Opinion ID: 1909122
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Punctuation: the Importance of a Comma

Text: Like the statute in Underwood, § 11-162 does not contain commas setting apart the clause from the different categories of individuals named in the list. When the qualifying clause is set apart by a comma, it is clear that it modifies every element within the list. For example, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment states: nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. The comma following the word property clearly indicates that the qualifying clause without due process of law applies to all three terms: life, liberty, and property. The Court of Special Appeals recognized that the qualifying clause was not set apart by a comma and was therefore limited to modify only the term other person. Petitioners, in response, argue that the intermediate Court ignored the comma before `or,' which comma applies the entire subsequent phrase to `owner' or `agent.' There is no such comma in the statute. Interestingly, however, althoughas we indicatethere is no comma after agent in the text of the actual statute, it somehow made it's way into the petitioners' briefs. [14]