Corpus Linguistics Approach to Georgia Constitution of 1983
Analysis of Georgia Constitution of 1983 using corpus linguistics approach, exploring the interpretation of 'gravity' and 'great public importance' in legal contexts. Examines Georgia and United States Supreme Court precedents to understand the meaning of these terms.
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Are Cases of Gravity Worthy of Certiorari? A Corpus Linguistics Approach to Interpreting the Georgia Constitution of 1983 Jonathan Mok
Constitution of 1983 The Georgia Constitution of 1983 Article VI Section VI Paragraph V Review of Cases in the Court of Appeals provides: The Supreme Court may review by certiorari cases in the Court of Appeals which are of gravity or great public importance.
Georgia Supreme Court Precedent In Todd v. Dekle, decided five years before 1983, the Court held that certiorari will not be granted except in cases of public gravity and importance, which is valid today.Todd v. Dekle, 240 Ga. 842 (1978). In State v. Tyson, decided in 2001, the Court held to have jurisdiction to review any decision of the court of appeals by certiorari so long as the case presents an issue of great concern, gravity, and importance to the public citing the Supreme Court Rules Rule 40 Standard for Granting In Mobuary v. the State, the Court opined that the case addressed an issue of great public importance by presenting the opportunity to apply the tolling effect of statewide judicial emergency orders, thereby making the petitioner s petition timely and erroneously dismissed by the Court of Appeals, and implied elsewise this routine correction-of-error petition would have been denied.
United States Supreme Court Precedent In Baily v. U.S., the United States Supreme Court interpreted 18 U.S.C. 924(c)(1) and held that words are given their ordinary and natural meaning when interpreting them and the canon of surplusage that strives to give every word and provision its own effect. Bailey v. U.S., 516 U.S. 137 (1995). In Milner v. Department of Navy, the Court held that statutes should be read to avoid making any provision superfluous, void, or insignificant . Milner v. Department of Navy, 562 U.S. 562 (2011).
Research Questions (1) What is the meaning of the phrase of gravity or great public importance during the time the Constitution was ratified? (2) Does the meaning of gravity separate it from great public importance ? Does that difference refer to cases of an individual versus collective nature?
Methodology I Corpus: COHA Total Search Results for Of Gravity : 1512 observations Time Period: 1980 1990 Preliminary Search Results: 212 observations of the phrase of gravity Often following various nouns that can be categorized into scientific and non-scientific use Scientific and non-scientific use of the phrase is highly patterned and dependent upon the noun it follows
Methodology II: Collocate Search Under the Collocates tab search query: of gravity Part of Speech: NOUN 2 words to the left of the phrase Time Period: 1990-1980
Collocate Search from 1980 - 1990 Scientific Usage Examples Collocate Center Force Law Laws Absence Lack Pull Centre Theory Field Effect Effects Forces Constraints Aura 1 Collocate Search Results Non Scientific Usage Collocate Frequency Total Observations 199 Different Noun Collocates Frequency 54 29 17 12 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 3 3 1 Touch 1 61 Scorn 1 Scientific Usage 57 noun types 195 observations Face 1 Non Scientific Usage 4 noun types 4 observations
Collocate Search from 1820 - 1990 Collocate Search Results Scientific Usage Examples Collocate Center Centre Force Law Laws Pull Forces Attraction Action Effect Non Scientific Usage Examples Collocate Air Degree Expression Kind Field Assumption Look Sort Shade Man Total Observations 1155 Different Noun Collocates Frequency Frequency 208 185 154 107 46 39 24 21 20 17 12 10 178 8 2 5 6 4 2 4 3 Scientific Usage 125 Noun Types 1046 Observations Non Scientific Usage 53 Noun Types 107 Observations
Usage Of Gravity to Describe Emotion or Expression In saying this the Judge had spoken with solemnity, and a look of gravity deepened on every countenance as he proceeded. David Jayne Hill, The Material Needs of Our Diplomatic Service, HARPERS, 1915. "What were you thinking about?" said his friend, in his habitual tone of gravity and calmness, which never seemed to amount to stateliness. JOHN ESTEN COOKE, ELLIE. OR, THE HUMAN COMEDY (1855). Reserve 1 Condition 1 Suggestion 1 Noun Collocate Frequency Air Expression Assumption Look Mood Undercurrent Tone Sternness Scorn Shadow 12 8 6 4 2 2 1 1 1 1
Varying Level or Gradient Noun Collocates Mr. Reedy was repeatedly asked about the possibility of new United States air strikes on North Vietnam and what degree of gravity the President assigned to the new Communist attacks. Charles Mohr, Johnson is Silent; Confers with Security Aides Amid Secrecy Over Retaliation, N.Y. TIMES, Feb. 11, 1965. She became brisk, businesslike, more self-insistent. Her deep voice became even deeper, assumed a kind of gravity. Richard Ford, My Mother, In Memory, HARPERS, 1987. Noun Collocate Frequency Degree Shade Touch Note Kind Sort Tinge Volume Mingling Type 10 4 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Singular Noun Collocates Noun Collocate Noun Collocate Field Frequency I praise Heaven that I am grave and sober, and, as you remark, the only person of gravity and sobriety in this worshipful company. JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY, MERRY-MOUNT: A ROMANCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY, VOLUME 1 (1849). Increase of years gives to life a new character of gravity; and the great idea of a future existence, causes the distinctions of wealth and rank to vanish. ALBERTINE-ADRIENNE NECKER DE SAUSSURE & EMMA WILLARD & LINCOLN PHELPS, PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION, COMMENCING WITH THE INFANT (Bos.: W.D. Ticknor 1835) Frequency 5 Atmosphere Thought Resumption Face Piece Cloud Incubation Accession Way Aura Cast Character 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 Man Mixture Impersonation 2 Person Matter Temple Situation Time Point Moment Pretense 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Plural Noun Collocates Many persons of gravity and weight saw great danger in a change like the first Reform Act, which left it to the Lords to assert themselves thereafter by an external force, instead of through a share in the internal composition of a body so formidable. W. E. Gladstone, Kin Beyond the Sea, N. Am. Rev. 179-213 (1878). It was at this juncture, when the weeping of women was plentiful, when old men pulled long faces, and the very urchins of the street observed periods of gravity and even silence, that a notion entered the head of Mrs. Tanberry -- young Janie Tanberry -- to the effect that such things were all wrong. BOOTH TARKINGTON, THE TWO VANREVELS (Charles Scribner s Sons 1902). Noun Collocate Frequency Minutes 1 Themes 1 Periods 1 Fits 1 Persons 1 Attitudes 1
Corpus of Founding Era American English (COFEA) Search query: of gravity Searched for collocates Part of speech: noun Range: L2 117 total observations 106 observations after duplicates are removed Manually analyzed results and categorized nouns into scientific and non-scientific
COFEA Search Results Scientific Usage Examples Non Scientific Usage Examples Collocate Search Results Total Observations Collocate Centre(s) Force Laws Center Law Power Effects Principles Powers Effect Frequency Collocate Air Habit(s) Mixture Bounds Degree Deal Ridicule Man Temple Stock Frequency 7 3 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 19 106 7 7 5 4 3 2 2 1 1 Different Noun Collocates 47 Different Nouns 19 Noun Types 67 Observations Scientific Usage Non Scientific Usage 28 Noun Types 39 Observations
Non Scientific Usage All this time the chief, and his whole circle, sat with a great deal of gravity hardly speaking a syllable to each other. A voyage to the Pacific Ocean; for making discoveries in the northern hemisphere: performed under the direction of Captains Cook, Clerke, and Gore, in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, 1780. / By Captain James Cook, F.R.S. and Captain James King, LL.D. and F.R.S. We found him to be a man of gravity and good sense. He viewed the ship, and the various new objects, with particular attention; and asked many pertinent questions. Id.
Conclusion (1) The meaning of cases of gravity are cases of a grave, serious, or solemn nature and cases of great public importance apply to a wide collective of people (2) The meaning of the phrase of gravity typically describes single actors versus great public importance that applies to a wide collective of people
