3/17/2017 A Missing Oxford Comma Just Changed the Course of a Court Case | Smart News | Smithsonian

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AMissingOxfordCommaJustChangedtheCourseofa
CourtCase
Callitpedantic,butcommawarsareathing

(Grammatical)orderinthecourt!(DNY59/iStock)

ByErinBlakemore
smithsonian.com
March16,20171:29PM

Isaserialcommaacriticaltoolforclearcommunicationorunnecessarywasteofspace?Admitit:Ifyourereadingthis,you
probablyhaveastrongopiniononewayortheother.ItturnsoutaUnitedStatesCourtofAppealshasopinionsaboutOxford
commas,too.AsThuHuongHareportsforQuartz,arecentrulinghandeddownavictoryforcommasincourt.

Thetroublebeganwhenagroupofdairytruckdriverssuedtheiremployer,MainebasedOakhurstDairy,forover$10millionin
unpaidovertime.TheirclaimreliedonaMainelawthatexemptscertainjobsfromovertimepay.

Thatswherethecommacamein:Mainesovertimestatutesstatethatpeopleinvolvedinthecanning,processing,preserving,
freezing,drying,marketing,storing,packingforshipmentordistributionof:
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3/17/2017 A Missing Oxford Comma Just Changed the Course of a Court Case | Smart News | Smithsonian
(1)Agriculturalproduce
(2)Meatandfishproductsand
(3)Perishablefoods.

areexemptfromovertimepay.Thedairyarguedthatpackingforshipmentanddistributionweretwodifferentjobsandthat
thus,overtimewasinappropriate.Butthedriversarguedthatpackingforshipmentordistributioniswhatwasintendedbythe
lawandthatsincetheyonlydelivergoodsinsteadofpackingthem,theywereowedmoney.

Thecasewentallthewaytoanappealscourt,whichkickedthecasebacktothelowercourtduetotheambiguityintroducedby
thelackofaserial,orOxford,comma.Forwantofacomma,wehavethiscase,wroteJudgeDavidJ.Barron.

DespitethefactthatMainesownlegislativestyleguidediscouragesuseoftheserialcomma,writesHa,theappealscourt
arguesandthestyleguideshows[that]clarityisoftheutmostimportancewhenalistisambiguous.Thatsthecasewith
journalisticstyleguidesfororganizationsliketheAPandNewYorkTimes,too.TheyusuallyeschewtheOxfordcommaaspart
ofatimehonoredspacesavingjournalisticconventionstrategyexceptwhereitpreventsmisreading.

ThecommadramahasraisedeyebrowsandnotjustinMaine.NewOrleansTimesPicayunecolumnistJarvisDeBerrycalledit
thenerdiestdisputeever,whileCNNsAJWillinghamdubbeditsupremelypersnickety.Sowhatnow?AsNickMcCrea
writesfortheBangorDailyNews,Ineffect,afederalcourtrulingwasoverturnedbecauseofapoorlywrittensentenceanda
missingcomma.Thecaseislikelytoreturntocourtbeforebeingresolved,saysMcCreabutfordiehardproponentsofthe
Oxfordcommaorthelackthereof,itsunlikelythestandoffwilleverend.

AboutErinBlakemore

ErinBlakemoreisaBoulder,Coloradobasedjournalist.HerworkhasappearedinpublicationslikeTheWashingtonPost,TIME,
mental_floss,PopularScienceandJSTORDaily.Learnmoreat.

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