Commonwealth v. Scolieri

OPINION

Justice NEWMAN.

Notwithstanding the seriousness with which we consider the problem of underage drinking, we must accept that when the General Assembly selects words to use in a statute, it has chosen them purposefully. 1 Pa.C.S. § 1921(b). We cannot change those words to reflect our own public policy concerns, nor can we edit them based on the supposition that we know what the General Assembly meant to say when it said something different. Where, as here, we do not believe that application of the words of the General Assembly would yield an absurd or unconstitutional result, we accord…