Legislative history is different from statutory history, which is “the formal changes in the [statute] made by the legislature when it enacts new laws and amends them over time.” William N. Eskridge, Jr., Interpreting Law: A Primer on How to Read Statutes and the Constitution 204 (Foundation Press 2016).I think that many do not distinguish between the two and use the terms interchangeably. But as noted, they are really two different concepts.
I thought that fans of this subject might enjoy the following blog: Jonathan H. Adler, Justice Sotomayor looks at ‘statutory history,’ not ‘legislative history’ (The Volokh Conspiracy 11/14/17), here.
I do not discuss this distinction in the Student Edition but users of the Student Edition may also want to note the distinction. I will likely lift the distinction from the footnote to the text in the next Editions so that it will appear in both Editions.
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