lastly, corpus linguistics matches comfortably inside the methodology utilized in Hylton. Counsel in that case relied on a rudimentary physique of secondary supply supplies that predated or have been contemporaneous with the Structure as an assist for its interpretation. Corpus linguistics is solely a extra sturdy method that’s in step with early federal court docket advocacy. And, not less than on this occasion involving analysis into the taxing of carriages, corpus linguistics exhibits promise to be as technologically revolutionary as carriages of the horseless selection.
https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/07/horseless-carriage-of-constitutional-interpretation-corpus-linguistics-and-the-meaning-of-direct-taxes.html
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