A lot of exceptions is a mistake to me. Have rules, graduated rules with increasing penalties, and then enforce them, IMO.
So, if a student happens to be unlucky enough to get caught by a strict, by the rules faculty member, they are screwed. The helpful, less by the rules faculty member, and the student gets a break? Doesn’t sound fair to me.
Regardless of one’s own opinion on such matters, just make sure you know how things work at your chosen school and that you are comfortable with it. Sometimes that will vary from the written rules as some of the posts here seem to indicate.