The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is set to determine whether state agencies should be afforded deference in interpreting penal statutes that are found to be ambiguous.

In Woodford v. Pennsylvania Insurance Department, the Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner and, subsequently, the Commonwealth Court both deferred to the state Insurance Department’s interpretation of the Insurance Department Act of 1921 as prohibiting insurance producers from collecting fees in addition to commission in consumer transactions, despite also acknowledging that the statute was ambiguous and had caused confusion in the industry.