712
Opinion of Stevens, J.
of its legislation." Illinois Brick Co. v. Illinois, 431 U. S. 720, 736 (1977).11
In this case, these considerations point in two conflicting directions. On one hand, they counsel adherence to the construction of § 1001 adopted in Bramblett; on the other, they argue in favor of retaining the body of law that has cut back on the breadth of Bramblett in Circuits from coast to coast.
It would be difficult to achieve both goals simultaneously. For if the word "department" encompasses the Judiciary, as Bramblett stated, 348 U. S., at 509, the judicial function exception cannot be squared with the text of the statute. A court is a court—and is part of the Judicial Branch— whether it is functioning in a housekeeping or judicial capacity. Conversely, Bramblett could not stand if we preserved the thrust of the judicial function exception—i. e., if we interpreted 18 U. S. C. § 1001 so that it did not reach conduct occurring in federal-court proceedings. Again, although Bramblett involved a false representation to an office within the Legislative Branch, the decision lumped all three branches together in one and the same breath. See 384 U. S., at 509 ("department" in § 1001 "was meant to describe the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Government").
11 See also, e. g., Patterson v. McLean Credit Union, 491 U. S., at 172-173 (stare decisis has "special force in the area of statutory interpretation, for here, unlike in the context of constitutional interpretation, the legislative power is implicated, and Congress remains free to alter what we have done"); Square D Co. v. Niagara Frontier Tariff Bureau, Inc., 476 U. S. 409, 424 (1986) (noting "the strong presumption of continued validity that adheres in the judicial interpretation of a statute"); Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U. S. 160, 189 (1976) (Stevens, J., concurring) (declining to overturn "a line of [statutory] authority which I firmly believe to have been incorrectly decided"); Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co., 285 U. S. 393, 406 (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting) ("Stare decisis is usually the wise policy, because in most matters it is more important that the applicable rule of law be settled than that it be settled right. This is commonly true, even where the error is a matter of serious concern, provided correction can be had by legislation") (citation omitted).
Page: Index Previous 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007