Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/23pdf/23-5572_l6hn.pdf
Page Number: 34.0

6 

FISCHER v. UNITED STATES 

BARRETT, J., dissenting 

generis that Congress remained focused on the common at-
tribute  when  it  used  the  catchall  phrase”).    And  §1512(c)
does not follow the laundry-list-plus-catchall pattern.

The Court’s football example is only slightly better.  As a 

refresher: 

“[A]  football  league  might  adopt  a  rule  that  players 
must  not  ‘grab,  twist,  or  pull  a  facemask,  helmet,  or
other equipment with the intent to injure a player, or
otherwise  attack,  assault,  or  harm  any  player.’    If  a 
linebacker shouts insults at the quarterback and hurts
his  feelings,  has  the  linebacker  nonetheless  followed 
the rule?  Of course he has.  The examples of prohibited
actions  all  concern  dangerous  physical  conduct  that 
might  inflict  bodily  harm;  trash  talk  is  simply  not  of
that kind.”  Ante, at 6. 

Put  aside  that  it  is  hard  to  imagine  anyone  describing
“trash talk” as inflicting an “injury” or “harming” a player 
in a football game.  The league rule plainly forecloses the 
possibility.  Consistent  with  the  noscitur  canon,  “harm” 
takes  its  meaning  from  its  companions  “attack”  and  “as-
sault.”  And while the Court tries to track §1512(c)’s struc-
ture by adding an extra intent clause, the two clauses in its 
example are still tightly focused on actions directed at the 
player.  (After all, who is wearing the facemask, helmet, or 
other equipment?)  Given that shared theme, it is easy to 
understand that the first clause’s focus on physical conduct
limits  the  (only  slightly)  more  general  clause.  But 
§1512(c)’s subsections are not so closely related—(c)(1) fo-
cuses  specifically  on  objects  in  a  proceeding,  and  (c)(2)
broadens the lens to the proceeding itself. 

Consider a rule that actually mirrors §1512(c): 

“Any player who:

“(1)  punches,  chokes,  or  kicks  an  opposing  player

with the intent to remove him from the game; or 

“(2) otherwise interrupts, hinders, or interferes with