California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Terry H., In re, 40 Cal.App.4th 1675, 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 791 (Cal. App. 1995):
"Due process requires a reasonable degree of certainty in legislation, especially in the criminal law.... [Citations.] Thus, a statute must be definite enough to provide (1) a standard of conduct for those whose activities are proscribed and (2) a standard for police enforcement and for ascertainment of guilt. [Citation.] ... [p] ... In order to succeed on a facial vagueness challenge to a legislative measure that does not threaten constitutionally protected conduct ... a party must do more than identify some instances in which the application of the statute may be uncertain or ambiguous; he must demonstrate that the law is impermissibly vague in all of its applications. [Citations.] Defendant cannot pass this test." (People v. Kelly (1992) 1 Cal.4th 495, 533-534, 3 Cal.Rptr.2d 677, 822 P.2d 385, internal quotation marks omitted.) 6
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