[Avodah] P'rat U'Klal, Ejusdem Generis and the FBI

[Moshe Y. Gluck]

For those of you who don't keep up with this kind of thing, the FBI recently
demanded that Wikipedia remove its rendition of the FBI insignia from their
website. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03fbi.html?_r=2) Wikipedia,
in its response
(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/us/20100803-wiki-LetterToLarson.p
df) to the FBI saying, "Go jump in a lake," wrote the following: The
underlined words are conclusive proof that the canon of statutory
construction ejusdem

generis applies. Under that principle, "where general words follow specific
words in a statutory

enumeration, the general words are construed to embrace only objects similar
in nature to those

objects enumerated by the preceding specific words." Circuit City Stores,
Inc. v. Adams, 532

U.S. 105, 114-15 (2001). Courts use ejusdem generis in conjunction with
common sense and

legislative history to discern the legislature's intent in writing a
statute.

 

I was struck by the similarity between ejusdem generis and "P'rat u'klal,
ein b'klal ela mah she'b'prat."

 

KT,

MYG 

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