Practice question
A hypothetical penal provision prohibits conduct an officer personally finds disagreeable, provides no definition or objective standard, and makes that preference the sole basis for punishment. As applied to the person prosecuted on that basis, what is the principal due-process concern?
- The provision gives officers too little discretion
- It supplies fair notice merely by using a familiar word
- It guarantees a constitutional trial
- It fails to give fair notice and permits arbitrary enforcement
- It is valid whenever punishment is called regulatory
Legal references
- https://lawphil.net/consti/cons1987.html — Constitution, Article III sections1 and14: due process, fair accusation, hearing and presumption of innocence.
- https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2001/nov2001/gr_148560_2001.html — Estrada v. Sandiganbayan, G.R. 148560, November 19, 2001, main decision: fair notice, objective standards and vagueness; not relied upon for historical death-penalty provisions.
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