Turning the Rule of Lenity Into a Rule of Lenity
“Too many crimes, too much punishment”[1] has been a recurrent problem in our criminal justice system.[2] That concern gave rise to a canon of statutory construction known as the Rule of Lenity, which has evolved to ensure that criminal laws, if objectively ambiguous, are read in favor of the defendant and against the government. So wrote William Blackstone in 1765: “[P]enal statutes must be construed strictly.”[3]
Source: heritage.org
