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through the actions of a governmental agency
responsible for adult foster care.
Petitioners focus on the second sentence of the quoted language,
specifically that part that says "through the actions of a
governmental agency responsible for adult foster care."
(Emphasis added.) Because the second sentence does not say "by
an agency of the State or political subdivision thereof",
petitioners conclude that "State action" includes their
situation, an indirect, contractual relationship with the State
through the entity with which they contracted.
Petitioners fail, however, to address the first sentence of
the above excerpt that expresses the intent of Congress that
section 131 apply only in the case of "adults who have been
placed in their care by an agency of the State or political
subdivision thereof specifically designated as responsible for
such function." (Emphasis added.) What petitioners want is to
interpret one sentence out of context. But words and phrases
must be interpreted in context. Rules of statutory construction
appropriate to interpreting the language at issue suggest that
words are understood by the words associated with them and that a
general term following specific terms takes its meaning from the
kinds of things denoted by the specific terms. Jarecki v. G.D.
Searle & Co., 367 U.S. 303, 307 (1961); F.W. Fitch Co. v. United
States, 323 U.S. 582, 585-586 (1945); United States v. Lacy, 119
F.3d 742, 748 (9th Cir. 1997).
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