Cite as: 511 U. S. 39 (1994)
Kennedy, J., concurring in judgment
14, 15. The Government is correct to say that we must examine the context of the proviso to ascertain its meaning. See Davis v. Michigan Dept. of Treasury, 489 U. S. 803, 809 (1989). Close attention to that context, however, leads me to conclude that Congress did not intend to require imprisonment upon revocation of the original term of probation.
Congress enacted the drug proviso as § 7303(a)(2) of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 (1988 Act). Pub. L. 100-690, 102 Stat. 4181, 4464. Section 7303(b)(2) of the 1988 Act, which concerns defendants serving a term of supervised release, provides that "[i]f the defendant is found by the court to be in the possession of a controlled substance, the court shall terminate the term of supervised release and require the defendant to serve in prison not less than one-third of the term of supervised release." 102 Stat. 4464, codified at 18 U. S. C. § 3583(g) (emphasis added). Sections 7303(a)(2) and (b)(2) are, as the Government puts it, "parallel and closely related." Brief for United States 26. Both pertain to the consequences of drug possession for defendants under some form of noncustodial supervision. They differ, of course, in one fundamental respect: Section 7303(b)(2) explicitly provides for a revocation sentence of imprisonment, while § 7303(a)(2) does not. The difference is significant. " '[W]here Congress includes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is generally presumed that Congress acts intentionally and purposely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion.' " Gozlon-Peretz v. United States, 498 U. S. 395, 404 (1991), quoting Russello v. United States, 464 U. S. 16, 23 (1983) (internal quotation marks omitted). The presumption loses some of its force when the sections in question are dissimilar and scattered at distant points of a lengthy and complex enactment. But in this case, given the parallel structure of §§ 7303(a)(2) and (b)(2) and the fact that Congress enacted both provisions in the same section of the same Act, the presumption is strong. The disparate use of the
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