Rider v. County Court of Braxton County

The syllabus.of the majority opinion begins by speaking of two permissible constructions of a statute. To my mind there is but one permissible construction of the statute involved in these cases. That statute is too plain for any other construction than that plainly breathed by its words. It establishes the standard of “equity and fairness” which the legislature deemed right. The construction plainly imported by its terms leads to “no unjust or absurd results”, but to results which the proper lawmakers considered just.

That courts may take judicial notice of matters of common knowledge and…