After reading the assignments and watching the videos, please pick ONE of the arrested individuals below (Harry, Mrs. Weasley, Luna, Hermione, or Neville) and answer the question listed below for that individual in a Discussion Board post using the principles that you learned this week. Click the link above (Unit 7: Group Discussion Board) and then on the Group A or B, click on Group Discussion Board and then on Unit 7: Group Discussion Board.
PROMPT: The City Council of Grass Pants in West Oregifornia passes the following statute in 1979:
Sec. 1. The Council finds that vehicles create safety problems when they are operated in parks. We, therefore, find that the best solution is to ban all vehicles from parks in the town of Grass Pants, West Oregifornia.
Sec. 2. No vehicles of any kind shall be allowed in any town park. Any person who brings or drives a vehicle into one of the city parks in Grass Pants, West Oregifornia, will be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor, which is punishable by a $200 fine or one day incarceration in the city jail.
Sec. 3. For purposes of this ordinance, “vehicle” shall mean any mechanism for conveying a person from one place to another, including automobiles, trucks, all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, and motor scooters. Provided that bicycles shall be allowed in the park, so long as they are being pushed or carried and not ridden.
In 1988, the newly elected sheriff, Draco Malfoy, decides to strictly enforce the statute. He arrests the following five people:
Harry Potter—A teenage boy riding a skateboard through the park.
Mrs. Weasley—A mother pushing a baby jogging stroller
Luna Lovegood—A 4 year-old riding a tricycle
Hermione Granger—A 7 year-old girl wearing roller shoes.
Neville Longbottom—A 11 year-old using a remote controlled car in the park.
These five individuals challenge their arrest based on the argument that the ordinance does not apply to them.
QUESTION: Choose ONE individual from above and explain: How would the rule of lenity apply? Fully explain the rule of lenity and apply it in your answer.
Eskridge ch. 8 William N. Eskridge, Jr., Phillip P. Frickey, Elizabeth Garrett, Legislation and Statutory Interpretation (3d ed.). ISBN: 978-1-64242-108-8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RPUf0E-TLw
