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Nevada Supreme Court finds sister-in-law to be related by blood or marriage to brother-in-law

In City of Las Vegas v. Dist. Ct. (Meunier), the Nevada Supreme Court, sitting en banc, grants a petition for a writ of mandamus, in favor of the City, which challenged a ruling of the district court that NRS 33.018 (domestic violence) did not apply to battery by a sister-in-law upon her brother-in-law. The district court had concluded that NRS 33.018 was ambiguous in defining the term "related by blood or marriage" and that under the rule of lenity could not be applied to the defendant. The Nevada Supreme Court finds that "by its plain meaning, the term 'related by blood or marriage' includes the relationship between sister-in-law and brother-in-law. The Court also finds that the rule of lenity does not apply because the statute is not ambiguous and because the purpose of the domestic violence enhancement is to comprehensively combate domestic violence and reduce recidivism.continue to full post

Full post as published by Harmful Error on July 24, 2008 (boomark / email).