California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Shewry v. Arnold, 125 Cal.App.4th 186, 22 Cal.Rptr.3d 488 (Cal. App. 2004):
the case of a statute)...."' [Citation.] We give the language of the statute its `usual, ordinary import and accord significance, if possible, to every word, phrase and sentence in pursuance of the legislative purpose. A construction making some words surplusage is to be avoided. The words of the statute must be construed in context, keeping in mind the statutory purpose.... Both the legislative history of the statute and the wider historical circumstances of its enactment may be considered in ascertaining the legislative intent.'" (Kane v. Hurley (1994) 30 Cal. App.4th 859, 862, 35 Cal.Rptr.2d 809.)
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