What is the legal basis for a sentence that is not clearly enforceable under the Criminal Code?

The legal basis for my opinion is the rule of lenity. That rule requires criminal statutes to give clear notice and warning of the conduct that will be punished, see United States v. Bass , 404 U.S. 336, 347-48, 92 S.Ct. 515, 30 L.Ed.2d 488 (1971), failing which, the ambiguity will be interpreted in favor of the defendant, see

[990 F.3d 134]

United States v. Santos , 553 U.S. 507, 514, 128 S.Ct. 2020, 170 L.Ed.2d 912 (2008). Reliance on the rule of lenity has a special importance when the legislature has passed harsh mandatory sentences which are then imposed for crimes to which they do not clearly apply. Especially in a system in which sentences are reviewable on appeal, statutes making harsh sentences mandatory hardly ever serve a useful purpose, and inevitably guarantee instances of serious, needless injustice.