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The '''rule of lenity''' a legal tradition intended to allow leniency for defendants when a statute is unclear.  The rule of lenity states an important rule of construction that should be widely accepted, yet only two Justices were willing to apply it in the recent case of ''Bittner v. United States'' (only Justices Gorsuch and Jackson joined this part of the majority decision in favor of the defendant).  Though the rule is cited often, it is "a custom more honor'd in the breach" and thus rarely actually followed by tyrannical tendencies of courts. ''[[Hamlet]]'' Act I, scene 4.

The '''rule of lenity''' a legal tradition intended to allow leniency for defendants when a statute is unclear.  The rule of lenity states an important rule of construction that should be widely accepted, yet only two Justices were willing to apply it in the recent case of ''[[Bittner v. United States]]'' (only Justices Gorsuch and Jackson joined this part of the majority decision in favor of the defendant).  Though the rule is cited often, it is "a custom more honor'd in the breach" and thus rarely actually followed by tyrannical tendencies of courts. ''[[Hamlet]]'' Act I, scene 4.

The "rule of lenity" has been cited by federal courts 5,364 times as of March 3, 2023, including 131 times by Supreme Court Justices (not necessarily by a court majority).

The "rule of lenity" has been cited by federal courts 5,364 times as of March 3, 2023, including 131 times by Supreme Court Justices (not necessarily by a court majority).