Supreme Court justices puzzled Monday over whether Congress meant “or” when it passed a law saying “and” in a case that could determine if some federal inmates qualify for a potential reduction in sentence.
Over nearly two hours in their first case of the term, the justices heard about when “and” means “and,” when “and” can mean “or.” They heard what the Senate drafting manual says about what “and” means.
And they discussed whether an “em dash distributed the language before it,” and if so, whether that refers to the whole clause or “could just be the clause that’s preceded by the comma.”
