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INTERNAL PROTOTYPE — NOT LEGAL ADVICE — DO NOT SEND

Administrator of Veterans Affairs v. Valentine, 490 A.2d 1165 (1985)

Citation
Administrator of Veterans Affairs v. Valentine, 490 A.2d 1165 (1985)
Parent Document
Administrator of Veterans Affairs v. Valentine, 490 A.2d 1165 (1985)
Jurisdiction
DC (municipal)
Effective Date
1985-04-24

Other Sections in This Document (109)

Full Text

1,143 chars
Appellee argues that section 45-222 has been “superseded” by the provisions of the Rental Housing Act of 1980,3 of which section 45-1561 is a part. This is but another way of saying that the later statute repealed the earlier one by implication. I cannot accept such an argument. “It is a cardinal principle of construction that repeals by implication are not favored. When there are two acts upon the same subject, the rule is to give effect to both if possible.” United States v. Borden Co., 308 U.S. 188, 198, 60 S.Ct. 182, 188, 84 L.Ed. 181 (1939) (citations omitted). “The courts are not at liberty to pick and choose among [legislative] enactments, and when two statutes are capable of co-existence, it is the duty of the courts, absent a clearly expressed [legislative] intention to the contrary, to regard each as effective.” Morton v. Mancari, 417 U.S. 535, 551, 94 S.Ct 2474, 2483, 41 L.Ed.2d 290 (1974). I believe it is possible to give effect to both section 45-222 and section 45-1561 by recognizing the former as a pre-existing law which the City Council allowed to stand unchanged when it enacted the Rental Housing Act of 1980.