Dunn v. Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n, 519 U.S. 465, 16 (1997)

Page:   Index   Previous  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  Next

480

DUNN v. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMM'N

Opinion of Scalia, J.

titioners, their amici, and the Treasury Department argue that if off-exchange foreign currency options are not treated as exempt from CEA regulation, the increased costs associated with unnecessary regulation of the highly sophisticated OTC foreign currency markets might well drive this business out of the United States.15 The Commission responds that to the extent limited exemptions from regulation are necessary, it will provide them, but argues that options are particularly susceptible to fraud and abuse if not carefully policed. Brief for CFTC 26, 49. As the Commission properly acknowledges, however, these are arguments best addressed to the Congress, not the courts. See United States v. Rutherford, 442 U. S. 544, 555 (1979). Lacking the expertise or authority to assess these important competing claims, we note only that "a literal construction of a statute" does not "yiel[d] results so manifestly unreasonable that they could not fairly be attributed to congressional design." Ibid.

The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

Justice Scalia, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment.

I agree with the Court that "the purposes underlying the Treasury Amendment are most properly fulfilled by giving effect to the plain meaning of the language as Congress enacted it," ante, at 474, which includes options to buy or sell foreign currency. This principle is contradicted, however, by the Court's extensive discussion of legislative history, see ante, at 471, n. 8, 473-474, 478-479, as though that were necessary to confirm the "plain meaning of the lan-15 Brief for Petitioners 23-25; Brief for Crédit Lyonnais et al. as Amici Curiae 3; Brief for Foreign Exchange Committee et al. as Amici Curiae 6; Brief for CFTC 25.

Page:   Index   Previous  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  Next

Last modified: October 4, 2007