Statutory Interpretation and Gate-Keeping

This article from Findlaw
is a somewhat bizarre example of how statutory interpretation matters: Does a videotaped sexual encounter, later emailed, fall under a statute that governs wiretapping? An appeals court overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit under the statute.

Doe will still have to prove that the recording had a soundtrack and that she had an expectation of privacy in any oral communications that ended up on the tape, but nothing she has pleaded in her complaint will preclude her from meeting these requirements, the panel said.