Usinas Siderúrgicas De Minas Gerais S/A v. United States

OPINION

RIDGWAY, Judge.

Over the years, legal scholars and jurists have devoted much ink to the meaning in various legal contexts of certain common words — the eternal debate over “shall” vs. “may” being one prime example. See, e.g., Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 502 (“shall”), 516-17 (“Statute Drafting”) (1987). This is yet another such case.

As discussed more fully below, the disposition of the case at bar turns largely on the meaning of the word “including.” The stakes may not be high in the whimsical world of fairy tales, when the terms in question are “brillig” and…