Philosophy 2080 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Strict Constructionism, Sleepwalking
23 Sep 2016
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1st degree murder if these circumstances exist at the time of the murder . Sexually assaulted a little boy and threatened to kill him if he told his mother, killed him anyway. Trial: 1st degree murder - murder + sexual assault. While committing - i didn"t kill him during, i killed him after. Strict construction - any ambiguity within the criminal code must be given in favour to the accused. Reasonable interpretation should see these events as one continuous act. Narrow interpretation will lead us to 2nd degree murder. Can"t read into these words literally, without reading into the context in which we nd these words. Context of the criminal code: make people pay for the crimes they have committed. This idea has been around for centuries, historically it is meant to protect us from the harshness of the penal code. If we see all the events as a continuous act, there is no need to nitpick.
