&gt; What&#x27;s important is the letter of the law, the relevant preceding decisions, and the judge&#x27;s reason and conscience (which is checked by appeals). The context the law was originally written in is just fluff.<p>The &quot;relevant preceding decisions&quot; include decisions specifying what canons of construction are used to interpret the meaning of law, and those decisions do hold out that legislative intent is a factor to consider when resolving the correct interpretation of words that can reasonably interpreted in different ways before considering that intent.