Free Legal Encyclopedia: Hypoxia to Indirect evidence
Identity Theft
Securities fraud, also called investment fraud, involves the offer of bogus stocks or high-return investment opportunities, market manipulation schemes, pyramid and Ponzi schemes, or other "get rich quick" offerings. In its May 2002 issue, Internet Scambusters cited a study by Gartner G2 showing that online merchants lost $700 million to Internet fraud in 2001. By comparison, the rep…
Illegitimacy - Common Law And Illegitimacy, Robert L. Johnson's Son? The Rights Of Illegitimate Heirs - Current Trends
The condition before the law, or the social status, of a child whose parents were not married to each other at the time of his or her birth. The term nonmarital child is also used inter-changeably with illegitimate child. …
Immunization Programs - Further Readings
In the 1950s, medical breakthroughs resulted in new vaccines to combat such diseases as polio and measles. States responded by requiring mandatory immunization for schoolchildren. One result was the near eradication of diseases that had previously been crippling or fatal. A second, unforeseen result was adverse side effects of the vaccines, which led to lawsuits against drug companies. Between the…
Impeachment - A Challenge To Impeachment, How Will The Trial Of Bill Clinton Affect Future Impeachments?, Further Readings
A process that is used to charge, try, and remove public officials for misconduct while in office. Impeachment is a fundamental constitutional power belonging to Congress. This safeguard against corruption can be initiated against federal officeholders from the lowest cabinet member, all the way up to the president and the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Besides providing the authority fo…
Impersonation
The crime of pretending to be another individual in order to deceive others and gain some advantage. The crime of false impersonation is defined by federal statutes and by state statutes that differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some states, pretending to be someone who does not actually exist can constitute false impersonation. For example, suppose Bill attempts to evade prosecution for a…
Impleader
A procedural device used in a civil action whereby a defendant brings into the lawsuit a third party who is not already a party to the action but may ultimately be liable for the plaintiff's claim against the defendant. Impleader is most commonly used where the third party, often an insurance company, has a duty to indemnify, or contribute to the payment of, the plaintiff's damages. …
Implied Consent
Consent that is inferred from signs, actions, or facts, or by inaction or silence. Implied consent differs from express consent, which is communicated by the spoken or written word. Implied consent is a broadly based legal concept. Whether it is as valid as express consent depends on the situation and the applicable law. For example, the owner of a car generally is liable for an accident caused by…
Import Quotas - Further Readings
Import quotas are a form of protectionism. An import quota fixes the quantity of a particular good that foreign producers may bring into a country over a specific period, usually a year. The U.S. government imposes quotas to protect domestic industries from foreign competition. Import quotas are usually justified as a means of protecting workers who otherwise might be laid off. They also can raise…
Impossibility - Further Readings
Historically, a person who entered a contract was bound to perform according to his or her promised duties, regardless of whether it became impossible to do so. Thus, early U.S. courts did not recognize the defense of impossibility of performance. Courts noted that if the parties to a contract had desired to take into account any events that may develop after they reached an agreement, then they s…
Impoundment - Changes During The Nixon Administration, Deferrals, Rescissions, Legislative Line Item Veto Act Of 1995
An action taken by the president in which he or she proposes not to spend all or part of a sum of money appropriated by Congress. …
Impracticability
Substantial difficulty or inconvenience in following a particular course of action, but not such insurmountability or hopelessness as to make performance impossible. …
In Loco Parentis - Further Readings
By far the most common usage of in loco parentis relates to teachers and students. For hundreds of years, the English common-law concept shaped the rights and responsibilities of public school teachers: until the late nineteenth century, their legal authority over students was as broad as that of parents. Changes in U.S. education, concurrent with a broader reading by courts of the rights of stude…
In Rem
[Latin, In the thing itself.] A lawsuit against an item of property, not against a person (in personam). An action in rem is a proceeding that takes no notice of the owner of the property but determines rights in the property that are conclusive against all the world. For example, an action to determine whether certain property illegally imported into the United States ought to be forfeited can be…
Incarceration - Further Readings
Confinement in a jail or prison; imprisonment. Police officers and other law enforcement officers are authorized by federal, state, and local lawmakers to arrest and confine persons suspected of crimes. The judicial system is authorized to confine persons convicted of crimes. This confinement, whether before or after a criminal conviction, is called incarceration. Juveniles and adults alike are su…
Incest
The crime of sexual relations or marriage taking place between a male and female who are so closely linked by blood or affinity that such activity is prohibited by law. Incest is a statutory crime, often classified as a felony. The purpose of incest statutes is to prevent sexual intercourse between individuals related within the degrees set forth, for the furtherance of the public policy in favor …
Incontestability Clause
Most states maintain statutes that require an incontestability clause in life and health insurance contracts. The incontestability clause strikes a balance between providing predictable coverage and protecting the right of insurers to select the precise risks they seek to insure. Most incontestability clauses are limited by a provision stating that the contestability period must be completed withi…
Incorporation by Reference
The method of making one document of any kind become a part of another separate document by alluding to the former in the latter and declaring that the former shall be taken and considered as a part of the latter the same as if it were completely set out therein. The document that is incorporated is usually not treated as a part of the will itself but as an external source from which the meaning o…
Indenture - Further Readings
The term indenture primarily describes secured contracts and has several applications in U.S. law. At its simplest, an indenture is an agreement that declares benefits and obligations between two or more parties. In bankruptcy law, for example, it is a mortgage or deed of trust that constitutes a claim against a debtor. The most common usage of indenture appears in the bond market. Before a bond i…
Independent Counsel - Ethics In Government Act, Congress And Independent Counsel, State Or Local Independent Counsel, Further Readings
An attorney appointed by the federal government to investigate and prosecute federal government officials. Independent counsel are attorneys who investigate and prosecute criminal activity in government. They hold people who make and implement laws accountable for their own criminal activity. The need for independent counsel arises from the conflict of interest posed by having the established crim…
Independent Parties - Further Readings
Although the United States has a firmly established two-party system, independent parties play an important role in U.S. politics. Democrats and Republicans win the vast majority of federal, state, and local elections, but independent candidates often reflect popular attitudes and concerns. Most independent parties—also known as third parties—begin in response to a specific issue, ca…
Index to Legal Periodicals
The set of volumes that lists what has appeared in print from 1926 to the present in the major law reviews and law-oriented magazines in various countries—usually organized according to author, title, and subject, and containing a table of cases. The Index to Legal Periodicals is now available in an on-line form through the Online Computer Library Center, Inc., based in Dublin, Ohio. The da…
Indian Child Welfare Act - Further Readings
The Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), passed by Congress in 1978, intended to limit the historical practice of removing Native American children from their tribe and family and placing them in a non-Indian family or institution (25 U.S.C.A. §§ 1901–1963). The stated purpose of the act is to "[p]rotect the best interests of Indian children and to promote the stability and…