630
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
igan Dept. of Treasury, 489 U. S. 803, 809 (1989) ("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.").
Nor, when Congress used different words, here "actual damages sustained by the individual" and "a person entitled to recovery," should a court ordinarily equate the two phrases. Had Congress intended the meaning that the Government urged upon this Court, one might have expected the statutory instruction to read, not as it does: "actual damages . . . but in no case shall a person entitled to recovery receive less than . . . $1,000." Instead, Congress more rationally would have written: "actual damages . . . but in no case shall a person who proves such damages [in any amount] receive less than $1,000." Cf. Barnhart v. Sigmon Coal Co., 534 U. S. 438, 454 (2002) (" 'We refrain from concluding here that the differing language in the two subsections has the same meaning in each. We would not presume to ascribe this difference to a simple mistake in draftsmanship.' " (quoting Russello v. United States, 464 U. S. 16, 23 (1983))). Just as the words "person entitled to recovery" suggest greater breadth than "individual [who has sustained] actual damages," so the term "recovery" ordinarily encompasses more than " 'get[ting] or win[ning] back,' " Brief for Respondent 26 (quoting Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1898 (1966)). "Recovery" generally embraces "[t]he obtain[ing] of a right to something (esp. damages) by a judgment or decree" and "[a]n amount awarded in or collected from a judgment or decree." Black's Law Dictionary 1280 (7th ed. 1999). So comprehended, "recovery" here would yield a claimant who suffers an "adverse effect" from an agency's intentional or willful § 552a(g)(1)(C) or (D) violation a minimum of $1,000 plus costs and attorney's fees, whether or not the claimant proves "actual damages."
"It is 'a cardinal principle of statutory construction' that 'a statute ought, upon the whole, to be so construed that, if
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