Possessing a physical form that can be touched or felt. …
A document by which one individual lends money to purchase something and the borrower promises to hold the item for the benefit of the lender until such time as the debt is paid. …
The list of items upon which a duty is imposed when they are imported into the United States, together with the rates at which such articles are taxed. The term tariff is also used in reference to the actual custom or duty payable on such items. …
An individual or corporation named by an individual, who sets aside property to be used for the benefit of another person, to manage the property as provided by the terms of the document that created the arrangement. A trustee manages property that is held in trust. A trust is an arrangement in which one person holds the property of another for the benefit of a third party, called the beneficiary.…
The process whereby an individual plans his or her finances so as to apply all exemptions and deductions provided by tax laws to reduce taxable income. …
Wallace v. Jaffree enjoys the dubious distinction of being listed as one of the ten worst non-Supreme Court decisions in Bernard Schwartz's A Book of Legal Lists. The case involved a court challenge to the constitutionality of an Alabama statute authorizing a daily period of silence in Alabama's public schools for meditation or voluntary prayer. The appeal was argued before the Eleve…
A specialized federal or state court that decides cases involving tax-related controversies. The court is composed of nineteen judges. Its strength is augmented by senior judges who may be recalled by the chief judge to perform further judicial duties and by fourteen special trial judges who are appointed by the chief judge and serve at the pleasure of the court. The chief judge is elected biennia…
Prison inmates who through their good conduct earn a certain measure of freedom in and around the prison in exchange for assuming certain responsibilities. A prison trusty might, for example, be charged with the responsibility of maintaining order among fellow inmates. …
The Walnut Street Prison was a pioneering effort in prison reform. Originally built as a conventional jail just before the American Revolution, it was expanded in 1790 and hailed as a model of enlightened thinking about criminals. The prison, in fact, was known as a "penitentiary" (from the Latin word for remorse). It was designed to provide a severe environment that left inmates muc…
Rogers's career shifted from state to federal government in the late 1940s. In 1947 and 1948, he was chief counsel of the Senate War Investigating Committee, becoming chief counsel of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 1949. In November 1957, President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Rogers to be attorney general. Rogers continued to enforce civil rights laws and to promo…
The absence or deficiency of what is needed or desired. Want of jurisdiction, for example, is a lack of authority to exercise in a particular manner a power possessed by a tribunal or board. …
An affirmative act is anything done to mislead the government or conceal funds to avoid payment of an admitted and accurate deficiency. Affirmative behavior can take two forms: the evasion of assessment and the evasion of payment. Affirmative acts of evasion include evading taxes by placing assets in another's name, dealing in cash, and having receipts or debts paid through and in the name …
A comprehensive term for all transactions or situations where no inducement to a contract was intended to pass between the parties thereto and, therefore, no legally enforceable contract is created. Want of consideration differs from failure of consideration, which refers to a situation wherein consideration was originally existing and valid but has since become valueless or ceased to exist. …
The amount of charges imposed by the government upon personal or corporate income, capital gains, gifts, estates, and sales that are within its statutory authority to regulate. Tax rate schedules are utilized by taxpayers whose taxable incomes exceed certain designated amounts. Separate schedules are provided for married individuals who file jointly, unmarried people who maintain a household, sing…
Grossly careless or negligent; reckless; malicious. …
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 (100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. §§ 47, 1042) made major changes in how income was taxed. The act either altered or eliminated many deductions, changed the tax rates, and eliminated several special calculations that had been permitted on the basis of marriage or fluctuating income. Though the act was the most massive overhaul of the tax system in decades, some …
The name wapentake is said to come from weapon and take, an indication that it referred to an area organized for military purposes. …
The form that the government requires a taxpayer to file with the appropriate official by a designated date to disclose and detail income subject to taxation and eligibility for deductions and exemptions, along with a remittance of the tax due or a claim for a refund of taxes that were overpaid. The federal and state governments specify the deadlines for filing tax returns without incurring any ad…
Enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1887 to remedy inadequacies in the original statutory measures that created the Court of Claims (now the U.S. Claims Court) in 1855, the Tucker Act (28 U.S.C.A. § 1346) extended the jurisdiction of the Court of Claims to claims founded upon the Constitution, acts of Congress, or regulations of executive departments. The court was also empowered to entertain c…
Known for his hard-driving and sometimes confrontational management style, Casey won early praise for improving the CIA's analytical work. But he also drew heavy criticism for the agency's political activity outside the United States when the CIA stepped up its support for anti-Communist organizations in developing countries. Under Casey the agency engaged in intelligence operations …
Conduct that is unjust, depraved, or shameful; that which is contrary to justice, modesty, or good morals. Moral turpitude is a term that frequently appears in statutes, especially those providing that if a witness has been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude, that conviction can be used to impeach his or her credibility. Similar statutes authorize revocation of a professional license f…
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study constituted one of the most shameful acts in the history of American medicine. The repercussions of this study, which allowed 400 African American men afflicted with syphilis to go untreated for a period of almost 40 years, are felt to this day. It resulted in new laws governing medical experiments on humans, and—some would argue—a legacy of suspicion of t…
Moody established a private practice in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and served as the city solicitor for two years (1888–1890). In 1890 he William H. Moody. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Shortly after the Borden case, the Republicans nominated Moody to a seat in Congress. He was elected to the House of Representatives in November 1895 and became one of its most influential members. On April…
The Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Framers of the U.S. Constitution provided for an indirect method of presidential selection. Under this arrangement each state was authorized to appoint as many electors as it had senators and representatives in Congress. This electoral college, as it came to be called, was empowered to choose the president, and the person receiving the seco…
Open and declared conflict between the armed forces of two or more states or nations. Martial rule exists when military authorities exercise varying degrees of control over civilians in territory where, due to war or public commotion, the civil government is not able to maintain order and enforce the law. …
Theodore ("Teddy") Roosevelt served as the twenty-sixth president of the United States from 1901 to 1909. A writer, explorer, and soldier, as well as a politician, Roosevelt distinguished himself as president by advocating conservation of natural resources, waging legal battles against Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Roosevelt was born on October …
A transfer of real property in exchange for money to satisfy charges imposed thereupon by the government that have remained unpaid after the legal period for their payment has expired. Tax sales are authorized by state statutes to collect taxes that are long overdue to the state government from negligent or unwilling individuals. State statutes regulate the manner in which tax sales may be conduct…
The Twentieth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Twentieth Amendment was proposed on March 2, 1932, and ratified on January 23, 1933. The amendment moved the date on which new presidential and vice presidential terms begin as well as the date for beginning new congressional terms, ended the abbreviated congressional session that had formerly convened in even-numbered years, and fixed pr…
Acts that violate the international laws, treaties, customs, and practices governing military conflict between belligerent states or parties. Most war crimes fall into one of three categories: crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and traditional war crimes. Crimes against peace include the planning, commencement, and waging of aggressive war, or war in violation of international agreemen…
Under the federal tax law, gross income reduced by adjustments and allowable deductions. It is the income against which tax rates are applied to compute an individual or entity's tax liability. The essence of taxable income is the accrual of some gain, profit, or benefit to a taxpayer. …
The War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain was a conflict fought over the right of neutral countries to participate in foreign trade without the interference of other nations and the desire of many in the United States to end British occupation of Canada. The war, which lasted from 1812 to 1815, proved inconclusive, with both countries agreeing to revert to their prewar status as …
The situs of property for tax purposes is determined on the basis of whether the state imposing the tax has adequate contact with the property it is seeking to tax so that the particular tax is justified in fairness. Ordinarily personal property has its taxable situs in the place where its owner is domiciled or in the state where the owner has a true, fixed, and permanent home. …
The Twenty-fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: Section 3 deals with a situation in which the president communicates in writing to Congress that he is "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of the office. The vice president then assumes the role of acting president. The vice president continues in this role unless and until the president is able to transmit a declarat…
The war had its roots in the growing economic power of the colonies and the limited political freedom granted by Great Britain to the colonists for managing their affairs. Acts of British Parliament in the 1760s that imposed taxes and import duties on the colonies increased these tensions. The Townshend Act evoked more protests from the colonists. Groups such as the Sons of Liberty and the Daughte…
The Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Twenty-first Amendment was proposed on February 20, 1933, and ratified on December 5, 1933. It is the only amendment to repeal another amendment, the Eighteenth, and the only one to be ratified by state conventions rather than by state legislatures. Prohibition was supported most strongly in rural areas. In urban areas enforcement was …
Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb achieved prominence as a legislator and was known for his staunch secessionist views. He was born April 10, 1823, in Jefferson County, Georgia. An 1841 graduate of the University of Georgia, Cobb was admitted to the Georgia bar the following year. As a jurist he achieved prominence for his authorship of legal publications, including A Digest of the Statute Laws of the Stat…
The Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The abolition of the poll tax was not a controversial issue, even at a time of fierce southern resistance to racial desegregation. The amendment was limited to federal elections, however, leaving state elections outside its scope. Following the ratification of the Twenty-fourth Amendment, the Supreme Court abandoned the Breedlove preceden…
On the evening of June 25, 1996, a couple of individuals parked a tanker truck in a parking lot adjacent to the Khobar Tower apartment buildings. These apartments housed U.S. military and civilian personnel. Sentries on duty saw the truck and realized the threat of a bomb and began evacuating the building. Unfortunately, the bomb was detonated before the building could be completely evacuated. As …
The Twenty-second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Twenty-second Amendment was proposed on March 24, 1947, and ratified on February 27, 1951. The amendment imposed term limits on the office of president of the United States. After the 1946 election, which produced Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, the Republicans sought to prevent a repetition of Roosevelt's act…
A person, especially an infant or incompetent, placed by the court in the care of a guardian. …
The Twenty-seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: In 1982 Gregory Watson, a twenty-year-old student at the University of Texas, wrote a term paper arguing for ratification of the amendment. Watson received a 'C' grade for the paper and then embarked on a one-man campaign for the amendment's ratification. From his home in Austin, Texas, Watson wrote letters to state …
A written document given by a warehouseman for items received for storage in his or her warehouse, which serves as evidence of title to the stored goods. The general rule is that warehouse receipts need not be in any particular form. They must, however, contain the following information: the location of the warehouse and the place where the goods are stored; the date when the receipt was issued; t…
The process whereby charges are imposed on individuals or property by the legislative branch of the federal government and by many state governments to raise funds for public purposes. The theory that underlies taxation is that charges are imposed to support the government in exchange for the general advantages and protection afforded by the government to the taxpayer and his or her property. The …
The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Twenty-sixth Amendment was proposed on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971. The ratification period of 107 days was the shortest in U.S. history. The amendment, which lowered the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen, was passed quickly to avert potential problems in the 1972 elections. Nevertheless, the drive for lowering th…
An individual who is regularly engaged in the business of receiving and storing goods of others in exchange for compensation or profit. …
The designation given to the process of determining and charging to the losing party in a legal action the expenses involved in initiating or defending the action, to which the successful side is lawfully entitled. …
The Twenty-third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Twenty-third Amendment was proposed on June 16, 1960, and ratified on March 29, 1961. The amendment rectified an omission in the Constitution that prevented residents of the District of Columbia from voting in presidential elections. Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to accept land from the states and administe…
A written order issued by a judicial officer or other authorized person commanding a law enforce ment officer to perform some act incident to the administration of justice. Warrants are recognized in many different forms and for a variety of purposes in the law. Most commonly, police use warrants as the basis to arrest a suspect and to conduct a search of property for evidence of a crime. Warrants…
William M. Evarts. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Evarts was born February 16, 1818, in Boston. He graduated from Yale University in 1837 and then attended Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1841 and subsequently established a successful legal practice. From 1849 to 1853, Evarts acted as assistant district attorney for the New York District. Following the end of the Civil War, …
The influence of Hobbes's ideas varied dramatically over the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. English politicians and clerics derided him as a heretic. But his theories eventually lent support to loyalists who wanted to preserve the Crown's control over the American colonies: Thomas Hutchinson, the last royal governor of Massachusetts, viewed the upstart challengers to royal aut…
A federal or state law that gives taxpayers procedural and substantive protection when dealing with a revenue department concerning a tax collection dispute. Although the rights given to taxpayers under these federal acts do not reduce the chance of being audited or diminish IRS authority to penalize taxpayers for inaccuracies or cheating on their returns, the provisions correct many of the percei…
An agreement in which a vendor conditions the sale of a particular product on a vendee's promise to purchase an additional, unrelated product. In a tying arrangement, the product that the vendee actually wants to purchase is known as the "tying product," while the additional product that the vendee must purchase to consummate the sale is known as the "tied product.�…
A written authorization that allows an attorney named in it to appear in court and admit the liability of the person giving the warrant in an action to collect a debt. This writing is usually given to help ensure that the person signing it will pay the amount that he or she would be obliged to pay if a judgment were entered against him or her. It usually contains an agreement that no action will b…
An action brought by an individual whose income is subjected to charges imposed by the state or federal government, for the benefit of that individual and others in order to prevent the unlawful diversion of public funds. For example, because every taxpayer of a town has an interest in the preservation of an orderly government, many state laws grant individual taxpayers the right to sue town offic…
Zachary Taylor served as the twelfth president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. A famous military general, Taylor was an Zachary Taylor. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS apolitical leader who accomplished little during his sixteen months in office. Taylor and his army invaded Mexico and advanced to Monterrey, capturing the city in late September. His military career was put i…
Speed, efficiency, and the ability to juggle a wide variety of tasks simultaneously were lifelong character traits of the man who developed the rocket docket. He was born July 18, 1907, in Jersey City, New Jersey. After completing a bachelor of science degree in economics at the University of Pennsylvania in 1928, Hoffman attended the Marshall-Wythe School of Law, at the College of William and Mar…
Conservation was a popular cause throughout the first quarter of the twentieth century and was encouraged by various presidents. As a result, several oil reserves for the exclusive use of the U.S. Navy were established in Wyoming and California. The oil was kept in storage places called domes, one of which, located near Casper, Wyoming, was christened Teapot Dome due to a rock formation in the are…
In 1791, Cranch moved to Washington, D.C., to become a legal agent for a real estate firm that made large and speculative investments in the city based on the municipality's recent selection to be the nation's capital. The venture later proved to be financially disastrous, and Cranch was financially ruined as a result of its collapse. In 1800, John Adams, by then president, came to C…
Rubenstein was born on September 3, 1960, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Yale University in 1982 and earned a law degree from Harvard University in 1986. Rubenstein then served as a law clerk to a federal district court judge. He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1986 and the District of Columbia bar in 1988. Rubenstein is a noted legal scholar on sexual-orientation issues. H…
Information essential to a plaintiff's right of action or a defendant's assertion of a defense. By the 1930s legal commentators agreed that the need to plead ultimate facts was hindering the cause of justice. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which were adopted in 1938, eliminated the ultimate fact requirement and changed the philosophy behind the plaintiff's complaint and…
An assurance, promise, or guaranty by one party that a particular statement of fact is true and may be relied upon by the other party. Warranties are used in a variety of commercial situations. In many instances a business may voluntarily make a warranty. In other situations the law implies a warranty where no express warranty was made. Most warranties are made with respect to real estate, insuran…
An instrument that transfers real property from one person to another and in which the grantor promises that title is good and clear of any claims. A deed is a written instrument that transfers the title of property from one person to another. Although many types of deeds exist, title is usually transferred by a warranty deed. A warranty deed provides the greatest protection to the purchaser becau…
[Latin, Beyond the powers.] The doctrine in the law of corporations that holds that if a corporation enters into a contract that is beyond the scope of its corporate powers, the contract is illegal. The doctrine of ultra vires played an important role in the development of corporate powers. Though largely obsolete in modern private corporation law, the doctrine remains in full force for government…
Arbitration is the submission of a dispute to an unbiased third person designated by the parties to the controversy, who agree in advance to comply with the decision. Arbitration is quicker, less expensive, and more informal than a court proceeding. Commercial arbitration and labor arbitration are commonplace in the United States. Persons who hear these types of dispute resolution cases are called…
A bipartisan commission was assembled to investigate the assassination of President Kennedy. The Warren Commission included (l-r) Rep. Gerald R. Ford, Rep. Hale Boggs, Sen. Richard Russel, Chief Justice Earl Warren, Sen. John Sherman Cooper, John J. McCloy, Allen W. Dulles, and J. Lee Rankin. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS The commission published its conclusions, popularly known as the Warren Report…
The performance of professional services, such as the rendering of medical treatment or legal assistance, by a person who is not licensed by the state to do so. The professions have sought the enactment of unauthorized practice statutes in part to protect the public from persons who are not trained to give professional assistance and who may give substandard treatment. The elements of a profession…
The transmission of words, sounds, images, or data in the form of electronic or electromagnetic signals or impulses. …
Unusually harsh and shocking to the conscience; that which is so grossly unfair that a court will proscribe it. When a court uses the word unconscionable to describe conduct, it means that the conduct does not conform to the dictates of conscience. In addition, when something is judged unconscionable, a court will refuse to allow the perpetrator of the conduct to benefit. In contract law an uncons…
Television is the most powerful medium of mass communication seen regularly by most persons in the United States. Television signals may be delivered by using antennas (broadcast), communication satellites, or cable systems. Because of television's societal impact, the federal government regulates companies that operate television systems. Experimental television systems were developed in t…
An underinclusive law is not necessarily unconstitutional or invalid. The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that all laws are underinclusive and selective to some extent. If a law is substantially underinclusive, however, it may be unconstitutional. The case of Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520, 113 S. Ct. 2217, 124 L. Ed. 2d 472 (1993), illustrates unconstitutiona…
Other supporters of the first temperance movement objected to alcohol's destructive effects on individuals, communities, and the nation as a whole. According to these activists, the consumption of alcohol was responsible for many personal and societal problems, including unemployment, absenteeism in the workplace, and physical violence. Scores of short stories and books published in the mid…
A general term referring to an agreement, either express or implied, written or oral. The term understanding is an ambiguous one; in order to determine whether a particular understanding would constitute a contract that is legally binding on the parties involved, the circumstances must be examined to discover whether a meeting of the minds and an intent to be bound occurred. …
A written promise offered as security for the performance of a particular act required in a legal action. In a criminal case, an undertaking of bail is security for the appearance of the defendant. In the event the defendant fails to appear, the amount posted as bail is forfeited. An undertaking with adequate security is a bond. The term is used in a general sense to refer to any type of promise o…
A court order that lasts only until the court can hear further evidence. The immediate potential for irreparable harm is the gravamen of the TRO. If an applicant is unable to prove that the harm suffered will be irreparable or that the irreparable harm is imminent, a court will not approve a TRO. Assume that a person purchases a car with financing from the dealership. The buyer then becomes embroi…
To insure; to sell an issue of stocks and bonds or to guarantee the purchase of unsold stocks and bonds after a public issue. The word underwrite has two meanings. To issue an insurance policy on the life of a person or on property of another is to underwrite that person or property; hence insurance companies are also referred to as underwriters. Typically, an underwriter does not under-write and …
A situation that arises when one individual conveys real property to another individual by way of a lease. The relation of an individual to the land he or she holds that designates the extent of that person's estate in real property. A tenancy is the occupancy or possession of land or premises by lease. The occupant, known as the tenant, must acquire control and possession of the property f…
A judicially created defense to transactions that have been imposed upon weak and vulnerable persons that allows the transactions to be set aside. Nevertheless, courts will examine the facts closely before finding that a transaction has been tainted by undue influence. Mere suspicion, surmise, or conjecture of overreaching is insufficient. The law permits loved ones and confidants to advise and co…
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 …
The most important difference between a tenancy by the entirety and a joint tenancy or tenancy in common is that a tenant by the entirety may not sell or give away his interest in the property without the consent of the other tenant. Upon the death of one of the spouses, the deceased spouse's interest in the property devolves to the surviving spouse, and not to other heirs of the deceased s…
A form of concurrent ownership of real property in which two or more persons possess the property simultaneously; it can be created by deed, will, or operation of law. Usually, the term tenant is understood to describe a person who rents or leases a piece of property. In the context of concurrent estates, however, a tenant is a co-owner of real property. Another difference between tenants in commo…
Insurance benefits paid by the state or federal government to individuals who are involuntarily out of work in order to provide them with necessities, such as food, clothing, and shelter. The mass unemployment during the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the enactment of the federal unemployment compensation law. States had resisted establishing their own unemployment compensation plans because…
A type of concurrent estate in real property by which property rights were acquired only through intestacy by the female heirs when there were no surviving male heirs. This type of estate, which has only historical value today, occurred when an ancestor left no son who could take property by primogeniture. …
The buying and selling of the same or a similar asset within a short period of time. Various stock exchanges disallow this practice because the orders to buy and sell should be executed separately to the advantage of each of the broker's clients. …
An individual who occupies or possesses land or premises by way of a grant of an estate of some type, such as in fee, for life, for years, or at will. A person who has the right to temporary use and possession of particular real property, which has been conveyed to that person by a landlord. …
Rights that are not expressly mentioned in the written text of a constitution but instead are inferred from the language, history, and structure of the constitution, or cases interpreting it. Typically, the term unenumerated rights describes certain fundamental rights that have been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court under the U.S. Constitution. In addition, state courts have recognized unenumer…
An offer of money; the act by which one individual offers someone who is holding a claim or demand against him or her the amount of money that the offeror regards and admits is due, in order to satisfy the claim or demand, in the absence of any contingency or stipulation attached to the offer. The two essential characteristics of tender are an unconditional offer to perform, together with manifest…
A proposal to buy shares of stock from the stockholders of a corporation, made by a group or company that desires to obtain control of the corporation. …
William Bradford, born November 4, 1729, in Plympton, Massachusetts, was a student of both law and medicine. After practicing medicine in Warren, Rhode Island, Bradford was admitted to the bar in 1767 and established his legal practice in Bristol, Rhode Island. From 1764 to 1765 Bradford was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives, and served as speaker. He continued his career …
The tender years presumption in child custody cases persisted for more than one hundred years, with the majority of states recognizing the presumption. In the latter half of the twentieth century, courts and legislatures began to reverse decisions and repeal laws that recognized the tender years presumption in favor of gender-neutral considerations. In most states the best interests of the child a…
William Bradford was born September 14, 1755, in Philadelphia. He graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor of arts degree in 1772 and a master of arts degree in 1775. Before beginning his legal career Bradford served in the Revolutionary War from 1776 to 1779, fought in numerous battles, including Valley Forge, and emerged with the rank of colonel in the Continental army. After his tour…
A comprehensive legal term for any type of property of a permanent nature—including land, houses, and other buildings as well as rights attaching thereto, such as the right to collect rent. The term tenement is also used in reference to a building with rooms or apartments that are leased for residential purposes. It is frequently defined by statute, and its meaning therefore varies from one…
The idea for the project was originally developed in 1918, when two nitrate facilities and a dam were constructed at Muscle Shoals, Alabama, on the Tennessee River. Previously the area had been prone to severe floods, and water travel was impeded by sandbanks. The area had abundant natural resources, but the surrounding basin was depleted, and the region had experienced a depressed economy even be…
Harmful or destructive use of real property by one in rightful possession of the property. The four common types of waste are voluntary, permissive, ameliorating, and equitable waste. Voluntary waste is the willful destruction or carrying away of something attached to the property. In an action for voluntary waste, the plaintiff must show that the waste was caused by an affirmative act of the tena…
Mansfield's decision in Somerset's Case dealt a fatal blow to English slaveholding interests. In this 1772 case, a slave brought to England by his master had escaped and had been recaptured. Mansfield died March 20, 1793, in London. …
The TVA was responsible for resolving the problems arising from serious floods, substantially eroded land, a lackluster economy, and continual emigration from the region. It has revitalized the economy of the Tennessee River basin, particularly by the construction of reservoirs and multipurpose dams. Other noteworthy projects of the TVA, executed in conjunction with local authorities, have include…
An exact replica of a legal document in words and figures. For example, the tenor of a check would be the exact amount payable, as indicated on its face. …
The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: At the time the states adopted the Tenth Amendment, two primary conceptions of government were under consideration. Many federalists supported a centralized national authority, with power concentrated in a single entity. This type of government was exemplified by the English constitutional system, which vested absolute authority in the monarchy d…
The law of unfair competition serves five purposes. First, the law seeks to protect the economic, intellectual, and creative investments made by businesses in distinguishing themselves and their products. Second, the law seeks to preserve the good will that businesses have established with consumers. Third, the law seeks to deter businesses from appropriating the good will of their competitors. Fo…
A right, term, or mode of holding or occupying something of value for a period of time. In feudal law, the principal mode or system by which a person held land from a superior in exchange for the rendition of service and loyalty to the grantor. The status given to an educator who has satisfactorily completed teaching for a trial period and is, therefore, protected against summary dismissal by the …
Conduct prohibited by federal law regulating relations between employers, employees, and labor organizations. Section 158 (a)(3) outlaws employer-formed or -dominated "company unions." Section 158 (a)(3) forbids employers to discriminate in hiring, firing, and other aspects of employment on the basis of union activity. Section 158 (a)(4) prohibits firing or discriminating against any…
Without healthy water for drinking, cooking, fishing, and farming, the human race would perish. Clean water is also necessary for recreational interests such as swimming, boating, and water skiing. Yet, when Congress began assessing national water quality during the early 1970s, it found that much of the country's groundwater and surface water was contaminated or severely compromised. Studi…
Thomas E. Dewey. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Thomas Edmund Dewey was born March 24, 1902, in Owosso, Michigan. He received a bachelor of arts degree in 1923 from the University of Michigan and a bachelor of laws degree from Columbia University in 1925. After his admission to the bar in 1925, Dewey established his legal practice before becoming U. S. Attorney for the Southern District Dewey�…
An expression, word, or phrase that has a fixed and known meaning in a particular art, science, or profession. A specified period of time. The term of a court is the legally prescribed period for which it may be in session. Although the session of the court is the time that it actually sits, the words term and session are frequently used interchangeably. In reference to a lease, a term is the peri…
Laws that are designed to be adopted generally by all the states so that the law in one jurisdiction is the same as in another jurisdiction. …
A word or phrase that has special meaning in a particular context. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit agreed with the trial court, but the U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. According to the Court, punitive damages is a legal term of art that has a widely accepted common-law meaning under state law. Congress was aware of this meaning at the time it passed the FTCA. Under traditional comm…
A group of rights designed to protect the use and enjoyment of water that travels in streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds, gathers on the surface of the earth, or collects underground. In the eighteenth century, regulation of water was primarily governed by custom and practice. As the U.S. population expanded over the next two centuries, however, and the use of water for agrarian and domestic purpose…
Cessation; conclusion; end in time or existence. When used in connection with litigation, the term signifies the final determination of the action. …
Until the enactment of the UCMJ, the Army and Navy each had its own system of military justice, known as the Articles of War in the Army and the Articles for the Government of the Navy. The UCMJ ensures that any accused member of the armed services will be subject to the same substantive charges and procedural rules and that he or she will be guaranteed identical procedural safeguards. Absence off…
During the first two months of 1973, Watergate receded from the public eye. However, on March 23, 1973, Judge John J. Sirica of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia imposed harsh sentences on the Watergate burglars. Sirica, who had presided at the trial, was convinced that the burglars were acting at the direction of others not yet revealed. He told the burglars that he would reduc…
Federal tribunals that serve as both federal and state courts in possessions of the United States—such as Guam and the Virgin Islands—that are not within the limits of any state but are organized with separate legislatures and executive and judicial officers appointed by the president. Territorial courts are legislative courts created by Congress pursuant to its constitutional power …
A general and inclusive group of laws adopted, at least partially, by all the states to further uniformity and fair dealing in business and commercial transactions. In September 1951 a final draft of the UCC was completed and approved by the American Law Institute (ALI) and the NCCUSL, and then by the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association. After some additional amendments and changes,…
The part of the ocean adjacent to the coast of a state that is considered to be part of the territory of that state and subject to its sovereignty. From the eighteenth to the middle of the twentieth century, international law set the width of territorial waters at one league (three nautical miles), although the practice was never wholly uniform. The United States established a three-mile territori…
A term that signifies a connection or limitation with reference to a particular geographic area or country. …
The Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) was promulgated to fill a void in existing contract law in the treatment of computer information. In a preface to UCITA, its creators wrote, "Our economy has experienced fundamental change … legal rules that are not relevant to commercial practice or that are uncertain in application inhibit contracting or raise transaction co…
A comprehensive term for all instruments of offensive or defensive combat, including items used in injuring a person. The term weapons includes numerous items that can cause death or injury, including firearms, explosives, chemicals, and nuclear material. Because weapons pose a danger to the safety and well-being of individuals and communities, federal, state, and local statutes regulate the posse…
William Butler Hornblower was a noted corporate and trial lawyer who was nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court but failed to win confirmation. A year before his nomination to the Court, Hornblower had been appointed to a New York City Bar Association committee convened to investigate Judge Isaac H. Maynard. Maynard was accused of improper conduct in a contested election while he was deputy attorney …
Other provisions protect consumers against unfair practices by certain consumer credit sup-pliers by limiting the ability of creditors to use state court systems to execute on a consumer debtor's assets or to garnish a consumer debtor's wages. In addition, confession of judgment clauses are barred from consumer credit contracts. Such clauses require a person who borrows money or buys…
Portions of the United States that are not within the limits of any state and have not been admitted as states. The United States holds three territories: American Samoa and Guam in the Pacific Ocean and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea. Although they are governed by the United States, the territories do not have statehood status, and this lesser legal and political status sets them ap…
Critics of the Uniform Crime Reports have argued that local police departments may shape their record-keeping practices to produce results that will lend support to departmental positions on issues relating to crime and crime control. Most observers generally acknowledge, however, that the potential for manipulation in recordkeeping is not so great as to detract from the essential accuracy of the …
A part of a country separated from the rest and subject to a particular jurisdiction. The term territory has various meanings in different contexts. Generally, the term refers to a particular or indeterminate geographical area. In a legal context, territory usually denotes a geographical area that has been acquired by a particular country but has not been recognized as a full participant in that c…
A stalwart defender of civil liberties, Associate Justice Wiley B. Rutledge Jr., sat on the U.S. Wiley B. Rutledge Jr. CORBIS Born in Cloverport, Kentucky, on July 20, 1894, Rutledge was the son of a fundamentalist Baptist minister. His father, Wiley Sr., rode the backwaters of Kentucky preaching hellfire and brimstone, often with his son in tow. By his teens, however, Rutledge had left for…
The UPC contains seven substantive articles. Article I contains general provisions, definitions, and jurisdictional topics. Article II governs wills and intestate succession, which occurs when a person dies without leaving a will. Article III deals with the probate of wills and the administration of estates, article IV concerns the probating of estates in states other than the domicile of the dece…
A contract in which only one party makes an express promise, or undertakes a performance without first securing a reciprocal agreement from the other party. In a unilateral, or one-sided, contract, one party, known as the offeror, makes a promise in exchange for an act (or abstention from acting) by another party, known as the offeree. If the offeree acts on the offeror's promise, the offer…
A type of business in which an employer is allowed to hire a nonunion worker, who, however, must subsequently join the union in order to be permitted to continue work. …
William Joseph Brennan Jr. was the first Roman Catholic appointed to the Supreme Court; he served as associate justice of the Court from 1956 to 1990. His unshakable belief in the Constitution as the guardian of individual rights and liberties garnered both respect and criticism. Brennan was born April 25, 1906, in Newark, New Jersey. He was the second of eight children of William Joseph Brennan a…
The trier of fact in a civil or criminal trial, whether a judge or a jury, must review the evidence presented, evaluate it, and determine if it meets the standard of proof. If it meets this standard, the trier of fact must return a verdict in favor of the plaintiff in a civil suit and must convict a defendant in a criminal trial. If the evidence does not meet the standard of proof, the trier of fa…
The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property in order to coerce or intimidate a government or the civilian population in furtherance of political or social objectives. …
Chávez and his family labored with the other migrant workers traveling from field to field. In 1952 Chávez became involved with the Community Service Organization (CSO) that helped Mexicans and other Latinos to become citizens, register to vote, and to improve their living conditions. After 10 years of doing organization work for the CSO, Chávez resigned in 1962 to become a fu…
A comprehensive legal term for uniform standards ascribed to the quantity, capacity, volume, or dimensions of anything. The regulation of weights and measures is necessary for science, industry, and commerce. The importance of establishing uniform national standards was demonstrated by the drafters of the U.S. Constitution, who gave Congress in Article 1, Section 8, the power to "fix the St…
The case stemmed from an incident in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1963. Police officer Martin McFadden observed three men engaging in suspicious behavior near the corner of Euclid Avenue and Huron Road. One of the suspects was the defendant, John Terry. Along with code-fendant Richard Chilton and a third man, known only as Katz, Terry was seen pacing in front of a downtown store. Occasionally, the men woul…
The main deliberative body of the United Nations, the General Assembly, somewhat resembles a parliament; each nation has one vote. The General Assembly has no power to compel any action by a member state, however. It only has the right to discuss and make recommendations on matters within the scope of the UN Charter. Headed by a president elected at each session, the assembly ordinarily meets from…
William Miller Collier. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS In 1905 Collier entered the diplomatic field and for the next four years he served as U.S. minister to Spain. and served in this capacity for the next three years. In 1921 Collier reentered the foreign service and served as ambassador to Chile until 1928. Collier was the author of several noteworthy publications, including Collier on Bankrupt…
A suit brought specifically for the establishment of an important legal right or principle. The term test case describes a case that tests the validity of a particular law. Test cases are useful because they establish legal rights or principles and thereby serve as precedent for future similar cases. Test cases save the judicial system the time and expense of conducting proceedings for each and ev…
The United States Government Manual is available through GPO Access online at <www.access.gpo.gov/nara/browse-gm-02.html>. …
In 1787 Pinkney established a law practice in rural Harford County, Maryland. With encouragement from Chase, he also became active in local politics. In 1788 he was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates, the lower house of the legislative assembly. In the legislature, Pinkney established a reputation as an eloquent speaker and a skillful lawmaker. By 1792 Pinkney had left his seat in the hous…
The condition or state of leaving a valid will at one's death to direct the distribution of one's estate. …
Another name for a will.…
Brian Weber, a white production worker at a Kaiser Aluminum plant in Gramercy, Louisiana, claimed that the company's efforts to increase the number of African Americans in historically segregated categories of employment unfairly prejudiced white workers like himself. In 1974 Kaiser and the United Steelworkers signed a collective bargaining agreement that contained an affirmative action pla…
Relating to wills. An individual is said to have testamentary capacity to make a will when that person has sufficient mental ability to comprehend what he or she is doing, the nature and extent of his or her property, the natural objects (which means appropriate persons or recipients) of his or her bounty, and the interrelationships among these three concepts. …
In real property law, the four characteristics that are peculiar to property owned by several individuals as joint tenants. The four unities are unity of time, unity of title, unity of interest, and unity of possession. Unity of time is a characteristic because each joint tenant receives his or her interest at the same time—that is, upon delivery of the deed to the property. Unity of title …
One who dies leaving a valid will, or the description of this status. …
A right of property, real or personal, held by one person, the trustee, for the benefit of another, the beneficiary, from which a fixed percentage of the net fair market value of the assets, valued annually, is paid each year to the beneficiary. A unitrust, also known as a charitable remainder trust, is a legal device defined by federal tax laws that is frequently used by wealthy individuals who w…
Marshall's attendance at predominantly black Howard University illustrates the barriers faced by African Americans during the early twentieth century. Although Marshall wished to attend law school at the University of Maryland (a public institution in his home town of Baltimore), he was prohibited by law from doing so because of his race. This injustice helped set Marshall on a course of op…
One who makes or has made a will; one who dies leaving a will. A testator is a person who makes a valid will. A will is the document through which a deceased person disposes of his property. A person who dies without having made a will is said to have died intestate. A testator must be of sound mind when making a will. In part to ensure that a testator is of sound mind, states require that the sig…
To provide evidence as a witness, subject to an oath or affirmation, in order to establish a particular fact or set of facts. Court rules require witnesses to testify about the facts they know that are relevant to the determination of the outcome of the case. Under the law a person may not testify until he is sworn in. This requirement is usually met by a witness swearing to speak the truth. A per…
A general equitable principle that no person should be allowed to profit at another's expense without making restitution for the reasonable value of any property, services, or other benefits that have been unfairly received and retained. Although the unjust enrichment doctrine is sometimes referred to as a quasi-contractual remedy, unjust enrichment is not based on an express contract. Inst…
Oral evidence offered by a competent witness under oath, which is used to establish some fact or set of facts. Testimony is distinguishable from evidence that is acquired through the use of written sources, such as documents. …
Contrary to or unauthorized by law; illegal. When applied to promises, agreements, or contracts, the term denotes that such agreements have no legal effect. The law disapproves of such conduct because it is immoral or contrary to public policy. Unlawful does not necessarily imply criminality, although the term is sufficiently broad to include it. …
Johnson was convicted of desecrating a venerated object in violation of Texas Penal Code section 42.09(a)(3) (1989). He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined $2,000. His conviction was affirmed by the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas. Johnson's case was then reviewed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which reversed his conviction, holding that the state could not puni…
A meeting of three or more individuals to commit a crime or carry out a lawful or unlawful purpose in a manner likely to imperil the peace and tranquillity of the neighborhood. The basis of the offense of unlawful assembly is the intent with which the individuals assemble. The members of the assembled group must have in mind a fixed purpose to perform an illegal act. The time when the intent is fo…
The Supreme Court addressed these issues in Texas v. White, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 700, 19 L. Ed. 227 (1869), which involved a dispute over the payment of U.S. bonds. In 1850 Texas had received $10 million in bonds from the United States in settlement of boundary claims. The bonds were payable to the state and redeemable after December 31, 1864. Texas law required the governor to endorse the bonds befo…
Spoken or written words tending to intimidate, menace, or harm others. Nineteen states have laws against terrorizing or making terroristic threats. Terrorizing usually means threatening to commit a crime of violence or unlawfully causing the evacuation of a building or facility. Terroristic threat is generally defined as threatening to kill another with the intent of putting that person in fear of…
Government benefits distributed to impoverished persons to enable them to maintain a minimum standard of well-being. Providing welfare benefits has been controversial throughout U.S. history. Since the colonial period, government welfare policy has reflected the belief that the indigent are responsible for their poverty, leading to the principle that governmental benefits are a privilege and not a…
William Tod Otto served as the reporter of decisions for the U.S. Supreme Court from 1875 to 1883. A distinguished lawyer, judge, and government administrator before his appointment as reporter, Otto is also noted for successfully arguing before the Supreme Court the case of Murdock v. City of Memphis, 87 U.S. (20 Wall.) 590, 22 L. Ed. 429 (1875), which resolved issues concerning the jurisdiction …
William Hubbs Rehnquist was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 and was elevated to the position of chief justice in 1986. A political and judicial conservative, Rehnquist has consistently sought to limit the power of the federal government to intervene in areas that are traditionally left to the states. Rehnquist modeled the Senate proceedings after the 1868 trial. The trial little r…
The act of retaining possession of property without legal right. The term unlawful detainer ordinarily refers to the conduct of a tenant who is in possession of an apartment or leased property and refuses to leave the premises upon the expiration or termination of the lease. Typically, the landlord wishes to evict the tenant for not paying the rent or for endangering the safety of the other tenant…
Chafee was born on December 7, 1885, in Providence, Rhode Island, to a wealthy family. He attended Brown University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1907. He helped manage his family's iron foundry for three years and then left to attend Harvard Law School in 1910. He remained on the family firm's board of directors for the rest of his life. He married Bess Frank Searle…
Unassessed or settled; not ascertained in amount. An unliquidated debt, for example, is one for which the precise amount owed cannot be determined from the terms of the contractual agreement or another standard. …
Comprehensive terms for places where all types of entertainment events can be viewed, including films, plays, and exhibitions. Since these types of entertainment affect the public interest, they may properly be subjected to government regulation. The power to regulate must, however, be exercised reasonably since it restrains the free speech rights of performers, filmmakers, and distributors. A cit…
Unwritten rules, principles, and norms that have the effect and force of law though they have not been formally enacted by the government. Unwritten law is most commonly found in primitive societies where illiteracy is prevalent. Because many residents in such societies cannot read or write, there is little point in publishing written laws to govern their conduct. Instead, societal disputes in pri…
A 1970 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Welsh v. United States, 398 U.S. 333, 90 S. Ct. 1792, 26 L. Ed. 2d 308, held that a person could be exempted from compulsory military service based solely on moral or ethical beliefs against war. Elliot A. Welsh II speaks to reporters on June 15, 1970, shortly after learning of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in his favor that a person could be exempted from m…
A criminal act in which property belonging to another is taken without that person's consent. …
The dollar amount below which property, either real or personal, that is scheduled for sale at an auction is not to be sold. …
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest not-for-profit federation of businesses, representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations in the United States. As of 2003, the chamber was comprised of 3000 state and local chambers and 830 business associations. There were also 92 U.S. Chambers of Commerce abroad. Businesses that make up the chamber range from Fortune 500 co…
Many observers believed that the Court would strike down the law because of its decision in Adkins v. Children's Hospital, 261 U.S. 525, 43 S. Ct. 394, 67 L. Ed. 785 (1923), which invalidated a minimum wage law for women and children. The Court in Adkins had reiterated that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment barred states from interfering with the freedom of employees to neg…
The Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: Ratified in 1791, the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution sets forth two basic requirements. During times of peace, the military may not house its troops in private residences without the consent of the owners. During times of war, the military may not house its troops in private residences except in accordance with established legal procedu…
On July 21, 30,000 Union troops marched on Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy. They were routed at the Battle of Bull Run and forced to retreat to Washington, D.C. The defeat shocked Lincoln and Union leaders, who called for 500,000 new troops for the Union Army of the Potomac. The Army of the Potomac, however, did not have such success. A Union summer offensive against Confederate…
WLD updates its profiles daily on WEST-LAW and FindLaw, and quarterly on CD-ROM. WLD information may be searched in the WLD database, or in component databases. Component databases, such as WLD-MN, WLD-TAX, and WLD-JUDGE, allow users to narrow their search to legal directories designed for particular geographic locations, practice areas, or professional titles. WLD may be searched using the Terms …
A colloquial term used to describe unlawful methods of coercing an individual to confess to a criminal offense by overcoming his or her free will through the use of psychological or physical violence. The least serious grade of a specific crime—the grades being classified by the law according to the circumstances under which the crime is committed—for which the least punishment speci…
A multivolume publication of the text of statutes enacted by Congress. Until 1926, the positive law for federal legislation was published in one volume of the Revised Statutes of 1875, and then in each sub-sequent volume of the statutes at large. In 1925, Congress authorized the preparation of the U.S. Code and appointed a revisor of statutes to extract all the sections of the Revised Statutes of …
The laws of the West Saxons, who lived in the southern and western counties of England, from Kent to Devonshire, during the Anglo-Saxon period. Before the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Anglo-Saxon rulers of England employed a set of laws to govern their kingdom. The collection of laws, called the West Saxon lage, helped support the structure of early English society. Ine, the Anglo-Saxon king of th…
A generic legal term for any individual who does not have a direct connection with a legal transaction but who might be affected by it. A third-party beneficiary is an individual for whose benefit a contract is created even though that person is a stranger to both the agreement and the consideration. Such an individual can usually bring suit to enforce the contract or promise made for his or her b…
A multivolume work published by West Group that contains the complete text of federal laws enacted by Congress that are included in the U.S. Code, together with case notes (known as annotations) of state and federal decisions that interpret and apply specific sections of federal statutes, plus the text of presidential proclamations and executive orders. The U.S. Code Annotated, popularly referred …
WESTLAW subscribers purchase a software package that allows them to dial through their personal computers or over a telephone line into a central mainframe located in Eagan, Minnesota. The mainframe stores information in more than 16,700 databases that can be searched individually or in combination. For example, a tax attorney may choose to limit a search to an individual database containing only …
The former designation for U.S. magistrates.…
The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: For many decades, however, the goals of the Civil War Amendments were frustrated. Due perhaps to the waning public support for postwar Reconstruction and the nation's lack of sensitivity to individual rights, the U.S. Supreme Court severely curtailed the application of the amendments. The Supreme Court thwarted the amendments in two w…
Consisting of one chief judge and two to six associate judges—all appointed to a term of 15 years by the president of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate—the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has the "power to affirm, modify, or reverse a decision of the [BVA] or to remand the matter, as appropriate" (38 U.S.C.A. § 4051 (a) [recodi…
Westminster Hall contained the King's Bench, the Court of Chancery, and the Court of Common Pleas. Until the eighteenth century, it had no partitions or screens to divide the courts from the open hall. The hall was part of Westminster Palace, which, except for the hall and St. Stephen's Chapel, was destroyed by fire in 1834. The houses of Parliament were constructed next to the hall …
The U.S. Courts of Appeals are intermediate federal appellate courts. Created in 1891 pursuant to Article III of the U.S. Constitution, the courts relieve the U.S. Supreme Court from the burden Each state is assigned on the basis of its geographical location to one of eleven judicial circuits. The District of Columbia has its own circuit; U.S. territories are assigned to the first, third…
The hunting of whales for food, oil, or both. During the nineteenth century, the U.S. whaling fleet dominated the world industry. Most of the seven hundred U.S. ships sailed out of New Bedford and Nantucket, Massachusetts. However, the industry went into a steep decline with the discovery and exploitation of petroleum during the late nineteenth century. Though new uses for sperm oil were developed…
An order from a superior court to a lower court or tribunal directing the judge and the parties to cease the litigation because the lower court does not have proper jurisdiction to hear or determine the matters before it. A sample writ of prohibition A writ of prohibition is an extraordinary remedy that is rarely used. …
The U.S. Information Agency (USIA) was the public diplomacy arm of the U.S. government. The USIA existed "to further the national interest by improving United States relations with other countries and peoples through the broadest possible sharing of ideas, information, and educational and cultural activities" (22 U.S.C.A. § 1461 [1988]). Generally, this intention meant that th…
The service is responsible for providing support and protection for the federal courts, including security for more than 700 judicial facilities and more than 2,000 federal judges and magistrates, as well as trial participants such as jurors and attorneys. In recent year this responsibility has increased due to a dramatic escalation in threats against members of the judiciary. The service also ope…
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin founded the Russian Communist party and led the 1917 Russian Revolution, which placed the Bolshevik party in charge of the government. The establishment of the Soviet Union can be traced to Lenin's study of revolution and the ruthless imposition of a one-party state based on Lenin's interpretation of Marxism. The Russian Revolution also profoundly affected U.S. …
Spoken or written words tending to intimidate or menace others. A mere threat that does not cause any harm is generally not actionable. When combined with apparently imminent bodily harm, however, a threat is an assault for which the offender might be subject to civil or criminal liability. In most jurisdictions, a plaintiff can recover damages for the intentional infliction of severe mental or em…
Cities located on lakes, rivers, and oceans usually have at least one wharf, where ships can deliver and pick up passengers and load and unload various types of goods. The law regarding wharves deals with access to wharves, rates that may be charged, and liability issues surrounding the use of these facilities. There are public and private wharves. Public wharves, which can be used with or without…
Hunt was born June 14, 1810, in Utica, New York, to Montgomery Hunt and Elizabeth Stringham Hunt. He studied at the Oxford Academy, in England and the Geneva Academy, in Switzerland. In 1828 he graduated with honors from Union College, in Schenectady, New York. He attended law school in Litchfield, Connecticut. He returned to Utica to work in a local law office, and was admitted to the bar in 1831…
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. The service is also responsible for protecting the mails from loss or theft and apprehending those who violate postal laws. A…
Criminal statutes that mandate increased sentences for repeat offenders, usually after three serious crimes. The California law originally gave judges no discretion in setting prison terms for three strikes offenders. However, the California Supreme Court ruled, in 1996, that judges, in the interest of justice, could ignore prior convictions in determining whether an offender qualified for a three…
Peters denied that the publication infringed any copyright Wheaton claimed to possess. In addition, Peters asserted that Wheaton did not have a valid copyright because he failed to satisfy all the federal statutory requirements that were essential for the creation of copyright. The trial court agreed with Peters and dismissed the lawsuit. Wheaton then appealed to the Supreme Court. During the tria…
By the 1950s and 1960s, the theories surrounding effective punishment changed again. Facing criticism that indeterminate sentencing was giving judges and parole boards too much discretion and not reducing crime, a number of state legislatures passed laws that called for mandatory minimums for certain crimes. Proponents of the deterrence model contended that people would be deterred from committing…
On the contrary, although, when in fact. An introductory statement of a formal document. The term whereas is used two ways in the law. It is derived from Middle English and can mean "on the contrary," as in the sentence, The orange juice can label said "fresh squeezed," whereas the contents were made from orange juice concentrate. In the law the term whereas also is use…
By or through which; by the help of which; in accordance with which. For example, in the promissory note clause "whereby he promised and agreed for value received to pay," the term whereby is equivalent to the phrase and by it. …
For which reason. The term wherefore is frequently used in an averment (a positive statement of fact set out in the pleadings that must be filed with a court by the parties to a legal action)—for example, "wherefore the defendant says that such contract was and is void." …
While attending college, Saxbe was a member of the Ohio National Guard. After college, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps, serving from 1940 to 1945. Saxbe was called to serve again during the Korean conflict in the 1950s; he was discharged from the reserve with the rank of colonel in 1963. William B. Saxbe. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS as House majority leader in 1951 and 1952, and as speaker of th…
Whig Party was a name applied to political parties in England, Scotland, and America. Whig is a short form of the word whiggamore, a Scottish word once used to describe people from western Scotland who opposed King Charles I of England in 1648. In the late 1600s, Scottish and English opponents of the growing power of royalty were called Whigs. The Whigs maintained a strong position in English poli…
The act sets out the following purposes: "to deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools, and … other purposes." It is divided into ten main categories called titles. They include enhancing domestic security against terrorism; enhancing surveillance procedures; abating money laundering; protecting th…
Congress established the excise tax in 1791 to help reduce the $54 million national debt. The tax was loathed across the country. For a small group of farmers west of the Allegheny Mountains, the federal excise tax was singularly detestable. Bartering was the chief means of exchange in this frontier economy, and distilled spirits were the most commonly traded commodity. Cash was a disfavored curre…
It is legally recognized that time is divided into years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds. The time kept by a municipality is known as civic time. A local government may not use a system of time different from that adopted by its state legislature. During daylight saving time, the customary time system is advanced one hour to take advantage of the longer periods of daylight during…
A reasonable and legal practice in a particular location, or among persons in a specific business or trade, that is either known to the individuals involved or is well established, general, and uniform to such an extent that a presumption may properly be made that the parties acted with reference to it in their transactions. The term usage refers to a uniform practice or course of conduct followed…
A written order to pay a certain sum in money that is payable at a particular future date. Time drafts, sometimes called time bills or time loans, are frequently used by merchants to finance the transportation of goods. A sample time draft …
An abbreviation for U.S. Code.…
The disclosure by a person, usually an employee in a government agency or private enterprise, to the public or to those in authority, of mismanagement, corruption, illegality, or some other wrongdoing. Persons who act as whistleblowers are often the subject of retaliation by their employers. Typically the employer will discharge the whistleblower, who is often an at-will employee. An at-will emplo…
A phrase in a contract that means that performance by one party at or within the period specified in the contract is necessary to enable that party to require performance by the other party. Failure to act within the time required constitutes a breach of the contract. The general rule is that time is not of the essence unless the contract expressly so provides. As a result, with respect to real es…
An abbreviation for U.S. Code Annotated.…
William Pitt Ballinger achieved prominence as a distinguished Texas lawyer, which earned him the name the "Nestor of the Texas bar." Ballinger was born in 1825 in Barbourville, Kentucky. From 1840 to 1841 Ballinger attended St. Mary's College, then began to study law on his own. His father was clerk of the courts of Knox County and hired the young Ballinger to work as a deputy…
An abbreviation for United States Code Congressional and Administrative News, a source of new federal public laws that is published by West Group every two weeks when Congress is in session and once a month when Congress is not in session. …
An abbreviation for U.S. District Court.…
Over the years, numerous regulations covering other areas of business have been enacted by both state and federal government. With more laws on the books violations have led to more prosecutions. The hallmark of many white-collar crimes, however, is sophistication. Perpetrators have specialized knowledge that allows them to commit complex transactions that are often difficult to identify. Law enfo…
Ulysses Simpson Grant, originally known as Hiram Ulysses Grant, was a U.S. general, the commander of the Union army during the last part of the Civil War, and the president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. During his presidency Grant's reputation was tarnished by political corruption and scandal in his administration. Though he was never personally involved with any scandal, his fail…
A method whereby a seller charges one amount for the immediate cash payment of merchandise and another amount for the same item or items when payment is rendered at a future date or in installments. The immediate payment price is called the cash-price; the later price is known as the time-price or credit-price. The time-price differential is the difference between the two prices. …
The fact of being habitually employed in a certain manner. In real property law, a right held by an individual (called a cestui que use) to take the profits arising from a particular parcel of land that was owned and possessed by another individual. The cestui que use received the benefits from the property even though title to such land was in another individual. This theory is no longer part of …
Existing or taking place within the designated period; seasonable. The meaning of the term timely must, in a number of situations, be determined on the basis of the facts and circumstances of each individual case. Courts have extensive discretion in determining whether a particular party has acted in a timely manner in filing papers, serving notices, or bringing motions in a legal action. …
A kind of action brought by a landlord against an individual who had occupancy of the landlord's land or premises under an express or implied agreement requiring payment, but not under a leasehold contract that would allow the landlord to initiate an action for rent. …
A legal device once employed by some Southern states to prevent African Americans from exercising their right to vote in a meaningful way. Beginning in the late 1920s the Supreme Court reviewed a series of cases involving the white primary. In Nixon v. Herndon, 273 U.S. 536, 47 S. Ct. 446, 71 L. Ed. 759 (1927), the Court ruled that the state could not formally endorse the white primary, but in Gro…
Walter Folger Brown was born May 31, 1869, in Massillon, Ohio. He received a bachelor of arts degree from Harvard University in 1892 and attended Harvard Law School from 1893 to 1894. Brown practiced law from 1894 to 1927 and entered politics in 1921, serving for three years as chairman of the Congressional Joint Committee on Reorganization. In 1927 he became assistant secretary of commerce, …
Social agitator Thomas Paine was an influential political writer whose support of revolution and republican government emboldened the American colonists to declare independence from England. In 1776, the corset-maker-turned-pamphleteer published the first of a sixteen-part series entitled The American Crisis. Paine's tract contained the stirring words "These are the times that try me…
A form of shared property ownership, commonly in vacation or recreation condominium property, in which rights vest in several owners to use property for a specified period each year. Timeshare ownership of vacation or recreation condominium property is a popular choice for persons who wish to secure a long-term commitment to a particular location. Timesharing is common in Hawaii, Florida, Arizona,…
Governments employ use taxes to accomplish two purposes. A use tax may be imposed to prevent someone from evading a sales tax by buying goods in a nontaxing state and shipping them into the state that imposes the sales tax. Use taxes are also used to help defray the cost of public services associated with particular types of personal property. States and municipalities impose use taxes on purchase…
Organizations that believe the Caucasian race is superior to all other races and therefore seek either to separate the races in the United States or to remove all non-Caucasians from the nation. The Klan reemerged in 1915, adding new enemies to its list. The revitalized organization drew upon anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic, antiSemitic, and anti-Communist prejudices, believing that the ethnic chara…
The case grew out of political opposition to the Vietnam War. In December 1965 a group of students in the Des Moines public school system decided to protest the war. John Tinker, 15 years old, his 13-year-old sister Mary Beth, and 16-year-old Christopher Eckhardt sought to publicize their antiwar position and their support for a truce by wearing black armbands to school in the weeks leading up to …
For example, a usufructuary right would be the right to use water from a stream in order to generate electrical power. Such a right is distinguishable from a claim of legal ownership of the water itself. …
A fictitious designation used by legal writers to describe a parcel of land. Whiteacre is frequently used with Blackacre, another fictitious designation, in order to distinguish one piece of land from another. …
In Western ecclesiastical law, the act of paying a percentage of one's income to further religious purposes. One of the political subdivisions of England that was composed of ten families who held freehold estates. Residents of a tithing were joined in a society and bound to the king to maintain peaceful relations with each other. The person responsible for the administration of the tithing…
The illegal encroachment or assumption of the use of authority, power, or property properly belonging to another; the interruption or disturbance of an individual in his or her right or possession. The term usurpation is also used in reference to the unlawful assumption or seizure of sovereign power, in derogation of the constitution and rights of the proper ruler. …
In regard to legislation, the heading or preliminary part of a particular statute that designates the name by which that act is known. In the law of property, title in its broadest sense refers to all rights that can be secured and enjoyed under the law. It is frequently synonymous with absolute ownership. Title to property ordinarily signifies an estate in fee simple, which means that the holder …
The crime of charging higher interest on a loan than the law permits. State laws set the maximum amount of interest that can be charged for a loan of money. A lender that charges higher than the maximum amount of interest is guilty of the crime of usury. In addition, courts may modify contracts that contain usurious rates of interest by reducing the interest to the legal maximum. The charging of e…
A contractual arrangement entered into to indemnify loss or damage resulting from defects or problems relating to the ownership of real property, or from the enforcement of liens that exist against it. Title insurance is ordinarily taken out by a purchaser of the property, or by an individual lending money on the mortgage, in an amount equivalent to the purchase price of the property. To be entitl…
A treaty ending a war may adopt the principle of uti possidetis, the principle of status quo ante bellum (Latin for "the state of things before the war"), or a combination of the two. Upon a default of any treaty stipulation, the doctrine of uti possidetis prevails. …
Whitewater is the name of a failed resort development on the White River in the Ozark Mountain region of Arkansas. In 1978 Bill Clinton, then Arkansas attorney general, and Hillary Clinton joined a partnership with James and Susan McDougal to form Whitewater Development Corporation, a real estate development firm that built vacation homes near the White River. When Clinton was elected governor tha…
The process of examining official county records to determine whether an owner's rights in real property are good. …
Bryan was born March 19, 1860, in Salem, Illinois. His was a devoutly religious family that prayed together three times a day and stressed strict adherence to a literal interpretation of the Bible. His parents, Silas Lilliard Bryan and Mariah Elizabeth Jennings Bryan, were firm believers in education. His mother schooled Bryan and his siblings in their home until they were old enough to be sent aw…
That is to say; namely.…
Bentham believed that all human behavior is motivated by a desire to maximize pleasure and avoid pain. Yet he observed that law is often written in vague terms of rights and obligations. For example, a law might say that a person has a right to take action under one set of circumstances but an obligation to refrain from action under different circumstances. Bentham thought that law could be simpli…
William Benson Bryant is a federal judge whose decisions influenced the outcomes of several famous legal battles of the 1970s. Bryant was born September 18, 1911, in Wetumpka, Alabama. He moved to Washington, D.C., with his family when he was a child and attended District of Columbia public schools. He graduated from Howard University with a bachelor of arts degree in 1932, and went on to earn his…
To publish or offer; to send into circulation.…
The report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement led to police reform efforts in many municipalities. These efforts were reinforced by volume fourteen, The Police, which called for professional police departments, staffed by more highly qualified police officers and insulated from political pressures. …
[Latin, Wife.] A woman who is legally married.…
To annul, set aside, or render void; to surrender possession or occupancy. The term vacate has two common usages in the law. With respect to real property, to vacate the premises means to give up possession of the property and leave the area totally devoid of contents. To vacate a court order or judgment means to cancel it or render it null and void. Courts are generally reluctant to grant a motio…
William Cushing was born March 1, 1732. He graduated from Harvard College in 1751, and received an honorary master of arts degree from Yale University in 1753 and an honorary doctor of laws degree from Harvard University in 1785. In 1779, Cushing was a member of the first Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. In 1788, he acted as vice president at the Massachusetts Convention, a convention that…
The condition of an individual who is idle, has no visible means of support, and travels from place to place without working. Traditionally, communities tended to regard vagrants with suspicion and view them either as beggars or as persons likely to commit crimes. In England vagrants were whipped, branded, conscripted into military service, or exiled to penal colonies. In colonial America vagrancy…
The Supreme Court ruled in Emporium Capwell Co. v. Western Addition Community Organization, 420 U.S. 50, 95 S. Ct. 977, 43 L. Ed. 2d 12 (1975) that when wildcat strikers bargain separately, they are not protected by the Wagner Act. Most lower courts have applied Emporium Capwell broadly, holding that all wildcat strikers are unprotected. Therefore, even when wildcat strikers have not attempted to …
William H. Gray III. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS Africa. He helped create and pass laws that imposed harsh sanctions on South Africa for its policies of apartheid. William Herbert Gray III was born August 20, 1941, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His father was a clergyman and an educator who served as president of Florida Normal and Industrial College in St. Augustine and of Florida A&M College…
Amendment, states could not restrain the free speech rights of persons such as Gitlow. Though the Court did not agree with Pollak that the New York law was unconstitutional, it did adopt his incorporation argument, holding that freedom of speech and the press "are among the most fundamental personal rights and 'liberties' protected by the due process clause of the Fourtee…
Imprecise; uncertain; indefinite. The term vague is frequently used in reference to a statute written in language that is so indefinite or lacking in precision that an individual of ordinary intelligence is forced to guess at its meaning. Statutes that are vague are ordinarily void on that ground. …
Binding; possessing legal force or strength; legally sufficient. A valid contract, for example, is one that has been executed in compliance with all the requisite legal formalities and is binding upon, and enforceable by, the individuals who executed it. …
Upton Beall Sinclair was a famous American writer and essayist whose book The Jungle, an exposé of Chicago's meatpacking industry, shocked the nation and led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. Sinclair was born September 20, 1878, to a prominent but financially troubled family in Baltimore, Maryland. Sinclair's father was a liquor salesman who was also an al…
In the formation of a valid and binding contract, something of worth or value that is either a detriment incurred by the person making the promise or a benefit received by the other person. In contract law consideration is required as an inducement to enter into a contract that is enforceable in the courts. It is an essential element for the formation of a contract. What constitutes sufficient con…
The process of determining the value or worth of an asset. There are several methods professionals use to perform a valuation, often including both objective and subjective criteria. Valuation is often used as a synonym for appraisal. …
The estimated or appraised worth of any object or property, calculated in money. The word value has many meanings and may be used in different senses. Because value is usually a relative term, its true meaning must be determined by the context in which it appears. Value sometimes expresses the inherent usefulness of an object and sometimes the power of purchasing other goods with it. The first is …
For centuries the leaves of the tobacco plant have been used for making smoking tobacco and chewing tobacco. Tobacco contains small amounts of nicotine, a stimulant that acts on the heart and other organs and the nervous system when tobacco is inhaled, ingested, or absorbed. Nicotine's effect on the nervous system causes people to become addicted to it, and the stimulating effects make smok…
Born on April 17, 1859, in Marion, Indiana, Van Devanter was the first of eight children born to Violetta Spencer and Isaac Van Devanter, a lawyer and abolitionist. He excelled in academics, graduating in 1878 from Indiana Asbury University (now DePauw University) with a near perfect record in history, math, Greek, and Latin. In 1881 he earned a bachelor of laws degree from the Cincinnati Law Scho…
It is fitting that Gregory's service to the United States came in a time of war. Born November 6, 1861, in Crawfordsville, Mississippi, he was, in many ways, a child of war. His father, Francis Robert Gregory, a physician and Confederate army captain, was killed during the early days of the Civil War. His mother, Mary Cornelia Watt Gregory, a delicate woman mourning the loss of her first ch…
The TI was established in response to a growing public health movement in the 1950s against smoking. From its inception, the institute stressed the contribution of tobacco to the U.S. economy and the preservation of tobacco farms. It also stressed the inconclusiveness and inconsistency of antismoking findings and supported the rights of individual smokers to smoke in public places. The TI publiciz…
The intentional and malicious destruction of or damage to the property of another. The intentional destruction of property is popularly referred to as vandalism. It includes behavior such as breaking windows, slashing tires, spray painting a wall with graffiti, and destroying a computer system through the use of a computer virus. Vandalism is a malicious act and may reflect personal ill will, alth…
Thomas Todd served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1807 to 1826. Trained as a land surveyor and as a lawyer, Todd's handful of opinions on the Court mostly concerned land claims. Todd was born in King and Queen County, Virginia, on January 23, 1765. As a teenager, he served briefly in the Revolutionary War before attending Liberty Hall, now called Washington and Lee U…
The discrepancy between what a party to a lawsuit alleges will be proved in pleadings and what the party actually proves at trial. The term variance is used both in litigation and in zoning law. In both instances it has the general meaning of a difference or divergence. Most U.S. communities have zoning laws that control and direct the development of property within their borders according to its …
American involvement in World War II formally began on December 8, 1941, when the United States declared war on Japan, and formally ended on September 2, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered in Tokyo Bay aboard the USS Missouri. For more than a decade before the war, the Japanese military had been expanding its foothold on the Asiatic mainland. During the war itself, Japan invaded or attacked Burma…
[Latin, Or not.] A term used by the courts in reference to the existence or nonexistence of an issue for determination; for example: "We come to the merits vel non of this appeal," means "we come to the merits, or not, of this appeal," and refers to the possibility that the appeal backs merit. …
It was later revealed that the federal government had drafted the Tonkin Gulf Resolution fully six months before the attacks on the U.S. vessels occurred. It was also revealed that the United States provoked the attack by assisting the South Vietnamese in mounting clandestine military attacks against the North Vietnamese. Although the two U.S. vessels attacked were actually on intelligence-gatheri…
Buyer or purchaser; an individual to whom anything is transferred by a sale. The term vendee is ordinarily used in reference to a buyer of real property. …
A document in which a person specifies the method to be applied in the management and distribution of his estate after his death. A will serves a variety of important purposes. It enables a person to select his heirs rather than allowing the state laws of descent and distribution to choose the heirs, who, although blood relatives, might be people the testator dislikes or with whom he is unacquaint…
Groesbeck was born July 24, 1815, in Schenectady, New York, and studied law at Miami University, in Ohio. After graduating in 1834, he began practicing at the age of 19 in Cincinnati. As a liberal Republican, he served in Congress from 1857 to 1859, but then lost his bid for reelection. He remained active in party politics as a leader of the Union Democrats, served as a delegate at the fruitless p…
An organization of individuals who enter into an agreement to pool sums of money or something of value other than money, permitting the last survivor of the group to take everything. The holders of tontine life insurance contracts enter into an agreement to pay premiums for a certain amount of time before they gain the right to acquire dividends. In the event that a policyholder dies during the to…
Seller; an individual who transfers property for sale; merchant; retail dealer; supplier. The term vendor is frequently used in reference to an individual who sells real property. …
William McKinley. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS McKinley's political ambitions were nurtured by Hayes. McKinley became active in Ohio Republican politics and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1876. McKinley was an outspoken advocate of higher tariffs, believing that U.S. industry and U.S. workers were protected by the taxation of imported foreign goods. His stand on tariffs c…
A system for recording land titles under which a court may direct the issuance of a certificate of title upon application by the landowner. The Torrens title system is a method of registering titles to real estate. Real estate that is recorded using this method is also called registered property or Torrens property. The system is used in the British Commonwealth countries, including Canada, and in…
The legal relationship between the buyer and the seller of land during the interim period between the execution of the contract and the date of its consummation. A contract for the sale of real property is executed when the vendor and the purchaser sign an agreement in which the vendor promises to convey ownership of the property to the purchaser, who promises to pay an agreed sum. The contract is…
Warren Earl Burger was a self-made man who rose from modest origins to become the fifteenth chief justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. Burger was admitted to the Minnesota bar in 1931, then entered private practice in St. Paul with Boyesen, Otis, and Faricy. He became a partner in 1935, and the firm was renamed Faricy, Burger, Moore, and Costello. Burger concentrated his practice in corporate law, …
William Strong served as associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1870 to 1880. He is best remembered for his majority opinion in the controversial case of Knox v. Lee (argued concurrently with Parker v. Davis), 79 U.S. (12 Wall.) 457, 20 L. Ed. 287 (1871), commonly known as one of the Legal Tender Cases. Strong was born on May 6, 1808, in Somers, Connecticut. He graduated from Yale Univer…
[Latin, Cause to come.] A judicial order or writ addressed to the sheriff of a county where a legal action is to take place, commanding the sheriff to assemble a jury. A venireman is a member of a jury summoned by a writ of venire facias. …
Intentional; not accidental; voluntary; designed. There is no precise definition of the term willful because its meaning largely depends on the context in which it appears. It generally signifies a sense of the intentional as opposed to the inadvertent, the deliberate as opposed to the unplanned, and the voluntary as opposed to the compelled. After centuries of court cases, it has no single meanin…
A member of a jury which has been summoned by a writ of venire facias. …
The Williams Act of 1968 amended the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C.A. § 78a et seq.) to require mandatory disclosure of information regarding cash tender offers. When an individual, group, or corporation seeks to acquire control of another corporation, it may make a tender offer. A tender offer is a proposal to buy shares of stock from the stockholders for cash or some type …
A place, such as the territory from which residents are selected to serve as jurors. A proper place, such as the correct court to hear a case because it has authority over events that have occurred within a certain geographical area. State and federal venue statutes govern where a case will be tried. State venue statutes list a variety of factors that determine in which county and in which court a…
While working at the CIA, Barr enrolled in the night program at George Washington University Law School. He earned his law degree in 1977, graduating second in his class. After law school, he clerked for one year with the presiding judge of the District of Columbia Circuit Court. He was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1977 and to the District of Columbia bar in 1978. Also in 1978, Barr accepted an…
[Latin, Words.] A term used in many legal maxims, including verba sunt indices animi, which means "words are the indicators of the mind or thought"; and verba accipienda ut sortiantur effectum, or "words are to be taken so that they may have some effect." …
The formal decision or finding made by a jury concerning the questions submitted to it during a trial. The jury reports the verdict to the court, which generally accepts it. The decision of a jury is called a verdict. A jury is charged with hearing the evidence presented by both sides in a trial, determining the facts of the case, applying the relevant law to the facts, and voting on a final verdi…
The proviso injected the controversial slavery issue into the funding debate, but the House approved the bill and sent it to the Senate for action. The Senate, however, adjourned before discussing the issue. The creation of the Republican Party in 1854 was based on an antislavery platform that endorsed the Wilmot Proviso. The prohibition of slavery in any new territories became a party tenet, with…
[Latin, Against.] A designation used in the caption of a lawsuit to indicate the opposite positions taken by the parties. In the title of a lawsuit, the plaintiff's name appears first; the word versus follows; then the defendant's name appears, as in "A versus B." Versus is commonly abbreviated vs. or v. …
A body of rights, obligations, and remedies that is applied by courts in civil proceedings to provide relief for persons who have suffered harm from the wrongful acts of others. The person who sustains injury or suffers pecuniary damage as the result of tortious conduct is known as the plaintiff, and the person who is responsible for inflicting the injury and incurs liability for the damage is kno…
A merger between two business firms that have a buyer-seller relationship. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided only three vertical merger cases under section 7 of the Clayton Act since 1950. In the first case, United States v. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 353 U.S. 586, 77 S. Ct. 872, 1 L. Ed. 2d 1057 (1957), the Court upset the general assumption that section 7 did not apply to vertical m…
A wrongdoer; an individual who commits a wrongful act that injures another and for which the law provides a legal right to seek relief; a defendant in a civil tort action. …
To give an immediate, fixed right of present or future enjoyment. The term vest is significant in the law, because it means that a person has an absolute right to some present or future interest in something of value. When a right has vested, the person is legally entitled to what has been promised and may seek relief in court if the benefit is not given. A vested legacy is an inheritance given in…
In order to establish that a particular act was tortious, a plaintiff must prove that an actionable wrong existed and that damages ensued from that wrong. …
An arrangement created by a person depositing his or her own money in his or her own name in a bank account for the benefit of another. A sample Totten trust A Totten trust is a tentative trust, revocable at will, until the depositor dies or completes the gift in his or her lifetime by some unequivocal act or declaration, such as delivery of the pass-book or notice to the beneficiary. If th…
Woodrow Wilson. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Wilson's foreign-affairs policies encountered serious difficulties. In Mexico, which was in the throes of upheaval, the arrest of U.S. military personnel precipitated a U.S. invasion. U.S. troops also retaliated when Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa invaded New Mexico. Wilson ordered troops to pursue him into Mexico. Rel…
The last phase in the dissolution of a partnership or corporation, in which accounts are settled and assets are liquidated so that they may be distributed and the business may be terminated. The dissolution of a corporation or a partnership culminates in the wind up of all legal and financial affairs of the business. State statutes govern the dissolution process for both types of business organiza…
An act by which one vessel, known as the tug, supplies power in order to draw another vessel, called the tow. Towing involves dragging a vessel forward in the water through the use of a rope or cable attached to another vessel. Various state laws require that bright lights be placed upon vessels that are towing or being towed. …
Theophilus Parsons served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court from 1806 to 1813. A man of wide interests and learning, he is recognized for a series of decisions that defined legal principles that have shaped the American business corporation. Parsons strongly supported ratification of the U.S. Constitution. As a delegate to the 1788 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention…
A form of electronic eavesdropping accomplished by seizing or overhearing communications by means of a concealed recording or listening device connected to the transmission line. Police departments began tapping phone lines in the 1890s. The placing of a wiretap is relatively easy. A suspect's telephone line is identified at the phone company's switching station and a line, or …
Day was born April 17, 1849, in Ravenna, Ohio. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1870 and attended its law school for one year. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1872 and entered practice in Canton, Ohio. Despite this hostility to the Child Labor Act, Day upheld the federal government's power to regulate interstate commerce in other cases that involved the shipment of im…
William Wirt served as U.S. attorney general from 1817 to 1829, the longest tenure in U.S. history. Wirt is recognized as one of the most important holders of that office, as he increased its prestige, established administrative record keeping, and defined the functions and authority of the attorney general that have remained unchanged. In that same year President Monroe appointed Wirt attorney ge…
William M. Kunstler. ARCHIVE PHOTO/CONSOLIDATED NEWS At the age of seventy-six, Kunstler still reportedly worked fourteen-hour days in his home. Assisted by his partner, attorney Ron Kuby, he took most of his cases for free. He also did a bit of acting, appearing as a fire-breathing judge in director Spike Lee's 1992 film Malcolm X. In 1994 he published his twelfth book, My Life…
A civil and political subdivision of a state, which varies in size and significance according to location but is ordinarily a division of a county. The terms township and town are frequently used interchangeably in certain geographic locations, although in some parts of the United States the term township denotes a group of several towns. Since towns can be formed only from contiguous territory, t…
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…
In 1767 Parliament decided to reduce the property tax in England. To compensate for the deficit, Charles Townshend, chancellor of the exchequer, proposed legislation that would raise revenue from various taxes directed at the colonists. These laws, called the Townshend Acts, imposed duties on the importation of such articles as lead, glass, paint, tea, and paper into the colonies. The money collec…
In a government survey, a square tract of land six miles on each side, constituting thirty-six square miles. In some states, the name given to the political subdivision of a county. …
The Department of Veterans Affairs was established in 1989 as an executive department by the Department of Veterans Affairs Act (38 U.S.C.A. § 201 note). Its establishment came after more than 24 years of effort by members of Congress to elevate the department's predecessor, the Veterans Administration, to cabinet status. Proponents argued that promotion to cabinet level would increa…
An Anglo-Saxon term that meant wise men, persons learned in the law; in particular, the king's advisers or members of his council. In England, between the sixth and tenth centuries, a person who advised an Anglo-Saxon king was called a witan, or wise man. A witan's basic duty was to respond when the king asked for advice on specific issues. A witan gave his advice in the Witenagemote…
Persons who have been victims of fraud, misappropriation, or mistake may reclaim their property through the equitable remedy called tracing. Tracing makes such victims secured creditors in bankruptcy claims, which means by law they are the first to claim their share of a bankrupt's assets. Tracing can be invoked only if two requirements are met: victims must be able to identify their proper…
Historically, the VFW has promoted patriotism through its "Americanism Program." It provides materials and information and sponsors events and activities that are designed to stimulate interest in U.S. history, traditions, and institutions. The "Voice of Democracy" program is a national essay competition that annually provides more than $2.5 million in college scholar-s…
In 1960 an Illinois jury convicted William C. Witherspoon of murder and sentenced him to death. Witherspoon challenged the constitutionality of both his conviction and his death sentence. His appeal was based on an Illinois statute that provided that in murder trials a prospective juror could be challenged for cause and removed from the jury panel if, upon examination, the prospective juror declar…
A product's physical appearance, including its size, shape, color, design, and texture. To establish a claim for trade dress infringement, a company must demonstrate the distinctiveness of its product's appearance. Trade dress will not receive protection from infringement unless it is unique, unusual, or widely recognized by the public. Courts have found a variety of trade dress to b…
The amount legally deducted from an employee's wages or salary by the employer, who uses it to prepay the charges imposed by the government on the employee's yearly earnings. When a person is hired for a salaried job, the new employee must complete a federal W-4 form, which authorizes the employer to retain a certain amount of the employee's earnings to be forwarded to the gov…
Names or designations used by companies to identify themselves and distinguish their businesses from others in the same field. Trade names are used by profit and non-profit entities, political and religious organizations, industry and agriculture, manufacturers and producers, wholesalers and retailers, sole proprietorships and joint ventures, partnerships and corporations, and a host of other busi…
Encompassed by, or included under, the provisions and scope of a particular law. In the U.S. legal system, a person who is charged with violating a statute must have committed actions that are specifically addressed in the law. When a person's actions comport with the language of the law, the actions are said to be "within the statute." …
Any valuable commercial information that provides a business with an advantage over competitors who do not have that information. In general terms trade secrets include inventions, ideas, or compilations of data that are used by a business to make itself more successful. Specifically, trade secrets include any useful formula, plan, pattern, process, program, tool, technique, mechanism, compound, o…
A term used to describe a final ending or adjournment of a session of a legislature or a court; the English translation of the Latin phrase sine die. In addition, once a legislature makes a final adjournment, it generally cannot call itself back into special session. In this situation the governor or president is authorized to call a special session of the legislature. The legislature, however, re…
An organization of workers in the same skilled occupation or related skilled occupations who act together to secure for all members favorable wages, hours, and other working conditions. Trade unions are entitled to conduct a strike against employers. A strike is usually the last resort of a trade union, but when negotiations have reached an impasse, a strike may be the only bargaining tool le…
Without any loss or waiver of rights or privileges. When a lawsuit is dismissed, the court may enter a judgment against the plaintiff with or without prejudice. When a lawsuit is dismissed without prejudice, it signifies that none of the rights or privileges of the individual involved are considered to be lost or waived. The same holds true when an admission is made or when a motion is denied with…
Any system, custom, or practice of doing business used so commonly in a vocation, field, or place that an expectation arises that it will be observed in a particular transaction. Trade usage supplements, qualifies, and imparts particular meanings to the terms of an agreement for the purpose of the agreement's interpretation. Contractual language cannot be interpreted out of the context of t…
A phrase used by an endorser (a signer other than the original maker) of a negotiable instrument (for example, a check or promissory note) to mean that if payment of the instrument is refused, the endorser will not be responsible. An individual who endorses a check or promissory note using the phrase without recourse specifically declines to accept any responsibility for payment. By using this phr…
According to data from the 2000 U.S. census, about 26.4 million civilians, or 12.7 percent of the civilian population, consisted of veterans of the armed forces. This number includes those who served on active duty for the duration of their military careers and those who served for only a short time on active duty, such as individuals who were called to serve in the Gulf War in 1991. Given that su…
The refusal of an executive officer to assent to a bill that has been created and approved by the legislature, thereby depriving the bill of any legally binding effect. Article I, Section 7, of the U.S. Constitution states that "every bill" and "every order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and the House of Representatives may be necessary" must…
William French Smith served as U.S. attorney general from 1981 to 1985. A longtime friend Smith was born on August 26, 1917, in Wilton, New Hampshire. He graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1939 and from the Harvard Law School in 1942. From 1942 to 1946, Smith served in the U.S. Navy Reserve, reaching the rank of lieutenant. Smith remained a close adviser to Reagan a…
Sometimes pro se litigants who have lost their initial lawsuits file new actions based on the dispute contained in the original suit. Because the judgment of the original case is dispositive, a court will ultimately dismiss these new actions. To avoid the expenditure of court resources, as well as the costs associated with the defendant's defense of repeated frivolous claims, a court may is…
The doctrine of respondeat superior (Latin for "let the master answer") is based on the employer-employee relationship. The doctrine makes the employer responsible for a lack of care on the part of an employee in relation to those to whom the employer owes a duty of care. For respondeat superior to apply, the employee's negligence must occur within the scope of her employment.…
Distinctive symbols of authenticity through which the products of particular manufacturers or the salable commodities of particular merchants can be distinguished from those of others. A trademark is a device, word or combination of words, or symbol that indicates the source or ownership of a product or service. A trademark can be a name, such as Adidas, or a symbol, such as McDonald's gold…
A fault, flaw, defect, or imperfection. Immoral conduct, practice, or habit. …
A comprehensive term for any type of tickets, certificates, or order blanks that can be offered in exchange for money or something of value, or for a reduction in price when a particular item is purchased. U.S. businesses attempt to attract customers by using advertising, promising low prices, and claiming to offer high-quality goods and services. Another way of attracting business is by offering …
A generic term for any kind of copy, particularly an official or certified representation of the record of what took place in a court during a trial or other legal proceeding. A transcript of record is the printed record of the proceedings and pleadings of a case, required by the appellate court for a review of the history of the case. …
The Twenty-fifth Amendment also provides a method for the vice president to become acting president. If the president transmits a message to both houses of Congress stating that he or she cannot discharge the powers and duties of the office, the vice president becomes acting president. Until the president subsequently transmits a written declaration to the contrary, the vice president remains acti…
Individuals who provide evidence in legal proceedings before a tribunal. Persons who give testimony under oath in court, concerning what they have seen, heard, or otherwise observed. Legal proceedings, especially trials, depend on witnesses to present factual evidence to the fact finder, which may be a judge or a jury. Typically each party in a dispute has its own set of witnesses. All witnesses, …
To remove or convey from one place or person to another. The removal of a case from one court to another court within the same system where it might have been instituted. An act of the parties, or of the law, by which the title to property is conveyed from one person to another. Transfer encompasses the sale and every other method, direct or indirect, of (1) disposing of property or an interest th…
The conveyance of something of value from one person, place, or situation to another. A will is a common way of transferring assets. The testator, the person writing and signing the will, states in writing how the assets of his estate shall be divided and transferred upon his death. The estate of the testator is subject to inheritance taxes, but the remainder is transferred to the heirs and benefi…
Government program that provides information and aid to persons who have suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a crime. These laws authorized the creation of programs that pay victims compensation for certain losses associate with a criminal act. Compensation is generally provided for lost earnings, medical expenses, mental health counseling, and f…
The charge levied by the government on the sale of shares of stock. A charge imposed by the federal and state governments upon the passing of title to real property or a valuable interest in such property, or on the transfer of a decedent's estate by inheritance, devise, or bequest. The states also impose transfer tax on deeds used to convey real property. …
Warren Gamaliel Harding served as the twenty-ninth president of the United States, from 1921 to 1923. Harding, who also served one term in the U.S. Senate, presided over an administration that achieved little and that was tainted by political corruption. Harding was born November 2, 1865, on a farm at Caledonia (now Blooming Grove), Morrow County, Ohio, the eldest of eight children. He attended Oh…
Any corporation that is registered and operates in more than one country at a time; also called a multinational corporation. A transnational, or multinational, corporation has its headquarters in one country and operates wholly or partially owned subsidiaries in one or more other countries. The subsidiaries report to the central headquarters. The growth in the number and size of transnational corp…
All the law—national, international, or mixed—that applies to all persons, businesses, and governments that perform or have influence across state lines. Transnational law regulates actions or events that transcend national frontiers. It involves individuals, corporations, states, or other groups—not just the official relations between governments of states. An almost infinite…
Until the 1970s victims of crimes were often forgotten by the criminal justice system. As a result, victims sometimes came to believe that they had fewer rights than the criminals who had injured them. In addition, some victims became so alienated from the criminal justice process that prosecutors had difficulty persuading them to testify at trial. This environment began to change in the 1970s wit…
The Victims of Crime Act of 1984 (VOCA) was an attempt by the federal government to help the victims of criminal actions through means other than punishment of the criminal. It created a federal victims-compensation account funded by fines assessed in federal criminal convictions, and it established provisions to assist state programs that compensated the victims of crimes. The compensation system…
Generally, the rights of the victims of a criminal act, whether at trial or after conviction of the perpetrator. In the meantime, states began to pass their own victims' rights legislation, most of which established compensation programs for victims of crime. Some states went further, however, and passed victims' rights amendments to their state constitutions. These amendments, gener…
The controversial clauses of Girard's will established a college for impoverished white male orphans between the ages of six and ten years. In addition to specifying the subject matter to be taught, the will barred clergymen of any denomination from holding any post within the college and from visiting the premises. Girard also bequeathed $500,000 to be invested and the income therefrom app…
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…
The effort to secure equal rights for women and to remove gender discrimination from laws, institutions, and behavioral patterns. …
William Henry Harrison was the ninth president of the United States. He served the shortest term of any U.S. president, dying just a month after assuming office. Harrison rose quickly through the ranks of the military, becoming a lieutenant in 1792 and acting as aide-de-camp to Major General Anthony ("Mad Anthony") Wayne, who was responsible for pacifying the Ottawa, Chippewa, Shawne…
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) establishes overall transportation policy for the United States. Under the DOT umbrella are 11 administrations whose jurisdictions include highway planning, development, and construction; urban mass transit; railroads; aviation; and the safety of ports, highways, and oil and gas pipelines. Decisions made by the department in conjunction with appropriate …
William H. Hastie. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS Hastie was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 17, 1904. In 1916 his family moved to Washington, D.C., so that he could attend Dunbar High School. Thus began an education at the same schools Houston had attended before him. Hastie graduated from Dunbar as class valedictorian in 1921 and went on to distinguish himself at Amherst College, where he…
When he was named to the federal bench at age thirty-five in 1940, William J. Campbell was the youngest judge ever appointed; at the time of his death, he was the longest-tenured federal judge in the United States, with almost fifty years of service to his credit. Shortly after passing the bar in 1927, Campbell partnered with a longtime friend to open the law firm of Campbell and Burns. The new fi…
For example, a plaintiff could bring a lawsuit in order to collect money that he claimed the defendant owed him. If the defendant answered the plaintiff's claim by stating in answer that she did not fail to pay the money owed on the date it was due, this is a denial of a fact essential to the plaintiff's case. The defendant can be said to traverse the plaintiff's declaration o…
The Vietnam War was a 20-year conflict in Southeast Asia (1955–1975) between the government of South Vietnam and the Communist government of North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese sought the reunification of the two countries under its form of rule. The United States, determined to prevent Communist aggression, supported the government of South Vietnam and in the early 1960s became increasingl…
A comprehensive term for a large collection of trees in their natural setting and the property on which they stand. State and federal laws govern the harvesting, reforestation, and other uses of woods and forests. The federal government maintains a system of national forests under the direction of the Forest Service, and most states also have forested land set aside as reserves. …
Taking the law into one's own hands and attempting to effect justice according to one's own understanding of right and wrong; action taken by a voluntary association of persons who organize themselves for the purpose of protecting a common interest, such as liberty, property, or personal security; action taken by an individual or group to protest existing law; action taken by an indi…
When the Civil War began, Woods volunteered for an Ohio regiment. He fought for the Union in several battles, including Shiloh and Vicksburg, and gradually rose through the ranks. By the time the war was drawing to a close, he was a commander under General William T. Sherman. Woods led Sherman's troops in the brutal march to the sea in Georgia that destroyed all the cities and towns between…
A multivolume set of law books published by West Group containing thousands of judicial definitions of words and phrases, arranged alphabetically, from 1658 to the present. Words and Phrases is a legal research and reference work that is aimed primarily at lawyers. It was first published in 1940 and has been continuously updated since then. It contains words and phrases that have taken on special …
The vocabulary or terminology of a particular art, science, or profession, particularly those expressions that are peculiar to it. Though a society may share a common language, there are many specialized uses of words based on human activities. An examination of any profession, for example, will yield many expressions that are idiomatic or peculiar to it. For the person working within the professi…
The betrayal of one's own country by waging war against it or by consciously or purposely acting to aid its enemies. The crime of treason requires a traitorous intent. If a person unwittingly or unintentionally gives aid and comfort to an enemy of the United States during wartime, treason has not occurred. Similarly, a person who pursues a course of action that is intended to benefit the Un…
The words in a deed or will that indicate what type of estate or rights the person being given land receives. Words of limitation are used to indicate the duration or terms of the conveyance of real property. There are many types of limitations that can be expressed in a deed or a will. For example, a grantor might make a deed that conveys a parcel of land "to A until B marries." A&#…
Despite this setback, in 2000 Congress passed a bill reauthorizing the VAWA for another five years, including more funding for domestic-violence programs and new measures against the trafficking of women and children into prostitution. This initiative ensures that despite the loss of the civil rights provision, VAWA will continue to affect the course of the nation's fight against gender-bas…
Language used in connection with a transfer of real property that identifies the grantees or designees who take the interest being conveyed by deed or will. The act or process of acquiring real property by deed or will is called taking by purchase, even though it was a gift. The person who acquires real property by deed or will is called a purchaser, even though this person may have paid nothing. …
A legal doctrine that provides that certain materials prepared by an attorney who is acting on behalf of his or her client during preparation for litigation are privileged from discovery by the attorney for the opposition party. The work product rule is an exception to the concept of sharing information. This rule is based on the attorney-client relationship, which includes maintaining the confide…
During the 1960s, Congress recognized the need to control destructive devices other than firearms. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 and the Gun Control Act of 1968, 18 U.S.C.A. § 921 et seq., superseded earlier firearms control laws and placed bombs and other explosives as well as firearms under the strict control of the government. The ATTD was given jurisdiction over…
Of all of the crime bills passed at the federal level in the history of the United States, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 was arguably the most far-reaching and comprehensive. Costing $30 billion, and taking up over 1,100 pages, the Violent Crime Control Act covered a mind-boggling variety of areas, ranging from an assault-weapons ban to money for midnight basketball pro…
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…
Jefferson and Madison asserted in the resolves that state legislatures had the right to determine whether the federal government was complying with the mandate of the Constitution. Under their compact theory of the Constitution, they argued that the grant of power to the federal government was in the nature of an authorization to act as an agent for the individual state legislatures. The resolves …
The Virginia Conventions were a series of five meetings that were held after the Boston Tea Party in which representatives from the colonies gathered to decide the future relations between the colonies and England. The first convention, which opened August 1, 1774, in Williamsburg, Virginia, was the result of a serious conflict with England that had occurred three months earlier. On May 26, the Vi…
At this time a widely reported series of sex scandals contributed to a growing perception that the movie industry was out of control and out of step with U.S. society. With more than thirty state legislatures considering bills to censor movies, producers intervened to repair their image. In March 1922 they hired Hays, known as a teetotaler and an elder in the Presbyterian Church, to head the Motio…
James was born in New York City on January 11, 1842, to Henry James Sr. and Mary Walsh James. Comfortably supported by an inheritance, his parents stressed their children's abilities to make independent choices. James's formal schooling was irregular, and he studied frequently in England, France, Switzerland, and Germany. James pursued an enduring interest in the natural sciences, ea…
In the spring of 1776 the Virginia Convention of Delegates convened in the colonial capitol of Williamsburg to decide the form of government Virginia should have and the rights its citizens should enjoy. The convention took place at a time when British attempts to tax and regulate the thirteen colonies had generated colonial resistance and a growing desire for political independence. Many of these…
Miller was born on September 6, 1840, in Augusta, New York. His connection with Benjamin Harrison appeared preordained, because Miller was named after the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, the grandfather of Benjamin. Miller attended country schools and Whitestown Seminary before enrolling at Hamilton College, from which he graduated in 1861. William Henry Harrison Miller. LIBRARY OF CO…
In United States v. Virginia, 518 U.S. 515, 116 S. Ct. 2264, 135 L. Ed. 2d 735 (1996), the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision on sex-based discrimination when it ruled that Virginia Military Institute (VMI), a publicly funded military college, must give up its all-male enrollment policy and admit women. The decision, which also affected The Citadel, South Carolina's state-run, al…
A system whereby an employer must pay, or provide insurance to pay, the lost wages and medical expenses of an employee who is injured on the job. It is the goal of workers' compensation to return the injured employee quickly and economically to the status of productive worker without unduly harming the employer's business. A worker whose injury is covered by the workers' compe…
Labor leader Bill Haywood was regarded as a radical in the growing labor movement in the United States. A public figure throughout most of his life, Haywood was the central figure in two famous court cases. Haywood was born in 1869 in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1896, Haywood, a coal miner, became an active participant in the Western Federation of Miners. He rapidly rose to prominence in the federati…
[Latin, Force or violence.] A term employed in many legal phrases and maxims, such as vis injuriosa, "wrongful force." …
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, commonly referred to as the World Bank, is an international financial institution whose purposes include assisting the development of its member nations' territories, promoting and supplementing private foreign investment, and promoting long-range balanced growth in international trade. The World Bank consists of a number of separat…
Liuzzo was born in the coal-mining town of California, Pennsylvania, on April 11, 1925. She dropped out of school in the tenth grade and worked as a waitress. In 1950, she married Anthony James Liuzzo, a business agent of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with whom she had three children. Despite her lack of formal education, Liuzzo won acceptance to Wayne State University. By 1965, she …
An official endorsement on a passport or other document required to secure an alien's admission to a country. Under U.S. immigration law, an alien is any person who is not a citizen or national of the United States. Two types of visas exist: nonimmigrant and immigrant. The immigration laws delineate specific categories of persons who may be eligible for an immigrant visa, which generally al…
The war began on July 28, 1914, when Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. During the late nineteenth century, European nations had negotiated military alliances with each other that called for mutual protection. The Austria-Hungary declaration of war triggered these alliance commitments, leading to the widening of the war between the Allies and Central Powers. During the next four years, the wa…
A person who has no visible means of support and loiters in a public place might be arrested and prosecuted for vagrancy. …
Corporate stock that is issued, completely paid for, and reacquired by the corporation at a later point in time. …
In a divorce where one parent is awarded sole custody of the child, the noncustodial parent is usually awarded visitation rights in the divorce decree. Visitation rights can be withheld if evidence is provided that proves it is in the best interest of the child not to see the parent. This usually occurs only where it has been shown that the parent is an excessive user of alcohol, a user of illegal…
World War II began in 1939 as a conflict between Germany and the combined forces of France and Great Britain and eventually included most of the nations of the world before it ended in August 1945. It caused the greatest loss of life and material destruction of any war in history, killing 25 million military personnel and 30 million civilians. By the end of the war, the United States had become th…
Treaties in Force lists those treaties and other agreements that had not expired on the date of publication, had not been repudiated by the parties, had not been replaced by other agreements, or had not otherwise been terminated. It employs the term treaties in its broad, generic sense as alluding to all international agreements of the United States. In its narrower sense, in the United States, th…
To impair or make void; to destroy or annul, either completely or partially, the force and effect of an act or instrument. …
For example, A deeds Blackacre to B for life, and then to the heirs of A. The effect of the doctrine is that A has a reversion (a future interest remaining with A in the property), while B has a life estate. The words to the heirs of A are words of limitation, which are required under the worthier title doctrine. If the heirs acquire the property at all, it is only after the death of the owner. If…
Lawyers commonly use treatises in order to review the law and update their knowledge of pertinent case decisions and statutes. …
Though a treaty may take many forms, an international agreement customarily includes four or five basic elements. The first is the preamble, which gives the names of the parties, a statement of the general aims of the treaty, and a statement naming the plenipotentiaries (the persons invested with the power to negotiate) who negotiated the agreement and verifying that they have the power to make th…
The Treaty of Paris of 1783 ended the U.S. Revolutionary War and granted the thirteen colonies political independence. A preliminary treaty between Great Britain and the United States was signed in 1782, but the final agreement was not signed until September 3, 1783. The surrender of the British army at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781, ended the major military hostilities of the Revolution…
[Latin, With the living voice; by word of mouth.] Verbally; orally. When applied to the examination of witnesses, the term viva voce means oral testimony as opposed to testimony contained in depositions or affidavits. Viva voce voting is voting by speech, as distinguished from voting by a written or printed ballot. …
An order issued by a court requiring that something be done or giving authority to do a specified act. The writ of prohibition is another extraordinary writ and is the opposite of a writ of mandamus, because it commands a government official not to take a specified action. The most common use of the writ is by an appellate court to a lower court, commanding the lower court to refrain from a propos…
The Paris Peace Conference began in January 1919. The conference was dominated by David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Wilson of the United States, with Vittorio Orlando of Italy playing a lesser role. These leaders agreed that Germany and its allies would have no role in negotiating the treaty. The first of Wilson's Fourteen Points stated that it was essen…
[Latin, A contraction of the term videlicet, to wit, namely, or that is to say.] A term used to highlight or make more specific something previously indicated only in general terms. …
Thomas Jefferson served as an American Revolutionary and political theorist and as the third president of the United States. Jefferson, who was a talented architect, writer, and diplomat, played a profound role in shaping U.S. government and politics. After the Revolutionary War began, Jefferson and four others were asked to draft a declaration of independence. Jefferson actually wrote the Declara…
A recovery of three times the amount of actual financial losses suffered which is provided by statute for certain kinds of cases. …
That which is null and completely without legal force or binding effect. The term void has a precise meaning that has sometimes been confused with the more liberal term voidable. Something that is voidable may be avoided or declared void by one or more of the parties, but such an agreement is not void per se. A void contract is not a contract at all because the parties are not, and cannot be, boun…
First, Thacher challenged the authority of the Massachusetts Superior Court to issue the writ. Thacher conceded that Parliament had passed a law in 1662 granting the English Court of Exchequer the power to issue the writ in Great Britain and passed a second law in 1696 enabling customs officials to apply for the writ in America. However, Thacher argued that neither law specified which courts in Am…
In 1861, the newly established Confederacy appointed two emissaries to represent its government overseas. James Murray Mason was assigned to London, England, and John Slidell was sent to Paris, France. The two envoys successfully made their way to Havana, Cuba, where they boarded an English ship, the Trent, which set sail on November 7. The next day, the San Jacinto, a Union warship under the comm…
If a person of ordinary intelligence cannot determine what persons are regulated, what conduct is prohibited, or what punishment may be imposed under a particular law, then the law will be deemed unconstitutionally vague. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that no one may be required at peril of life, liberty, or property to speculate as to the meaning of a penal law. Everyone is entitled to know wha…
A violation, by one individual, of another individual's legal rights. The idea of rights suggests the opposite idea of wrongs, for every right is capable of being violated. For example, a right to receive payment for goods sold implies a wrong on the part of the person who owes, but does not make payment. In the most general point of view, the law is intended to establish and maintain right…
That which is not absolutely void, but may be avoided. In contracts, voidable is a term typically used with respect to a contract that is valid and binding unless avoided or declared void by a party to the contract who is legitimately exercising a power to avoid the contractual obligations. …
A wrongful birth action was first recognized in Jacobs v. Theimer, 519 S.W.2d 846 (Tex. 1975). The case involved an action by the parents of a child born with defects caused by the mother contracting rubella in her first month of pregnancy. The claim was that the defendant was negligent in failing to diagnose the rubella in the mother. The Texas Supreme Court allowed damages, but only for expenses…
Family political connections served Clark throughout his career. Help in launching his career came from two influential Texas politicians, Senator Tom Connally and Representative Tom Clark. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Sam Rayburn. With Connally's help, Clark left private practice in 1927 to become the civil district attorney of Dallas County. He had a perfect prosecution record in his five y…
[Old French, To speak the truth.] The preliminary examination of prospective jurors to determine their qualifications and suitability to serve on a jury, in order to ensure the selection of fair and impartial jury. Voir dire consists of oral questions asked of prospective jurors by the judge, the parties, or the attorneys, or some combination thereof. This oral questioning, often supplemented by a…
Ramsey Clark. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS 1985 while aboard the hijacked Achille Lauro (Klinghoffer v. SNC Achille Lauro, 816 F. Supp. 930 [S.D.N.Y. 1993]). Clark has represented clients who were arrested while engaging in acts of civil disobedience including a group of people who protested at a General Electric plant in Pennsylvania where parts of Minuteman nuclear missiles were manufactured (Com…
William Paterson was a distinguished public servant during the early years of the Republic of the United States, serving as governor of New Jersey, a Framer of the U.S. Constitution, a U.S. senator, and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. In recognition of his service to New Jersey, the city of Paterson was named for him. William Paterson. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Paterson was born on D…
Thomas Joseph Ridge was born August 26, 1945, in Munhill, part of Pittsburgh's Steel Valley. He grew up in Erie, Pennsylvania, where his family lived in a public housing project. Hardworking and ambitious, Ridge attended Harvard Tom Ridge. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS University, graduating in 1967 with a B.A. in government studies. He started classes at Dickinson School of Law but received …
A crime that is the product of conscious choice and independent will. No crime can be committed by bad thoughts alone. One basic premise of U.S. law is that every crime requires the commission of some act before a person may be held accountable to the justice system. A criminal act may take the form of affirmative conduct, such as the crime of murder, or it may take the form of an omission to act,…
Employees may sue for wrongful discharge in almost half of the states on the basis of an express or implied promise by the employer, which constitutes a unilateral contract. In a unilateral contract, one party makes a promise and receives performance from the other party. Typically, this type of wrongful discharge action will be based on a statement by the employer that expressly or implicitly pro…
An unlawful intrusion that interferes with one's person or property. …
Essentially, the child alleges that because of the defect, he would have been better off not being born at all. To bring a wrongful life action, the defect must be one that could only have been averted by preventing the birth of the child; otherwise the child would bring an ordinary negligence action. Other types of defects that can be diagnosed early in pregnancy include Tay-Sachs disease, sickle…
A court order issued to enforce an existing judgment. …
Parents in wrongful pregnancy actions may be able to sue for damages on the basis of the cost of the unsuccessful procedure and any pain or suffering associated with the sterilization or abortion. The parents may also recover damages for the medical expenses, pain, and suffering attributable to the pregnancy, the mother's lost wages due to the pregnancy, the husband's loss of consort…
Walter Wyatt. U.S. SUPREME COURT In 1922 Wyatt took a position as law clerk with the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. He rose from assistant to counsel to general counsel of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. From 1936 to 1946, Wyatt also served as general counsel to the federal Open Market Commission. The Supreme Court appointed Wyatt its reporter in 1946. Becau…
Thomas Johnson was the first governor of Maryland. He served in the Maryland House of Delegates in the early 1780s and was chief judge of the Maryland General Court from 1790 to 1791. Johnson was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1791, where he served a brief and uneventful term before resigning because of poor health. Johnson was born November 4, 1732, to Thomas Johnson and Dorcas Sedgwick J…
Johnson was born December 27, 1771, in Charleston, South Carolina. He was the son of Sarah Nightingale Johnson and of William Johnson, a blacksmith, legislator, and well-known Revolutionary patriot. During the Revolutionary War, when the British captured Charleston, Johnson's father was sent to detention in Florida, and the family was exiled from its home. The Johnsons returned to South Car…
A judicial examination and determination of facts and legal issues arising between parties to a civil or criminal action. In the United States, the trial is the principal method for resolving legal disputes that parties cannot settle by themselves or through less formal methods. The chief purpose of a trial is to secure fair and impartial administration of justice between the parties to the action…
In 1888 Bissell acted as a presidential elector and in 1890, served on a commission to amend the judicial articles of the New York Constitution. Grover Cleveland, as president of the United States in 1893, selected his former law partner to serve as U.S. postmaster general, which post Bissell held until 1895. Extending his career to the field of education, Bissell became chancellor of the Uni…
The right to vote is a fundamental element of the U.S. system of representative democracy. In this form of government, policy decisions are made by representatives chosen in periodic elections based on the principle of universal suffrage, which requires that all citizens (or at least all competent adults not guilty of serious crimes) be eligible to vote in elections. Democratic governments are pre…
"X" as a signature refers to a cross that is printed in lieu of an individual's signature. A signature is required to authenticate wills, deeds, and certain commercial instruments. Typically, individuals sign their full names when executing legal documents. Sometimes, however, individuals use only their initials or other identifying mark. For illiterate, incompetent, or disabl…
The Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire that took place in New York City on March 25, 1911, remains a landmark event in the history of U.S. industrial disasters. The fire that claimed the lives of 146 people, most of them immigrant women and girls, caused an outcry against unsafe working conditions in factories and sweatshops located in New York and in other industrial centers throughout the United S…
African Americans line up to cast their votes during 1966 elections in Alabama. Before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed, very few African Americans in the South were allowed to vote. FLIP SCHULKE/CORBIS Under the law, a federal court can appoint federal examiners, who are authorized to place qualified persons on the list of eligible voters. The act waived accumulated poll taxes and …
A general term for a court, or the seat of a judge. …
A voting trust is created by an agreement between a group of stockholders and the trustee to whom they transfer their voting rights or by a group of identical agreements between individual shareholders and a common trustee. Such agreements ordinarily provide that control of stock is given to the trustee for a term of years, for a time period contingent upon a certain event, or until the terminatio…
A legal theory that holds that a defendant's XYY chromosomal abnormality is a condition that should relieve him or her of legal responsibility for his or her criminal act. Criminologists have examined many theories as to why a person becomes a criminal. Since the nineteenth century, biological theories have been proposed that seek to link criminal behavior with innate characteristics, yet t…
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…
Under a procedure in common law, a person from whom a defendant will seek indemnity if a plaintiff is successful in his or her action against the defendant. A sample voting trust agreement …
Talleyrand, unwilling to risk a declared war with the United States, sought an end to the dispute. The next U.S. delegation sent to France was treated with appropriate respect, and the Treaty of Morfontaine, which restored normal relations between France and the United States, was signed in 1800. …
The action of trover originally served the plaintiff who had lost property and was trying to recover it from a defendant who had found it. Soon the lost and found portions of the plaintiff's claim came to be considered a legal fiction. The plaintiff still included them in the complaint, but they did not have to be proved, and the defendant had no right to disprove them. This brought the dis…
A receipt or release which provides evidence of payment or other discharge of a debt, often for purposes of reimbursement, or attests to the accuracy of the accounts. Government or corporate employees usually submit vouchers to their employers to recover living expenses they have paid while on business trips. …
Roosevelt came to Yalta seeking early Soviet participation in the war against Japan. Fearing that Japan would not surrender easily, Roosevelt promised Stalin the return of territories lost following the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. Stalin agreed to declare war on Japan, but only ninety days after the surrender of Germany. With the surrender of Japan in August 1945, which followed the dropping of nu…
A procedural device used in common law by which a defendant notifies another, not presently a party to a lawsuit, that if a plaintiff is successful, the defendant will seek indemnity from that individual. The notice that an individual, the vouchee, receives as a result of vouching-in constitutes an offer for him or her to defend in the action against the defendant. If the vouchee refuses to do so,…
Books of legal cases, or reporters, published annually in England from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century. The compilation of Year Books ceased in 1535 during the reign of King Henry VIII, for reasons that remain unclear. Thereafter court reports were issued in a different form by named reporters. …
In Scotland, the ancient term for a mortgage. A right by which lands or other property are pledged by their owner to a creditor in security for a debt, usually in the form of a mutual contract, in which one party sells the land and the other grants the right of reversion. …
The voluntary transfer in advance of a debtor's pay, generally in connection with a particular debt or judgment. Although the paying parent may be a responsible individual who would never miss a payment, and the recipient parent may honestly report all payments received, the wage assignment eliminates potential conflict by using a neutral third party to implement the paying and reporting of…
William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of the anti-slavery newspaper The Liberator and founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society, was one of the most fiery and outspoken abolitionists of the Civil War period. Garrison was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1805. In 1808, Garrison's father abandoned his family leaving them close to destitute. At age 13, after working at a numb…
William de Witt Mitchell was a distinguished lawyer who became the fifty-fourth attorney general of the United States. Mitchell was born on September 9, 1874, in Winona, Minnesota. He was the son of William Mitchell, a distinguished justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court for whom the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul is named. The younger Mitchell left Minnesota at the age of fourteen to…
Under Chapter Thirteen of the federal bankruptcy statutes (11 U.S.C.A. § 1301 et seq.), individuals who are unable to repay their debts when due may develop a plan for full or partial repayment. This procedure was formerly called a wage earner's plan because it was available only to persons who earned a regular wage. Changes in the statute now permit the owners of unincorporated smal…
Current return from an investment or expenditure as a percentage of the price of investment or expenditure. The term yield is the proportionate rate that income from an investment bears to the total cost of the investment. For example, a ten dollar profit on a one hundred dollar investment represents a 10 percent yield. Thus, a yield for stock dividends or bond interest paid will be expressed as a…
A type of trial by combat between accuser and accused that was introduced into England by William the Conqueror (King William I) and his Norman followers after the Norman Conquest of 1066. Wager of battel was founded on the belief that God would give victory to the party who was in the right. The kings maintained control over the practice, and it came to be reserved for cases affecting royal inter…
A group of directives relating to uniform bills of lading and governing the settlement of maritime losses among the several interests, including ship and cargo owners. Maritime law includes international agreements, national laws on shipping, and private agreements voluntarily adhered to by the parties involved in shipping contracts. The York-Antwerp Rules of General Average are the best known exa…
A procedure for defending oneself that could be used in a trial before one of the ancient courts of England. A defendant who elected to "make his law" was permitted to make a statement before the tribunal, swear an oath that it was true, and present one or more individuals who swore that they believed he had told the truth under oath. This was the predominant form of defense in the f…
The Wagner Act was one of the most dramatic legislative measures of the New Deal. Not only did the legislation indicate that the federal government was prepared to move against employers to enforce the rights of labor to unionize and to bargain collectively, but it imposed no reciprocal obligations on unions. …
William Howard Taft is the only person to serve as both president and Supreme Court chief justice of the United States. A gifted judge and administrator, Taft helped modernize the way the U.S. Supreme Court conducted its business and was the driving force behind the construction of the Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C. William Howard Taft. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Taft's politica…
In order to mitigate the harshness of the Rule Against Perpetuities, some states have embodied the wait-and-see doctrine in statutes. The general concept of wait-and-see is that a perpetuity violation should occur only if an interest actually fails to vest within the perpetuity period. In contrast to the traditional view, which prescribes that the situation is examined as it exists when the intere…
The zero-bracket amount was so named because a zero rate of taxation was applied to it. Its financial value was determined by the filing status of the taxpayer. If a taxpayer had more deductions that qualified as itemized deductions than the zero-bracket amount, she could itemize deductions, but the itemized deductions were reduced by the zero bracket amount. That figure was subtracted from the ta…
To intentionally or voluntarily relinquish a known right or engage in conduct warranting an inference that a right has been surrendered. For example, an individual is said to waive the right to bring a tort action when he or she renounces the remedy provided by law for such a wrong. …
The policy of applying laws or penalties to even minor infringements of a code in order to reinforce its overall importance and enhance deterrence. Since the 1980s the phrase zero tolerance has signified a philosophy toward illegal conduct that favors strict imposition of penalties regardless of the individual circumstances of each case. Zero tolerance policies deal primarily with drugs and weapon…
The voluntary surrender of a known right; conduct supporting an inference that a particular right has been relinquished. The term waiver is used in many legal contexts. A waiver is essentially a unilateral act of one person that results in the surrender of a legal right. The legal right may be constitutional, statutory, or contractual, but the key issue for a court reviewing a claim of waiver is w…
A relationship created at the direction of an individual, in which one or more persons hold the individual's property subject to certain duties to use and protect it for the benefit of others. Individuals may control the distribution of their property during their lives or after their deaths through the use of a trust. There are many types of trusts and many purposes for their creation. A t…
The process whereby an individual permits a court to take longer than usual in trying him or her on a criminal charge. …
Zoning ordinances divide a town, city, village, or county into separate residential, commercial, and industrial districts, thereby preserving the desirable characteristics of each type of setting. These laws generally limit dimensions in each zone. Many regulations require certain building features and limit the number and location of parking and loading areas and the use of signs. Other regulatio…
Bill Clinton. THE WHITE HOUSE Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe IV on August 19, 1946, in Hope, Arkansas. His father, William Jefferson Blythe III, died in a car accident before the future president was born, and his mother, Virginia Cassidy Blythe, married Roger Clinton four years after Blythe's death. When Clinton was seven years old, the family moved to Hot Springs, Arkans…
To meddle, alter, or improperly interfere with something; to make changes or corrupt, as in tampering with the evidence. …
A corporation formed for the purpose of managing property set aside to be used for the benefit of individuals or organizations. The settlor (the individual who creates the trust) names the trust company in order to ascertain that the property will be handled in accordance with his or her wishes as delineated in the terms of the trust. Trust companies sometimes act as fiscal agents for corporations…
Thomas Henry Carter, born October 30, 1854, in Scioto County, Ohio, concentrated his career efforts in Montana. He pursued legal studies and relocated to Helena in 1882 where he established a successful law practice. Carter entered a new phase of his career in 1895 when he became a U.S. senator. He represented Montana until 1901 and again from 1905 to 1911. During his tenure he supported various p…
A legal document that evidences an agreement of a borrower to transfer legal title to real property to an impartial third party, a trustee, for the benefit of a lender, as security for the borrower's debt. A trust deed, also called a deed of trust or a Potomac mortgage, is used in some states in place of a mortgage. …
