lenity

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Gorsuch is the court’s most consistent proponent of the rule of lenity, sometimes to the conservatives’ dismay.

From Slate • Mar. 1, 2023

Dershowitz further suggested that the "rule of lenity," or the legal doctrine that ambiguities should be resolved in favor of defendants, also counseled towards acquitting the president.

From Fox News • Jan. 27, 2020

If the rule of lenity applies here, then Butler should not be charged with a hate crime.

From Slate • Apr. 25, 2017

“At the very least,” Kagan writes, the rule of lenity “should tip the scales in Lockhart’s favor,” because the majority does not “unambiguously” demonstrate that the critical clause does not apply to all three crimes.

From Slate • Mar. 1, 2016

Like many people, Chris apparently judged artists and close friends by their work, not their life, yet he was temperamentally incapable of extending such lenity to his father.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer