Section 7

Citation: Section 7
Parent Document: Bostock v. Clayton County, 590 U.S. 644 (2020)
Jurisdiction: United States (federal)
Effective Date: 2020-06-15
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4760997/bostock-v-clayton-county/ ↗

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This Court has explained many times over many years that,
when the meaning of the statute’s terms is plain, our job is
at an end. The people are entitled to rely on the law as
written, without fearing that courts might disregard its
plain terms based on some extratextual consideration. See,
e.g., Carcieri v. Salazar, 555 U. S. 379, 387 (2009); Connect-
icut Nat. Bank v. Germain, 503 U. S. 249, 253–254 (1992);
Rubin v. United States, 449 U. S. 424, 430 (1981). Of
course, some Members of this Court have consulted legisla-
tive history when interpreting ambiguous statutory lan-
guage. Cf. post, at 40 (ALITO, J., dissenting). But that has
no bearing here. “Legislative history, for those who take it
into account, is meant to clear up ambiguity, not create it.”
Milner v. Department of Navy, 562 U. S. 562, 574 (2011).
And as we have seen, no ambiguity exists about how Title
VII’s terms apply to the facts before us. To be sure, the
statute’s application in these cases reaches “beyond the
principal evil” legislators may have intended or expected to
address. Oncale, 523 U. S., at 79. But “ ‘the fact that [a
statute] has been applied in situations not expressly antic-
ipated by Congress’ ” does not demonstrate ambiguity; in-
stead, it simply “ ‘demonstrates [the] breadth’ ” of a legisla-
tive command. Sedima, S. P. R. L. v. Imrex Co., 473 U. S.
479, 499 (1985). And “it is ultimately the provisions of ”
those legislative commands “rather than the principal con-
cerns of our legislators by which we are governed.” Oncale,
523 U. S., at 79; see also A. Scalia & B. Garner, Reading
Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts 101 (2012) (noting
that unexpected applications of broad language reflect only
Congress’s “presumed point [to] produce general coverage—
not to leave room for courts to recognize ad hoc exceptions”).
   Still, while legislative history can never defeat unambig-
uous statutory text, historical sources can be useful for a
different purpose: Because the law’s ordinary meaning at
the time of enactment usually governs, we must be sensi-
tive to the possibility a statutory term that means one thing
                  Cite as: 590 U. S. ____ (2020)            25 Opinion of the Court

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