Case 2:25-cv-00978-APG-BNW Document 105 Filed 10/14/25 Page 12 of 27
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commercial consequence.” 7 U.S.C. § 1a(47)(A)(ii). The CEA does not define “occurrence” or “event,” so I “interpret the words consistent with their ordinary meaning at the time Congress enacted the statute.” Wisconsin Cent. Ltd v. United States , 585 U.S. 274, 277 (2018) (simplified). I may refer to dictionaries from the relevant time to aid in this analysis. See id. ; Schindler Elevator Corp. v. U.S. ex rel. Kirk , 563 U.S. 401, 407 (2011). However, the fact that “a definition is broad enough to encompass one sense of a word does not establish that the word is ordinarily understood in that sense.” Taniguchi v. Kan Pac. Saipan, Ltd. , 566 U.S. 560, 568-69 (2012). Where dictionaries distinguish between the most common usages and rare or obsolete usages, that may suggest that, “although acceptable,” the rare or obsolete usages “might not be common or ordinary.” Id. “Statutory language, however, cannot be construed in a vacuum. It is a fundamental canon of statutory construction that the words of a statute must be read in their context and with a view to their place in the overall statutory scheme.” Roberts v. Sea-Land Servs., Inc. , 566 U.S. 93, 101 (2012) (quotation omitted). Various dictionaries from before the 2010 amendment to the CEA that added swaps to the CFTC’s exclusive jurisdiction define “occurrence” as “[s]omething that happens or takes place.” Black’s Law Dictionary (9th ed. 2009). 4 Dictionaries define “event” in various ways, including “a happening or occurrence, esp. when important,” “a particular contest or item in a program (the pole vault, high jump and other events),” or “any organized activity, celebration, etc. for members of the general public or a particular group.” Webster’s New College Dictionary 4 See also Webster’s New College Dictionary (2009) (defining occurrence as “the act or fact of occurring” or “something that occurs; event; incident”); Random House Dictionary of the English Language (Second ed. 1987) (defining occurrence as “something that happens; event; incident”); The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed. 2000) (defining occurrence to mean “[s]omething that takes place”); Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed. 2003) (defining occurrence as “something that occurs; the action or instance of occurring”).
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