2A and the $10,000,000 comma

[K_W]

Court decision in dairy drivers lawsuit hung on comma - 13 WTHR Indianapolis

The omission of an Oxford comma is at the center of a 10 million dollar lawsuit.

This could get interesting quickly. Normally a Judge would throw something out like this as an omission or an error but in this case the comma makes a very significant difference.

The Second Amendment debate, in some circles, comes down to the significance of the commas in the text of the Second Amendment.

 

[Kurr]

ok, What does "or" mean? doesn't it replace to the same effect the missing comma?

 

[K_W]

The canning, processing preserving, freezing, drying, marketing, storing, packing for shipment or distribution of" foods

No, without the comma it is seen as "packing for shipment or distribution" as one thing, with the comma after "packing for shipment" and before "distribution" would make two separate actions.

This is similar to how we have argued that the commas in the Second Amendment have significance and separate "militia" service from being a condition to the right to keep and bear arms.

We know that the individual right to keep and bear arms is what is being protected as it is necessary to even have an effective militia... Rather than as a function of serving in a militia or a regular army, the latter of which the founders did not want.

 

[Mgderf]

No, without the comma it is seen as "packing for shipment or distribution" as one thing, with the comma after "packing for shipment" and before "distribution" would make two separate actions.

This is similar to how we have argued that the commas in the Second Amendment have significance and separate "militia" service from being a condition to the right to keep and bear arms.

We know that the individual right to keep and bear arms is what is being protected as it is necessary to even have an effective militia... Rather than as a function of serving in a militia or a regular army, the latter of which the founders did not want.

I agree, and once again, Rush Limbaugh had it mostly right (and correct ) when he said, "Words mean things."
Obviously punctuation marks do as well.