Free Legal Encyclopedia: Notice of abandonment to Ordinary resolution
Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty - Further Readings
The NPT distinguishes between nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states. It identifies five nuclear-weapon states: China, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Article II forbids non-nuclear-weapon states that are parties to the treaty to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices. Article III concerns controls and inspect…
Nuclear Power
A form of energy produced by an atomic reaction, capable of producing an alternative source of electrical power to that supplied by coal, gas, or oil. Congress amended the Atomic Energy Act in 1954 (68 Stat. 919) to encourage the private commercial development of nuclear power. The act ended the federal government's monopoly over nonmilitary uses of nuclear energy and allowed private owners…
Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Further Readings
United States. It licenses and regulates the uses of nuclear energy to protect public health and safety, and the environment. The NRC's prime responsibility is to ensure that the more than 100 commercial nuclear power plants in the United States conform to its regulations. It also regulates the use of nuclear materials in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, in sterilizing instrument…
Nuclear Weapons - Further Readings
Weapons of mass destruction that are powered by nuclear reaction. Types of nuclear weapons include atom bombs, hydrogen bombs, fission bombs, and fusion bombs. Since the ICJ opinion was delivered in 1996, direct actions by the public in support of nuclear disarmament have increased. Some courts have recognized the legality of such actions. In October 1999, a Scottish judge dismissed a case against…
Nuremberg Trials - Further Readings
The first trial took place in Nuremberg, Germany, and involved twenty-four top-ranking survivors of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazi Party). The subsequent trials were held throughout Germany and involved approximately two hundred additional defendants, including Nazi physicians who performed vile experiments on human subjects, concentration camp commandants who ordered th…
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1981, becoming the first female justice on the high court. O'Connor has established herself as a moderate conservative who prefers narrow, limited holdings. After law school, Day married John O'Connor, an attorney. She had hoped to join a law firm in Los Angeles or San Francisco, but none was willing to hire a woma…
Charles O'Conor
Charles O'Conor achieved prominence as a New York attorney and as counsel for the prosecution in the trial of the notorious Tweed Ring. In 1871 O'Conor began a four-year term as special deputy attorney general for New York State. During his tenure he acted as counsel for the prosecution in the trial of William M. ("Boss") Tweed and his followers, who controlled a corrup…
Thomas Phillip O'Neill Jr.
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. was born December 9, 1912, in a working-class section of Cambridge, Massachusetts. His Irish Catholic father, Thomas O'Neill Sr., was a bricklayer and member of the Cambridge City Council. His mother, Rose Tolan O'Neill, died when O'Neill was just one year old. This early defeat taught the young candidate a valuable lesson …
Oath
Any type of attestation by which an individual signifies that he or she is bound in conscience to perform a particular act truthfully and faithfully; a solemn declaration of truth or obligation. An individual's appeal to God to witness the truth of what he or she is saying or a pledge to do something enforced by the individual's responsibility to answer to God. Similarly an affirmati…
Objection
A formal attestation or declaration of disapproval concerning a specific point of law or procedure during the course of a trial; a statement indicating disagreement with a judge's ruling. Some laws provide that an appeal to a higher tribunal can be based only upon errors objected to during the course of a trial conducted in a lower court. An error that initially slips by without any objecti…
Objective Theory of Contract
A principle in U.S. law that the existence of a contract is determined by the legal significance of the external acts of a party to a purported agreement, rather than by the actual intent of the parties. Whatever the specific origin of objective theory may be, it is clear that by the late nineteenth century American law had generally adopted it. Since then the theory has been heatedly debated amon…
Obligation
A generic term for any type of legal duty or liability. In its original sense, the term obligation was very technical in nature and applied to the responsibility to pay money owed on certain written documents that were executed under seal. Currently obligation is used in reference to anything that an individual is required to do because of a promise, vow, oath, contract, or law. It refers to a leg…
Obscene
Offensive to recognized standards of decency.…
Obscenity - Cross-references
The character or quality of being obscene; an act, utterance, or item tending to corrupt the public morals by its indecency or lewdness. This test permitted judges to look at objectionable words or passages without regard for the work as a whole and without respect to any artistic, literary, or scientific value the work might have. In 1930, Massachusetts courts declared both Theodore Dreiser…
Obstruction of Justice
A criminal offense that involves interference, through words or actions, with the proper operations of a court or officers of the court. The integrity of the judicial system depends on the participants' acting honestly and without fear of reprisals. Threatening a judge, trying to bribe a witness, or encouraging the destruction of evidence are examples of obstruction of justice. Federal and …
Occupational Safety and Health Act of (1970)
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 651 et seq., a business that negligently jeopardizes the lives or health of its workers commits a federal misdemeanor. The act authorizes civil fines up to $10,000 for instances where employers "willfully" expose workers to "serious" harm or death. Any act of criminal negligence can result in imprisonmen…
Offer
A promise that, according to its terms, is contingent upon a particular act, forbearance, or promise given in exchange for the original promise or the performance thereof; a demonstration of the willingness of a party to enter into a bargain, made in such a way that another individual is justified in understanding that his or her assent to the bargain is invited and that such assent will conclude …
Office of Management and Budget
The OMB assists the president in developing and maintaining effective government by reviewing the organizational structure and management procedures of the executive branch to ensure that the intended results are achieved. It works to develop efficient coordinating mechanisms to implement government activities and to expand interagency cooperation. The office also assists in developing regulatory …
Office of National Drug Control Policy
The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988 (21 U.S.C.A. § 1501 et seq.) and began operations in January 1989. ONDCP develops and coordinates the policies and objectives of the federal government's program for reducing the use of illicit drugs. ONDCP seeks ways to combat the manufacture and distribution of illega…
Office of Thrift Supervision
The OTS is authorized to charter federal thrift institutions and to serve as the primary regulator of the 1,700 federal- and state-chartered thrifts that belong to the Savings Association Insurance Fund. Its purpose is to maintain the safety, soundness, and viability of the thrift industry by adopting regulations that seek to prevent unreasonable lending risks, examining and supervising thrift ins…
Officer
An individual with the responsibility of performing the duties and functions of an office, that is a duty or charge, a position of trust, or a right to exercise a public or private employment. A public officer is ordinarily defined as an individual who has been elected or appointed to exercise the functions of an office for the benefit of the public. Executive officers, such as the president or st…
Survivors Old-Age and Disability Insurance - Old-age Benefits, Survivors' Benefits, Disability Benefits, Further Readings
The federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) system was developed pursuant to the federal Social Security Act of 1935 (42 U.S.C.A. § 301 et seq. [1935]) to provide government benefits to eligible retirees, disabled individuals, and surviving spouses and their dependents. The OASDI program is funded by payroll taxes levied on employees, their employers, and the self-emplo…
Richard Olney - Further Readings
Born in Oxford, Massachusetts, on September 15, 1835, Olney was educated at Brown University and Harvard Law School. Admitted to the Boston bar in 1859, he established a successful law practice and earned recognition for his work with railroads. A brief political career followed with his election to the Massachusetts state legislature, where he served one term between 1873 and 1874. In 1893 he was…
Ombudsperson - Further Readings
A public official who acts as an impartial intermediary between the public and government or bureaucracy, or an employee of an organization who mediates disputes between employees and management. The Swedish legislature first created the position of ombudsperson in the early 1800s; the literal translation of ombudsperson is "an investigator of citizen complaints." This official was c…
Opening Statement - Further Readings
An introductory statement made by the attorneys for each side at the start of a trial. The opening statement, although not mandatory, is seldom waived because it offers a valuable opportunity to provide an overview of the case to the jury and to explain the anticipated proof that will be presented during the course of the trial. The primary purpose of an opening statement is to apprise the trier o…
Option
A right, which operates as a continuing offer, given in exchange for consideration—something of value—to purchase or lease property at an agreed price and terms within a specified time. An option is a type of contract that is used in the stock and commodity markets, in the leasing and sale of real estate, and in other areas where one party wants to acquire the legal right to buy some…
Ordeal
One of the most ancient forms of trial in England that required the accused person to submit to a dangerous or painful test on the theory that God would intervene and disclose his or her guilt or innocence. Trials by ordeal were a pagan custom that took on added ritual when Christianity was introduced into England. There were various ordeals, and at different times certain ordeals were reserved fo…
Order
Direction of a court or judge normally made or entered in writing, and not included in a judgment, which determines some point or directs some step in the proceedings. The decision of a court or judge is made in the form of an order. A court may issue an order after a motion of a party requesting the order, or the court itself may issue an order on its own discretion. For example, courts routinely…
Order of the Coif
An unincorporated national scholastic honor society in law. Its purpose is to foster excellence in legal scholarship and to recognize those who have attained high grades in law school or who have distinguished themselves in the teaching of law. There are more than sixty chapters located in law schools throughout the country. The Order of the Coif honor society was formed in 1912 as a national orga…
Ordinance
An ordinance is a law passed by a municipal government. A municipality, such as a city, town, village, or borough, is a political subdivision of a state within which a municipal corporation has been established to provide local government to a population in a defined area. Ordinances constitute the subject matter of municipal law. The power of municipal governments to enact ordinances is derived f…