Substantive canons are normative and provide a default in how the law should look. The federal clear statement rule provides that statutes should not be construed to interfere with state sovereignty and jurisdiction in absence of clear language of Congress’ intent. This rule is pragmatic to protect individual liberty from arbitrary power and tyranny of the majority government. Furthermore, the canon of constitutional avoidance provides that in the event of statutory ambiguity, courts should adopt an interpretation that spares it from resolving a question about the constitutionality of the statute. Dann will argue that it is inherent in our constitution that the treaty and statute be read with principles of federalism in mind and that charging
