Grace v. Smith

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• noting that the inclusion of the words “owing allegiance” in a statute punishing treason are surplus-age because the concept is implicit in the term
• noting that the inclusion of the words \owing allegiance\ in a statute punishing treason are surplusage because the concept is implicit in the term
• holding that the rule of lenity applies to “statutes imposing criminal liability”
• holding that the rule of lenity applies to “statutes imposing criminal liability”
• stating that lenity is “an ancient rule of statutory construction that penal statutes should be strictly construed against the government . . . and in favor of the persons on whom such penalties are sought to be imposed.”
• “The rule that penal laws are to be construed strictly, is perhaps not much less old than construction itself.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).