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Thomas Wilson Dorr
The changes in voting rights that Dorr proposed flew in the face of Rhode Island's staunch political conservatism. Although the example of newer, noncolonial states had changed the way in which some older, seaboard states practiced government, Rhode Island adhered to the charter it had received from the English monarchy in 1663. This document's property requirement for voting exclude…
Double Jeopardy - Where Jeopardy Applies, When Jeopardy Attaches, When Jeopardy Terminates, What Constitutes The Same Offense
A second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal or conviction or multiple punishments for same offense. The evil sought to be avoided by prohibiting double jeopardy is double trial and double conviction, not necessarily double punishment. Five policy considerations underpin the double jeopardy doctrine: (1) preventing the government from employing its superior resources to wear down and …
Double Taxation Agreements
Double taxation occurs when the same transaction or income source is subject to two or more taxing authorities. This can occur within a single country, when independent governmental units have the power to tax a single transaction or source of income, or may result when different sovereign states impose separate taxes, in which case it is called international double taxation. The source of the dou…
Doubt
To question or hold questionable. Uncertainty of mind; the absence of a settled opinion or conviction; the attitude of mind toward the acceptance of or belief in a proposition, theory, or statement, in which the judgment is not at rest but inclines alternately to either side. …
Stephen Arnold Douglas
Stephen Arnold Douglas achieved prominence as a U.S. senator and as the originator of the policy known as Popular Sovereignty. He was born on April 23, 1813, in Brandon, Vermont. He pursued legal studies and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1834. In 1843 Douglas entered the legislative branch of the federal government as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Four years later, he was el…
William Orville Douglas - Further Readings
This brilliant and complex man was born October 16, 1898, in Maine, Minnesota. He grew up in small towns of rural Minnesota, California, and Washington as his family moved in search of a climate that would preserve the frail health of his father, a hardworking Presbyterian minister of Scottish pioneer ancestry. Douglas's father died in Washington when the boy was five, leaving the family wi…
Frederick Douglass - Further Readings
According to his own calculations, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February 1817, on a plantation west of the Tuckahoe River in Talbot County, Maryland. (As an adult, he celebrated his birthday on February 14.) His mother was a black slave, and his father most likely her white owner. Douglass was separated from his mother at an early age, and at age 7 he was sent to Baltimore to w…
Dower
The provision that the law makes for a widow out of the lands or tenements of her husband, for her support and the nurture of her children. A species of life estate that a woman is, by law, entitled to Dower is the provision the law makes for a widow in the distribution of her husband's estate. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS claim on the death of her husband, in the lands and tenements of whi…
Draft
A written order by the first party, called the drawer, instructing a second party, called the drawee (such as a bank), to pay money to a third A sample sight draft. party, called the payee. An order to pay a sum certain in money, signed by a drawer, payable on demand or at a definite time, to order or bearer. A tentative, provisional, or preparatory writing out of any document (as a will, c…
Drain
A trench or ditch to convey water from wet land; a channel through which water may flow off. The word has no technical legal meaning. Any hollow space in the ground, natural or artificial, where water is collected and passes off, is a ditch or drain. A number of states have drainage statutes in order to protect the welfare of the public. Such statutes provide for the construction of drains in area…
Dramshop Acts - Further Readings
Statutes, also called civil liability acts, that impose civil liability upon one who sells intoxicating liquors when a third party has been injured as a result of the purchaser's intoxication and such sale has either caused or contributed to the state of intoxication. The dramshop laws are based on the principle that anyone who profits from the sale of alcoholic beverages should be held lia…
Dred Scott v. Sandford - Further Readings
Chief Justice Taney's opinion fueled the nineteenth-century abolitionist movement and helped push the United States toward civil war. Although Taney was an accomplished jurist who served as chief justice for 29 years, his record was permanently tarnished by what many considered to be his flawed reasoning in the Dred Scott case. Dred Scott sued for his freedom in 1857, claiming that his …
Drug Courts
Drug courts concentrate the efforts of judges, prosecutors, defense counsel, substance-abuse treatment specialists, probation officers, law enforcement and correctional personnel, educational and vocational experts, community leaders, and others on individuals who are charged with illicit drug abuse. The criminal justice system works cooperatively with treatment systems and others to provide an of…
Drug Enforcement Administration
Training DEA agents and other law enforcement personnel on the intricacies of the drug trade has led the DEA to create rigorous educational courses. It provides training to DEA agents and support personnel, as well as to state and local police, international law enforcement officials, and other law enforcement employees on a wide range of critical subject matter. In 1999, this effort took a signif…
Drugs and Narcotics - Drug Laws, Drug Policy And Law Enforcement, Crack Cocaine, Race, And The War On Drugs
Drugs are articles that are intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or animals, and any articles other than food, water, or oxygen that are intended to affect the mental or body function of humans or animals. Narcotics are any drugs that dull the senses and commonly become addictive after prolonged use. In the scientific community, drugs a…
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois - Further Readings
W. E. B. Du Bois was an African American intellectual, sociologist, poet, and activist whose fierce commitment to racial equality was the seminal force behind important sociopolitical reforms in the twentieth-century United States. Du Bois traveled extensively in Europe during the early 1890s and did postdoctoral work at the University of Berlin, in Germany. It was there that he pledged his life a…
Dual Nationality
An equal claim, simultaneously possessed by two nations, to the allegiance of an individual. This term is frequently perceived as synonymous with dual citizenship, but the latter term encompasses the concept of state and federal citizenship enjoyed by persons who are born or naturalized in the United States. A person who possesses dual citizenship generally has the right to "elect," …
Due
Just; proper; regular; lawful; sufficient; reasonable, as in the phrases due care, due process of law, due notice. Owing; payable; justly owed. That which one contracts to pay or perform to another; that which law or justice requires to be paid or done. Owed, or owing, as distinguished from payable. A debt is often said to be due from a person where he or she is the party owing it, or primarily bo…
Dueling - Further Readings
The fighting of two persons, one against the other, at an appointed time and place, due to an earlier quarrel. If death results, the crime is murder. It differs from an affray in this, that the latter occurs on a sudden quarrel, while the former is always the result of design. Around the time of the Revolutionary War, dueling occurred in every state of the nation—in some areas, regularly&#x…
John Foster Dulles
In the 1920s Dulles quickly moved ahead at Sullivan and Cromwell. In 1926, at the age of only thirty-eight, Dulles was made head of the firm. Representing many of the largest U.S. corporations, Dulles became a very wealthy man. As Dulles died May 24, 1959, in Washington, D.C. …
Duress
Unlawful pressure exerted upon a person to coerce that person to perform an act that he or she ordinarily would not perform. Duress also encompasses the same harm, threats, or restraint exercised upon the affected individual's spouse, child, or parent. Duress also exists where a person is coerced by the wrongful conduct or threat of another to enter into a contract under circumstances that …
Durham Rule
The Durham rule was created in 1954 by Judge David L. Bazelon, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, in Durham v. United States, 214 F.2d 862. The rule, as stated in the court's decision, held that "an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease." It required a jury's determination that the accused was…
Gabriel Duvall
Gabriel Duvall was born December 6, 1752. He was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1778. Duvall served in the militia before beginning his government career in 1783, serving on the Maryland Governor's Council from 1783 to 1784, and in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1787 to 1794. Duvall died on March 6, 1844. …
DWI - Dwi: Should Punishment Be Stricter For Repeat Offenders?
A showing of complete intoxication is not necessary for a charge of driving while intoxicated. State laws indicate levels of blood-alcohol content at which an individual is deemed to be under the influence of alcohol. Laws against drunk driving vary slightly from state to state. In the majority of states, a person's first DWI charge (also referred to as Driving Under the Influence, or DUI, …
Andrea Dworkin
Although much has been written about Dworkin, little of the coverage has dealt with her early life. However, Dworkin's admittedly autobiographical novel Mercy (1991) may provide insight into some of the events that helped to shape this controversial feminist crusader: the book chronicles the sexual victimization—including molestation and rape—faced by the protagonist, Andrea, …
Ronald Myles Dworkin
Dworkin expands on his philosophy in what some consider to be his legal epic, Law's Empire. He discounts the conventionalist notion that law is based strictly on tradition and established authority, arguing that judges must interpret past legal decisions rather than mechanically apply the law based on precedence. Dworkin's integrity-based approach to law has drawn strong support from…
Dying Declaration
A statement by a person who is conscious and knows that death is imminent concerning what he or she believes to be the cause or circumstances of death that can be introduced into evidence during a trial in certain cases. A dying declaration is usually introduced by the prosecution, but can be used on behalf of the accused. …
E-Mail - Further Readings
Senator Charles Schumer of New York, shown displaying his unsolicited e-mail, introduced legislation in April 2003 that would restrict spam as well as create criminal and civil penalties for spammers. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS E-mail is less secure than traditional mail, even though federal law protects e-mail from unauthorized tampering and interception. Under the Electronic Communications Pri…
Easement
A right of use over the property of another. Traditionally the permitted kinds of uses were limited, the most important being rights of way and rights concerning flowing waters. The easement was normally for the benefit of adjoining lands, no matter who the owner was (an easement appurtenant), rather than for the benefit of a specific individual (easement in gross). An easement is a nonpossessory …
Crystal Eastman - Further Readings
Eastman was born on June 25, 1881, in Glenora, New York, to Samuel Eastman and Annis Ford Eastman. Both her parents were ordained church ministers and ardent believers in women's rights, beliefs that Eastman absorbed. In a 1927 autobiographical essay written for Nation magazine, Eastman talked about her father's support of her mother's goal of becoming a minister and his suppo…
Dorman Bridgman Eaton
Dorman Bridgman Eaton was born June 27, 1823, in Hardwick, Vermont. He was a successful lawyer who achieved prominence for his work in the establishment of the U.S. Civil Service Commission. After receiving a doctor of laws degree from the University of Vermont in 1848, Eaton attended Harvard Law School in 1850 and was admitted to the New York bar, practicing law there until 1870. Eaton was a stau…
Marian Wright Edelman - Further Readings
Edelman was born June 6, 1939, in Bennettsville, a small, segregated town in South Carolina. Her father, Arthur Jerome Wright, was a Baptist minister, and her mother, Maggie Leola Wright, was the director of the Wright Home for the Aged. Named after singer Marian Anderson, Edelman recalls a childhood of hard work and high expectations. She was an outstanding student whose parents instilled in her …
Education Department - Offices Of The Secretary, Program Offices, Staff Offices, Further Readings - Structure
Created in 1980, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is the cabinet-level agency that establishes policy for, administers, and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It is directed by the secretary of education, who assists the president of the United States by executing policies and implementing laws enacted by Congress. The DOE has six major responsibilities: (1) providing national…
Education Law - History, Student Speech And The First Amendment, Searches Of Students And Lockers, Separation Of Church And State
The body of state and federal constitutional provisions; local, state, and federal statutes; court opinions; and government regulations that provide the legal framework for educational institutions. …
Effective Rate
Another name for annual percentage rate that refers to the amount of yearly interest to be charged by a lender on the money borrowed by a debtor. Federal income tax laws increase the rate of taxation as a taxpayer reaches certain marginal income levels. For example, taxpayers might pay a tax rate of 20 percent on the first $10,000 of taxable income. Thereafter, any increase in income up to an addi…
Eighteenth Amendment
The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1919 and subsequently repealed in 1933. A woman displays an anti-Prohibition slogan printed on an automobile tire cover. Ratified in January 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment in December 1933. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS …
Eighth Amendment
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: Trial court judges are given less latitude under the Excessive Bail Clause. Bail is the amount of money, property, or bond that a defendant must pledge to the court as security for his or her appearance at trial. If the defendant meets bail or is able to pay the amount set by the court, the defendant is entitled to recover the pledged amount at …
Dwight David Eisenhower
Dwight David Eisenhower achieved prominence in military and political careers and was the thirty-fourth president of the United States. From 1922 to 1924, Eisenhower was assigned to a post in the Panama Canal Zone. Five years later, he served as an administrator in the Assistant Secretary of War Office and acted in this capacity until 1933. In 1935, he was stationed in the Philippine Islands, and,…
Ejectment
Originally, the action of ejectment was intended to protect the rights of a tenant who leased the land. Ultimately, it came to be the principal method for determining the ownership of real property. When the question of title to land became the issue, it was essential to describe the property as carefully as it would be described in a deed to a purchaser. This led to enforcement of very strict tec…
Elder Law - Further Readings
Without a durable power of attorney, a guardian will be appointed, in the event of mental incapacity, to make healthcare decisions. A conservator will be appointed to manage property. The appointment of a guardian and a conservator is accomplished by a judicial proceeding. This proceeding is involuntary, and the court is free to appoint whoever will act in the best interests of the person who is m…
Election Campaign Financing - Should Campaign Financing Be Reformed?, Private Funding Of Federal Election Campaigns, Public Funding Of Presidential Campaigns
Election campaigns for public office are expensive. Candidates need funding for support staff, advertising, traveling, and public appearances. Unless they are independently wealthy, most must finance their campaigns with contributions from individuals and from businesses and other organizations. Today, state and federal laws set limits on campaign contributions; create contribution disclosure requ…
Election of Remedies
Once a plaintiff elects a remedy, he or she precludes the pursuit of other inconsistent methods of relief. Not all jurisdictions require a plaintiff to elect remedies, and many have abolished this requirement because of its sometimes harsh effects. In the jurisdictions that retain the election of remedies, a plaintiff usually must choose a remedy early in the action. Since an election can be made …
Elections - Administration Of Government Elections, Primaries And Conventions, Initiatives And Referendums, Campaigns, Criminal Aspects
The processes of voting to decide a public question or to select one person from a designated group to perform certain obligations in a government, corporation, or society. In elections, a candidate is a person who is selected by others as a contestant. A ballot is anything that a voter uses to express his or her choice, such as a paper and pen or a lever on a machine. A poll is the place where a …
Electoral College - Further Readings
Nominated persons, known as electors, from the states and the District of Columbia, who meet every four years in their home state or district and cast ballots to choose the president and vice president of the United States. In the popular election, the American people actually vote for electors, not for the candidates themselves. The candidate who receives the majority of votes from electors takes…
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Widely recognized for its expertise in legal matters related to computer networks and electronic media, EFF has become a leading resource for those seeking to better understand the complex issues associated with new communications technology. As part of its civil liberties mission, EFF seeks to ensure that the creators of electronic communications have the same political freedoms as the creators o…
Electronic Surveillance - Constitutional Law, Legislation, Common Law, Further Readings
Observing or listening to persons, places, or activities—usually in a secretive or unobtrusive manner—with the aid of electronic devices such as cameras, microphones, tape recorders, or wire taps. The objective of electronic surveillance when used in law enforcement is to gather evidence of a crime or to accumulate intelligence about suspected criminal activity. Corporations use elec…
Eleventh Amendment - Further Readings
The Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The text of the Eleventh Amendment limits the power of federal courts to hear lawsuits against state governments brought by the citizens of another state or the citizens of a foreign country. The Supreme Court has also interpreted the Eleventh Amendment to bar federal courts from hearing lawsuits instituted by citizens of the state being sued …
George Washington Ellis
George Washington Ellis was born May 4, 1875, in Weston, Missouri. He earned a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Kansas in 1893, attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., for two years where he studied psychology and philosophy, and graduated from Gunton's Institute of Economics and Sociology in New York in 1900. After practicing law for several years, Ellis worked in the…
Oliver Ellsworth
Oliver Ellsworth served as the third chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Though his tenure on the Court was undistinguished, Ellsworth played an important part in shaping the political and legal structure of the United States as a representative at the Constitutional Convention and as a U.S. senator. Ellsworth was born April 29, 1745, in Windsor, Connecticut, into a prosperous and distinguish…
Emancipation Proclamation - Further Readings
In the text of the proclamation—which is almost entirely the work of Lincoln himself—Lincoln characterizes his order as "an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity." These words capture the essential character of Lincoln's work in the document. On the one hand, he perceived the proclamation as a kind of military tactic that would aid…