Question

Rules of thumb to be used in determining the authoritative value of a judicial decision include:

a. Tax Court decisions carry less weight than District Court opinions.
b. Tax Court Memorandum decisions carry more weight than Tax Court Regular opinions.
c. District Court opinions carry less weight than Tax Court opinions.
d. a concurring opinion carries more weight than a majority opinion.
e. All of the above.

Answer 1

Answer:

c. District Court opinions carry less weight than Tax Court opinions.

Explanation:

"Judges have developed various interpretive tools in the form of canons of construction. Canons broadly fall into two types. "Language," or "linguistic," canons are interpretive "rules of thumb" for drawing inferences based on customary usage, grammar, and the like."

Reference: Demand Progress. “Statutory Interpretation: General Principles and Recent Trends.” EveryCRSReport.com, Congressional Research Service, 24 Sept. 2014