Presence of Oxford comma critical in judge's ruling in Labor dispute case

A FB friend posted this a few hours ago and I found it highly amusing considering the disdain the Oxford comma has among some.

Personally, I’ve never understood this disdain as IMO, the Oxford comma provides far more clarity in sentences listing 3 or more items. Consequently, I tend to get irritated with writers who leave out the Oxford comma when they write such sentences.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2017/03/15/oxford-comma-maine-labor-dispute/

What are your thoughts on this topic? :smiley:

I find this interesting, pertinent, and grammatical.

More on the Oxford Comma

https://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/elitist-superfluous-or-popular-we-polled-americans-on-the-oxford-comma/

My D and I were just talking about this. She uses the Oxford Comma 99% of the time. My usage depends upon the context and how the sentence fits on the page.

This comment is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand and God

I am a staunch defender of the serial comma.

I didn’t know it is called the serial comma, I use it without fail, I read the statute at issue as well as the Court’s decision, and I believe the Court ruled correctly.

Edited to add: I just realized that what I wrote above is a list ending in a serial comma, but also with a non-comma sub-clause as one of the items in the list.

In essence, I wrote: A, B, C and D, and E.

Is there a grammatical term for that?

Actually in the I read, they made the point that the lack of the gerund was also telling. So not “distributing” like all the other verbs, but “distribution”. That bolstered their case.

Man I wish I could correct my typos! In the article I read!