To take a concrete example, in United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, the Supreme Court faced the question whether employers could voluntarily adopt affirmative action programs under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which specified that employers may not “discriminate … because of … race” in hiring. Some of the legislators who voted for the Civil Rights Act may have intended to establish a legal rule banning only invidious discrimination; others may have intended to establish a legal rule banning any use of race. Many members may have had little or no intention with respect to legal effect – they may have voted for the bill for irrelevant motives without giving much thought to what legal effect it would produce. Granting that groups can have collective intentions in some circumstances, how plausible is it that the Congress and President in fact had a collective intention on the crucial issue in this case?