Canons-of-Construction

Expressio Unius Est Exclusio Alterius

A common-law canon of statutory construction: 'the express mention of one thing excludes others.' The canon raises a defeasible presumption that items not listed in a statute are excluded from its reach. It is genuinely ancient, genuinely operative in U.S. statutory interpretation, and frequently invoked in alternate-tax theory — most often without acknowledging the canon's well-mapped limits or the express statutory overrides that Congress regularly enacts.