Compare and contrast the law of legality and the law of lenity
What will be an ideal response?
The law of legality is a legal principle stating that a defendant cannot be convicted of a crime unless there is specific legislation making it illegal and defining the potential punishment. The advantage of the legality principle is that a criminal code provides prior notice to the people of what behavior is illegal. The principle of legality prevents governmental abuse. Yet its downside is flexibility. The criminal law has a hard time keeping pace with new actions, that although harmful, are not yet considered criminal. The principle of lenity is a legal principle requiring that any ambiguity in a statue should benefit the defendant, not the government. When statues are overly vague, for example, that vagueness should be resolved in favor of the defendant. The potential downside of lenity is that there is plenty of room for interpretation in the language of criminal law. As such, when taken to the extreme, the rule of lenity can be used to interpret a statue in a manner that is at odds with legislative intent. For this reason, many states have abolished the rule of lenity.
You might also like to view...
The evidentiary rule designed to keep out of court statements from being admitted into evidence is the _____________
Fill in the blank(s) with correct word
Those that support the death penalty argue that it is an effective deterrent to future offending.
Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)
Which of the following is not found in Erich Goode's list of drug use types?
a. Legal instrumental b. legal recreational c. legal non-recreational d. illegal recreational
In ________________________ (1988), the United States Supreme Court prohibited the execution of persons under 16 at the time of the offense but left open the age at which execution would be legally appropriate
Fill in the blank(s) with correct word