Ohio Court of Appeals Rules Punctuation Is Important

Judge Hendrickson of the 12th District Court of Appeals in Ohio is fast becoming a fan of English majors everywhere. The judge wrote the decision overturning a conviction because the village of West Jefferson failed to insert a comma in a village ordinance.

In February 2014, Andrea Cammelleri was cited for a violation when she left her pickup truck parked on a street in West Jefferson, Ohio. That was because an ordinance in the village stated it was illegal to park “any motor vehicle camper, trailer, farm implement and/or non-motorized vehicle” on a street for more than 24 hours. At a bench trial, Cammelleri argued that the ordinance did not apply because the language prohibits a motor vehicle camper from being parked on the street for an extended period of time and she parked a pickup truck.

Cammelleri was convicted, but filed an appeal.   The village argued that the lack of a comma separating motor vehicle from camper was a typo and did not invalidate her violation. But the court sided with Cammelleri.

Grammar still counts in the law.