下午在看clemency和其他词语的辨析时(见文末图片)又学到了这几点:
1. Rule of Lenity,从宽原则。当刑法中有多种惩罚规定,且这些规定的表达模凌两可或有冲突之处时,应从宽处理。
2. commute sth to sth,减刑,如the governor commuted his prison sentence to 60 days of community service。以前只知道commute是「通勤」,commute from A to B, commute between A and B这些用法,今天又了解到法律背景下commute的含义。形容词,commutable,如a commutable punishment。名词,commutation,如a commutation of the death sentence to life imprisonment。小心不要混淆commute和commutate,后者是电学上的概念——转换交流电的方向,尤指把交流电变为直流电。
3. get off scot-free,固定的说法,即逍遥法外也。这里的scot可不是苏格兰人,此idiom源自古英语scot一词,意为赋税。不交税就跑了!又想到“法网恢恢,疏而不漏”,there is no escape from the long arm of the law。