void–for–vagueness doctrine
- void–for–vagueness doctrine
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void–for–vagueness doctrine n: a doctrine requiring that a penal statute define a criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited and in a manner that does not encourage arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement
◇ Under the void-for-vagueness doctrine, a vague law is a violation of due process because the law does not provide fair warning of a prohibition and fails to set standards for enforcement that would govern the exercise of the police power.
Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary of Law.
Merriam-Webster.
1996.
Look at other dictionaries:
void for vagueness doctrine — A doctrine derived from the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution that requires criminal laws to be drafted in language that is clear enough for the average person to comprehend. Dictionary from West… … Law dictionary
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