Cite as: 540 U. S. 614 (2004)
Ginsburg, J., dissenting
for genuine, albeit nonpocketbook, harm, and gives persons thus adversely affected an incentive to sue to enforce the Act.6
Congress has used language similar to § 552a(g)(4) in other privacy statutes. See 18 U. S. C. § 2707(c); 7 26 U. S. C. § 6110( j)(2); 8 26 U. S. C. § 7217(c) (1976 ed., Supp. V).9 These
6 The Court places great weight on Congress' establishment of a Privacy Protection Study Commission, and its charge to the Commission to consider, among many other things, "whether the Federal Government should be liable for general damages incurred by an individual as the result of a willful or intentional violation of [§ 552a(g)(1)(C) or (D)]." Ante, at 622 (internal quotation marks omitted). This less than crystalline reference to the Commission, however, left unaltered § 552a(g)(4)(A)'s embracive term "a person entitled to recovery," words the Court must read out of the statute to render its interpretation sensible. See ante, at 623-624, n. 8.
7 Section 2707(c), concerning unauthorized access to electronic communications, provides:
"The court may assess as damages in a civil action under this section the sum of the actual damages suffered by the plaintiff and any profits made by the violator as a result of the violation, but in no case shall a person entitled to recover receive less than the sum of $1,000. If the violation is willful or intentional, the court may assess punitive damages. In the case of a successful action to enforce liability under this section, the court may assess the costs of the action, together with reasonable attorney fees determined by the court." (Emphasis added.)
8 Section 6110(j)(2) provides: "In any suit brought under the provisions of paragraph (1)(A) in which the Court determines that an employee of the Internal Revenue Service intentionally or willfully failed to delete in accordance with subsection (c), or in any suit brought under subparagraph (1)(B) in which the Court determines that an employee intentionally or willfully failed to act in accordance with subsection (g) or (i)(4)(B), the United States shall be liable to the person in an amount equal to the sum of—
"(A) actual damages sustained by the person but in no case shall a person be entitled to receive less than the sum of $1,000, and
"(B) the costs of the action together with reasonable attorney's fees as determined by the Court." (Emphasis added.)
9 Section 7217(c), which was repealed in 1982, provided: "In any suit brought under the provisions of subsection (a), upon a finding of liability on the part of the defendant, the defendant shall be liable to the plaintiff in an amount equal to the sum of—
639
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