DEFENSE · 21usc841:x-rule-of-lenity
Invoked when statutory text of § 841(b) is grievously ambiguous (declined in Chapman where "mixture or substance" was held unambiguous; reinforced in Burrage where "results from" was given its ordinary but-for meaning).
Exact element source
any person who violates subsection (a) of this section shall be sentenced as follows:Source:
docroot/ir/usc/title21.jsonl#title21_sec841; Unicode character offsets [489:574] (end exclusive); SHA-256 ebaba73bf6e21a591f44bf851f24a052a5687813c505030cd9483e17753e9420.All variants
| Variant | Description | Merits instance blocks | Distinct cases | Example cases (up to 3 per group) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| no-grievous-ambiguity/plain-text-and-structure | 0 Satisfied 0; not satisfied 0; excluded context 1 | 0 | No counted merits examples Excluded context examples: /us/500/0453-01 — Supreme Court of the United States · 1991 — applied/procedural |
How courts decided this element
| Case | Element | Holding and scope | Variant | Exact source quotations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /us/500/0453-01 — Supreme Court of the United States · 1991 | Rule of lenity in construing ambiguous penalty provisions of § 841(b) | not Excluded from merits counts applied / procedural basis: law; claim: (a),(b)(1)(B)(v) | no-grievous-ambiguity/plain-text-and-structure | There is no reason to resort to the rule of lenity in these circumstances.Source: docroot/ir/caselaw/us_500.jsonl#/us/500/0453-01; Unicode character offsets [15501:15575] (end exclusive); SHA-256 9c5fd40cbce1f1caf4effb469b4d262677c3bae7a486aaca29dd0c70e05d713c. |
Court interpretations
interpretation
So long as it contains a detectable amount, the entire mixture or substance is to be weighed when calculating the sentence.
/us/500/0453-01 — Supreme Court of the United States · 1991
So long as it contains a detectable amount, the entire mixture or substance is to be weighed when calculating the sentence.Source:
docroot/ir/caselaw/us_500.jsonl#/us/500/0453-01; Unicode character offsets [5764:5887] (end exclusive); SHA-256 9c5fd40cbce1f1caf4effb469b4d262677c3bae7a486aaca29dd0c70e05d713c.Invoked when statutory text of § 841(b) is grievously ambiguous (declined in Chapman where "mixture or substance" was held unambiguous; reinforced in Burrage where "results from" was given its ordinary but-for meaning).