Sarbanes-Oxley – Undersized fish

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U.S. Supreme Court

Criminal

Sarbanes-Oxley – Undersized fish

18 U. S. C. §1519 of the Sarbanes-Exley Act does not extend to throwing undersized fish overboard.

The words immediately surrounding “tangible object” in §1519—“falsifies, or makes a false entry in any record [or] document”—also cabin the contextual meaning of that term. Applying the canons noscitur a sociis and ejusdem generis, “tangible object,” as the last in a list of terms that begins “any record [or] document,” is appropriately read to refer, not to any tangible object, but specifically to the subset of tangible objects used to record or preserve information. This moderate interpretation accords with the list of actions §1519 proscribes; the verbs “falsif[y]” and “mak[e] a false entry in” typically take as grammatical objects records, documents, or things used to record or preserve information, such as logbooks or hard drives. See Gustafson v. Alloyd Co., 513 U. S. 561, 575.

Use of traditional tools of statutory interpretation to examine markers of congressional intent within the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and §1519 itself thus call for rejection of an aggressive interpretation of “tangible object.”

733 F.3d 1059, reversed and remanded.

13-7451 Yates v. U.S.

Ginsburg, J.; Alito, J., concurring; Kagan, J., dissenting.

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