J.A. Jones Construction Co. v. Superior Court

Opinion

SILLS, P. J.

Felix Frankfurter once made fun of the tendency of courts to look at legislative history rather than the actual words of the statute. “[Tjhis *1571is a case for applying the canon of construction of the wag who said, when the legislative history is doubtful, go to the statute,” he wrote. (Greenwood v. United States (1956) 350 U.S. 366, 374 [100 L.Ed. 412, 419, 76 S.Ct. 410].)

The instant writ petition presents a variation on Frankfurter’s observation. In the wake of this court’s decision in Halbert’s Lumber, Inc. v. Lucky Stores, Inc. (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1233 [8 Cal.Rptr.2d…