Free Legal Encyclopedia: Constituency to Cosigner
Constitution
The fundamental law, written or unwritten, that establishes the character of a government by defining the basic principles to which a society must conform; by describing the organization of the government and regulation, distribution, and limitations on the functions of different government departments; and by prescribing the extent and manner of the exercise of its sovereign powers. A legislative…
Constitution Party
Phillips decided that the next step was to form a political party, according to his web site, with "the common goal of limiting the federal government to its Constitutional boundaries and restoring the foundations of civil government back to the fundamental principles our country was founded upon." The party that he formed in 1992 was named the U.S. Taxpayers Party, and befitting its…
Constitution of the United States - Constitutional Convention Of 1787, History Of The Constitution, Federalists Versus Anti-federalists, Contents Of The Constitution
A written document executed by representatives of the people of the United States as the absolute rule of action and decision for all branches and officers of the government, and with which all subsequent laws and ordinances must be in accordance unless it has been changed by a constitutional amendment by the authority that created it. For over 200 years, the Constitution of the United States has …
Constitutional Amendment - Brief History Of Constitutional Amendments, Further Readings
The means by which an alteration to the U.S. Constitution, whether a modification, deletion, or addition, is accomplished. Article V of the U.S. Constitution establishes the means for amending that document according to a two-step procedure: proposal of amendments, followed by ratification. Amendments may be proposed in two ways: by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress or by a special conv…
Constitutional Law - The Constitution, The Bill Of Rights, Due Process Clauses, Equal Protection Clause, Supremacy Clause
The written text of the state and federal constitutions. The body of judicial precedent that has gradually developed through a process in which courts interpret, apply, and explain the meaning of particular constitutional provisions and principles during a legal proceeding. Executive, legislative, and judicial actions that conform with the norms prescribed by a constitutional provision. A state or…
Construction
The process by which the meaning of an ambiguous provision of a statute, written document, or oral agreement is determined. A judge usually makes a construction of an unclear term in a document at issue in a case that involves a dispute as to its legal significance. The judge examines the circumstances surrounding the provision, laws, other writings, verbal agreements dealing with the same subject…
Constructive Desertion
Constructive desertion takes place when a husband or wife intentionally forces the innocent spouse to leave the marital dwelling by acting in an offensive manner. The misconduct must be so extensive as to make marital relations insufferable. …
Constructive Trust - Mistake, Undue Influence, Or Duress, Fraudulent Misrepresentation Or Concealment, Property Obtained By Homicide
A relationship by which a person who has obtained title to property has an equitable duty to transfer it to another, to whom it rightfully belongs, on the basis that the acquisition or retention of it is wrongful and would unjustly enrich the person if he or she were allowed to retain it. The right to a constructive trust is generally an alternative remedy. The aggrieved party can choose between a…
Consumer Fraud - Identity Theft, Telephone And Mail Solicitations, Internet Fraud, Income Tax Fraud - Combating Fraud
Deceptive practices that result in financial or other losses for consumers in the course of seemingly legitimate business transactions. Following are some of the most common types of consumer fraud. Education is key to combating consumer fraud. The FTC, FBI, NCL, Consumers Union, and Direct Marketing Association all work to educate the public and to identify fraudulent businesses. The Better …
Consumer Product Safety Commission
The commission has primary responsibility for establishing mandatory product-safety standards in order to reduce the unreasonable risk of injury to consumers from consumer products. It also has the authority to ban hazardous consumer products. The Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq. [1972]) authorizes the commission to conduct extensive research on consumer product standards, to en…
Consumer Protection - Consumer Product Safety Commission, Unfair Or Deceptive Trade Practices, Truth In Lending Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act
The goal of consumer protection laws is to place consumers, who are average citizens engaging in business deals such as buying goods or borrowing money, on an even par with companies or citizens who regularly engage in business. Historically, consumer transactions—purchases of goods or services for personal, family, or household use—were presumed fair because it was assumed that buye…
Consumer Software Piracy - Software Publisher's Association, Further Readings
The unauthorized use, possession, downloading, duplication, distribution, or sale of copyrighted computer software. Consumers break the law when they make unauthorized copies of software. Whether for profit, free distribution, or personal use, such duplication constitutes copyright infringement. Copyright owners can sue infringers for damages that may include profits made by the infringers, or sta…
Continental Congress
The first national legislative assembly in the United States, existing from 1774 to 1789. The First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia between September 5 and October 26, 1774. Although it was officially called simply the Congress, contemporaries referred to it as the Continental Congress in order to distinguish it from the various state congresses. Fifty-six delegates from twelve colonies (…
Contingent Fee
Payment to an attorney for legal services that depends, or is contingent, upon there being some recovery or award in the case. The payment is then a percentage of the amount recovered—such as 25 percent if the matter is settled, or 30 percent if it proceeds to trial. Contingent-fee agreements are valid only in civil cases and are frequently used in personal injury cases. Court rules and sta…
Continuance - Grounds, Determination - Waiver
The adjournment or postponement of an action pending in a court to a later date of the same or another session of the court, granted by a court in response to a motion made by a party to a lawsuit. The entry into the trial record of the adjournment of a case for the purpose of formally evidencing it. Courts, by virtue of their authority to hear and determine cases, have inherent discretionary powe…
Continuing Legal Education - Further Readings
Continuing legal education is mandatory in 40 states; voluntary programs are offered in the remaining 10. Courses are approved by state boards that oversee continuing education. In states with mandatory continuing legal education, attorneys receive credits for attending lectures and seminars taught by respected attorneys, judges, and scholars. The courses cover a variety of topics involving virtua…
Contract with America
In September 1994, Newt Gingrich and a group of Republican congressional candidates announced their plans for a platform called Contract with America. The ten-point plan helped the Republican Party win a majority in Congress. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS The contract met with mixed results in 1995. The House Republican leadership did indeed put each item to a vote within the first one hundred days…
Contracts - Nature And Contractual Obligation, Types Of Contracts, Which Law Governs, Elements Of A Contract - Assignments
Agreements between two entities, creating an enforceable obligation to do, or to refrain from doing, a particular thing. An assignment of a contract is the transfer to another person of the rights of performance under it. Contracts were not assignable at early common law, but today most contracts are assignable unless the nature of the contract or its provisions demonstrates that the parties inten…
Contribution
Certain principles apply when contribution is sought in contractual situations. Where the parties are severally (individually) liable for a specific portion of a debt, one person who pays in excess of his or her proportionate share has no legal right to contribution from the others for the excess. Where the parties are jointly liable (as a unit) for the payment of a debt, a party who pays in exces…
Convention
A constitutional convention is an assembly of representatives or delegates of the people of a state or nation, convened for the purpose of framing, altering, or amending its constitution. Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides that a constitutional convention may be convoked on application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the states. A judicial convention is an assembly of judges of the s…
Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty - Further Readings
By November 1990, a treaty had been completed. Meeting in Paris, Bush, Gorbachev, and other leaders signed the CFE that month. The U.S. Senate approved it on November 25, 1991, by a vote of 90–4. The treaty placed limits on five types of conventional armaments deployed between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ural Mountains: tanks, artillery, armored combat vehicles (such as armored personnel car…
Conversion
Any unauthorized act that deprives an owner of personal property without his or her consent. A thief, a trespasser, or a bailee may be guilty of conversion because the action may be maintained whether or not the property was lawfully acquired at the outset. For example, a dry cleaner who mistakenly delivers a suit to the wrong customer has converted it. Moving some-one's property without hi…
Thomas McIntyre Cooley - Further Readings
later thought. He learned the benefits of frugality and self-reliance, and he took great pride in being one of the state's pioneers. He later wrote of the way in which Michigan had been transformed before his very eyes: "It was a state almost lost in its woods … but the magic touch of industry plied by vigorous hands speedily transformed the scene; the woods opened to the buil…
Calvin Coolidge
In 1897, Coolidge was admitted to the bar and established his legal firm in Northampton, Calvin Coolidge. © HARRIS & EWING Massachusetts, where he practiced until 1919. He became councilman in Northampton in 1899, then city solicitor from 1900 to 1901, clerk of courts in 1904, and member of the General Court of Massachusetts from 1907 to 1908. In 1910, he was elected may…
Cooperative
An association or corporation established for the purpose of providing services on a nonprofit basis to its shareholders or members who own and control it. The nature and functions of cooperatives differ considerably—such as purchasing cooperatives, consumer cooperatives, and marketing cooperatives. In the context of agriculture, a farmers' cooperative refers to an organization of fa…
Copyright - History Of Copyright Law, Copyright Law In Action: Basic Books V. Kinko's Graphics Corp.
A bundle of intangible rights granted by statute to the author or originator of certain literary or artistic productions, whereby, for a limited period, the exclusive privilege is given to that person (or to any party to whom he or she transfers ownership) to make copies of the same for publication and sale. A copyright is a legal device that gives the creator of a literary, artistic, musical, or …
Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel
In order for a person to use another's copyrighted work, the person must generally obtain a license from the copyright owner. The terms of the agreement normally depend upon market conditions at the time of the agreement. However, the Copyright Act of 1976, codified in Title 17 of the United States Code, creates an exception under some circumstances whereby a prospective user may obtain a c…
International Copyright - History Of The Berne Convention, The United States And The Berne Convention, Protection Of Copyright In The Digital Age
The manner in which the exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute copies of various intellectual productions may be obtained in foreign countries. In 1989, the United States for the first time became a signatory to the oldest and most widely approved international copyright treaty, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (828 U.N.T.S. 221, S. Treaty Doc. No. 99-27…
Copyright Royalty Tribunal
The Copyright Royalty Tribunal was established by an act of October 19, 1976 (90 Stat. 2594; 17 U.S.C. 801). The tribunal established and made determinations concerning terms and rates of royalty payments for the use by public broadcasting stations of published nondramatic compositions and pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works. Cost-of-living adjustments were made to non-commercial broadcasting…
Copyright Society of the U.S.A.
To accomplish its goals, the society has undertaken a wide-ranging program including symposia on copyright subjects; workshops for people in such fields as music, motion pictures, and publishing, stressing the practical aspects and mechanics of copyright administration; and publication of materials relating to copyright that otherwise would not be available. Its members are lawyers, laypersons, fi…
Coram Nobis
[Latin, In our presence; before us.] The designation of a remedy for setting aside an erroneous judgment in a civil or criminal action that resulted from an error of fact in the proceeding. Modern statutes have expanded the grounds for relief based upon the principles derived from the ancient writ of coram nobis. It is no longer a common-law remedy, but statutes provide for the vacation of a convi…
Arthur Linton Corbin
Arthur Linton Corbin was a leading legal scholar and professor who made significant and influential contributions to the development of U.S. contract law. Corbin was born October 17, 1874, in Cripple Creek, a small mining town near Colorado Springs. He was raised in Cripple Creek and then left Colorado to attend the University of Kansas, from which he graduated in 1894. He went on to the Yale Law …
Corner
For surveying purposes, the designation given to a particular location formed by the intersection of two boundary lines of real property. The process by which a group of investors or dealers in a particular commodity exploit its market by purchasing it in large quantities and removing it from general sale for a time, thereby dramatically increasing its market price because its limited supply is gr…
Coroner - Holding Inquests, Record Of Inquest As Evidence - Arrest, Liabilities of a Coroner
The main function of a coroner is to conduct inquests, but other powers and duties may include the duty of acting as sheriff, in the event of the sheriff's incapacity, as conservator of the peace, or as magistrate. The duties are considered to be either judicial, ministerial, or both. A coroner who is acting pursuant to his or her statutory authority is immune for error, mistake, or miscond…
Corporal Punishment - Further Readings
Physical punishment, as distinguished from pecuniary punishment or a fine; any kind of punishment inflicted on the body. Corporal punishment arises in two main contexts: as a method of discipline in schools and as a form of punishment for committing a crime. Addressing the remaining constitutional claim, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that excessive corporal punishment in pu…
Corporate Fraud - Enron: An Investigation Into Corporate Fraud, Further Readings
On October 16, 2001, Enron, the seventh largest corporation in the U.S., announced a $638 million loss in third-quarter earnings. On November 8, 2001, the company publicly admitted to having overstated earnings for four years by $586 million and to having created limited partnerships to hide $3 billion in debt. As investors lost confidence in the company, Enron stock, which had been worth as much …
Corporations - History, Types Of Corporations, Getting A Corporation Started, Delaware: The Mighty Mite Of Corporations
Artificial entities that are created by state statute, and that are treated much like individuals under the law, having legally enforceable rights, the ability to acquire debt and to pay out profits, the ability to hold and transfer property, the ability to enter into contracts, the requirement to pay taxes, and the ability to sue and be sued. The rights and responsibilities of a corporation are i…
Edward Samuel Corwin
In 1911, Corwin was promoted to full professor. Seven years later, he was appointed to a chair first occupied by Wilson, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, which Corwin held until his retirement from Princeton in 1946. In 1924, he also became chair of the newly formed Department of Politics. Corwin was known at Princeton as a demanding yet popular professor; students regularly voted his cou…