What is this term?
Thanks!
A bill of attainder would be one form, but probably not the general term you’re looking for.
“Void for vagueness”, I believe.
Yup. Void for Vagueness
Could anybody give an example? Was this ever applied?
All the time.
Here’s a recent example:
Chicago v. Morales. This case challenged a Chicago statute called the Gang Congregation Ordinance, Chicago Municipal Code §8—4—015 (1992). It was decided in the Supreme Court in 1999, and struck down as unconstitutionally vague.
Continue to O’Conner’s Conccurrance (navigation at the top) where she discusses vagueness in additional detail.
That’s very interesting. Thank you!
I`ve also hear the term that a law may be so broad it is unenforceable. Basically, depending on interpretation (I assume like a gang congregation law) it might forbid anything the police choose to forbid - such as, two people passing in the street, a family out for a walk, a church service might all be considered unlawful assembly.
Some say the word is foktop.
Wouldn’t that therefore apply to the Constitution, which, in the First Amendment does not itself define “peacefully assemble”?
No, because by definition a Constitutional amendment cannot be unconstitutional.
The general term of art is “unconstitutionally vague”. Not very imaginative, but accurate.