Plain meaning rule slavishly applied to state grievance statute, since amended

In Horner v. Dept. of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, the Virginia Supreme Court in an opinion by Senior Justice Compton reversed the Court of Appeals, rejected the arguments of the Attorney General, and applied former Va. Code 2.2-3003 in a manner the Attorney General's office argued was "absurd." Va. Code 2.2-3003, apparently to avoid the outcome of this case, was amended in 2003, c. 252.