Posted by:
Prosecutor
at Thu May 27 01:02:36 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Prosecutor ]
I apologize for butchering the English language with horrible grammar, spelling, etc...in my above post. I need to type slower at 2:00 am, especially if I've been drinking; however, I need to expand on what I wrote.
The apparent ambiguity of some of these terms in criminal statutes often leads the court to find a statute unconstitutional. In the U.S., a criminal statute must be sufficiently unambiguous so that a person of ordinary intelligence can understand what the law requires or prohibits, and then conform his conduct to the law. Further, law enforcement must not have wide discretion in the application of the statute. Otherwise, the court may find that a prosecution deprives the defendant of due process and other constitutional rights.
This is not to say that one should assume the words in a statute have a "common sense" meaning. Rather, you are presumed to have knowledge (constructive knowledge) of the intended legal meaning of those terms if they appear elsewhere in the statute or case law. This is sort of a fiction. We know that most people to not pour through volumes of case law, or keep current on recent court decisions; however, that is the way it works.
Yaaaawn....adios,
Prosecutor / RWK
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RE: definitions of wild and domesticated animals - Prosecutor, Thu May 27 01:02:36 2004