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.
Sotomayor joined most of Gorsuch’s full-throated support for the rule of lenity in Wooden.
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
First, a canon of statutory construction known as the rule of lenity should apply here.
From Slate • Aug. 29, 2019
Lin invoked this principle when he raised the rule of lenity, which holds that an ambiguous criminal law should be interpreted in favor of the defendant.
From Slate • Apr. 25, 2017
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
Vocabulary lists containing lenity
