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More great SCOTUS briefing on the rule of lenity

By Douglas A. Berman

As noted in this prior post, the petitioner in Burgess v. United States, No. 06-11429 ? a case concerning the application of a 20-year mandatory minimum sentence imposed under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A) ? filed a merits brief last week that included an interesting discussion of the "rule of lenity."   This week now brings an amicus brief in Burgess which is focused on the history and modern application of the lenity canon of construction.  This amicus brief can be download below, and here are just a few of the many highlights from its interesting arguments:The rule of lenity derives from the practice of the English courts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of strictly construing penal statutes.... [H]istorical precedents show an emerging understanding that a restrained judicial reading of sentencing laws appropriately observes the line between the legislature?s prerogative in enacting criminal statutes and the more limited judicial role of interpreting and applying them...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 30, 2008 (boomark / email).