Competitive Enterprise Institute v. United States Department of Transportation

An axiom of statutory interpretation is that “unless otherwise defined, words will be interpreted as taking their ordinary, contemporary, common meaning .. at the time Congress enacted the statute.” Perrin v. United States, 444 U.S. 37, 42, 100 S.Ct. 311, 62 L.Ed.2d 199 (1979). Today this- Court departs from this principle to redefine “smoking” from conventional tobacco consumption, as it was, commonly understood in 1987, to prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes, a new technology with a substantially different nicotine delivery process and likely different, secondhand effects as well.…