Statutory Interpretation: Sometimes It Is Easier Than It Appears.
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With that said, the first category within § 750.145c(2) states: “[a] person who persuades, induces, entices, coerces, causes, or knowingly allows a child to engage in a child sexually abusive activity for the purpose of producing any child sexually abusive material . . . is guilty of a felony.”125 It is clear that Hill did not induce, entice, nor coerce a child to engage in child sexually abusive material for the purpose of producing such material.126
The second category, within § 750.145c(2), states: “a person who arranges for, produces, makes, or finances . . . is guilty of a felony.”127 The Michigan Supreme Court’s holding focused almost entirely on two words “produce” and “make.”128 The Court stated that the definition for “produce” is dependant on “the conduct of those person[s]” that are responsible for “transform[ing] an idea into a reality [while] ‘makes’ should be interpreted in a similar manner as meaning ‘to cause to exist or happen’ or ‘to cause to become.’”129
The words “produce” and “make” are verbs130 and characteristically indicates “the grammatical center of a predicate and expresses an act, occurrence, or mode of being.”131 A “verb is perhaps the most important part of” a sentence because it asserts “something about the subject of the sentence” while expressing an “action, an event, or state . . . of being.”132
“Produce” actually has multiple definitions; however, the most appropriate to consider, based upon the context of § 750.145c(2) and the fact that it is being used as a verb, are the following:
to give birth or rise to[;] to extend in length, area, or volume[;] to make available for public exhibition or dissemination: as to provide funding[, or] . . . to oversee the making of [something[;] to cause to have existence or to happen, to give being, form, or shape[;] to compose, create, or bring out by intellectual or physical effort.133
While “make” is similarly defined as “to cause to exist, occur, or appear[;] to bring into being by forming, shaping, or altering material[;] to lay out and construct[;]”134 “to produce something[;] to produce a film or television programme is to direct, produce it, or act in it[;] or to perform an action.”135
So what is the proper definition for “produce” and “make” when used in the context of § 750.145c(2)? The Michigan Supreme Court construed the definitions of “produce” and “make” by the words surrounding them.136 In other words, the Court used the doctrine of noscitur a sociis, which directs a reader to define or construe unknown words based in light of the language surrounding them.137 The words “produce” and “make” are surrounded by “arranges for” and “finances.”138 The Supreme Court, using noscitur a sociis and its noted definitions, determined that § 750.145c(2) focused on punishing those individuals “who [were] involved in the creation or origination of child sexually abusive material.”139
Even though the Supreme Court’s decision is of valid considersation, it does not adequately represent the scope of “produce” and “make.” Based upon the definitions listed above, the best definition for “produce” is to give rise to, to bring into existence, or make available to the public for dissemination.140 “Make” should be defined as: to cause to happen, exist, appear, or to produce something or perform some action.141
Even if one considers “arranges for” or “finances” when interpreting the meaning for “produce” and “make,” it can be assumed that an individual in question would be assisting in procurring the ability to create child sexually abusive material or paying for the material needed to “produce” the material in question. This argument is maintained by the inference created due to the legislature’s lack of defining “arranges for” or “finances.”142
The question still remains whether Hill’s actions fit within the definition of “produce” and “make.” In essence, Hill created a copy of child sexually abusive material.143Therefore, he gave rise to, brought into existence, and made available for public dissemination something containing child sexually abusive material.144
In order to fully understand and analyze “produce” and “make” under § 750.145c, the phrase “child sexually abusive material” must be consulted, which is defined as:
any depiction, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, including . . . photograph, picture, film, slide, video, electronic visual image, computer diskette, computer or computer-generated image, or picture, or sound recording which is of a child . . . engaging in a listed sexual act; . . . or any reproduction, copy, or print of such a photograph, picture, film, slide, video, . . . book, magazine, computer, or . . . other visual or print or printable medium . . .145
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