Building on Chris’s previous post concerning legalese I came across the following:

Military Commissions Act of 2006

SEC. 8. REVISIONS TO DETAINEE TREATMENT ACT OF 2005 RELATING TO PROTECTION OF CERTAIN UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL.

(a) Counsel and Investigations- Section 1004(b) of the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 2000dd-1(b)) is amended–

(1) by striking may provide’ and insertingshall provide’;

(2) by inserting or investigation’ aftercriminal prosecution’; and

(3) by inserting whether before United States courts or agencies, foreign courts or agencies, or international courts or agencies,’ afterdescribed in that subsection’.

And all of a suddent it occurred to me: We’re encoding a diff in english. Maybe law and programming are really more similar than I realized.