Gabriel Duvall was born December 6, 1752. He was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1778. Duvall served in the militia before beginning his government career in 1783, serving on the Maryland Governor's Council from 1783 to 1784, and in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1787 to 1794. Duvall died on March 6, 1844. …
Wallace was born August 25, 1919, the first of four children of George Wallace Sr. and Mozelle Smith Wallace. Only a few hundred people lived in his birthplace, the small town of Clio, Alabama. His father weathered the Depression by leasing land to sharecroppers, although the family never had much money. Wallace was encouraged by his father in two areas: politics and boxing. At the age of 15, he b…
A combined federal tax on transfers by gift or death. When property interests are given away during life or at death, taxes are imposed on the transfer. These taxes, known as estate and gift taxes, apply to the total transfers that an individual may make over a lifetime. The debate on this issue culminated in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. The top estate tax rate wa…
Federal and state tax laws require a quarterly payment of estimated taxes due from corporations, trusts, estates, non-wage employees, and wage employees with income not subject to withholding. Individuals must remit at least 100 percent of their prior year tax liability or 90 percent of their current year tax liability in order to avoid an underpayment penalty. Corporations must pay at least 90 pe…
The goal of full legal and social equality for gay men and lesbians sought by the gay movement in the United States and other Western countries. The term gay originally derived from slang, but it has gained wide acceptance in recent years, and many people who are sexually attracted to others of the same sex prefer it to the older and more clinical term homosexual. The drive for legal and social eq…
George Hunt Pendleton was a prominent nineteenth-century lawyer, congressman, senator, and ambassador who played the central role in passing the Civil Service Act, also known as the Pendleton Act of 1883 (5 U.S.C.A. § 1101 et seq.). The Pendleton Act established a federal civil service system that was based on merit rather than on political patronage. After the war Pendleton became the…
A philosophy of law based on the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. …
Enclosures composed of any substance that will present an adequate blockade around a field, yard, or other such expanse of land for the purpose of prohibiting intrusions from outside. A landowner is entitled to construct a fence along the boundaries of his or her property, but statutes may regulate the building and maintenance of fences. The laws of some states make provisions for the establishmen…
A legal principle that bars a party from denying or alleging a certain fact owing to that party's previous conduct, allegation, or denial. …
An abbreviated form of et alia, Latin for "and others." When affixed after the name of a person, et al. indicates that additional persons are acting in the same manner, such as several plaintiffs or grantors. When et al. is used in a judgment against defendants, it means that the quoted words are applicable to all the defendants. …
Total relinquishment and transfer of all rights of ownership in land from one individual to another. A feoffment in old England was a transfer of property that gave the new owner the right to sell the land as well as the right to pass it on to his heirs. An essential element of feoffment was livery of seisin, a ceremony for transferring the possession of real property from one person to another. F…
An abbreviation for the Latin et sequentes or et sequentia, meaning "and the following." The phrase et seq. is used in references made to particular pages or sections of cases, articles, regulations, or statutes to indicate that the desired information is continued on the pages or in the sections following a designated page or section, as "p. 238 et seq." or "sec…
[Latin, Of a wild nature or disposition.] Animals that are wild by nature are called ferae naturae, and possession is a means of acquiring title to such animals. The mere chasing of an animal ferae naturae does not give one party the right to title against another party who captures it through intervention. If, however, a wild animal is either killed or caught in a trap so that the capture is cert…
A right of use over the property of another. Traditionally the permitted kinds of uses were limited, the most important being rights of way and rights concerning flowing waters. The easement was normally for the benefit of adjoining lands, no matter who the owner was (an easement appurtenant), rather than for the benefit of a specific individual (easement in gross). An easement is a nonpossessory …
When Congress first debated the Ethics and Government Act in the late 1970s, it seemed as if the nation had been through a long nightmare of ethics scandals, with Watergate being only the most prominent and devastating. The purpose of the act was to increase public confidence in the level of integrity of federal government officials, to deter conflicts of interest from arising, and to stop unethic…
A doctrine that bars claims against the federal government by members of the armed forces and their families for injuries arising from or in the course of activity incident to military service. Commenting on the Feres doctrine in United States v. Brown, 348 U.S. 110, 75 S. Ct. 141, 99 L. Ed. 139 (1954), the Court emphasized that discipline and "[t]he peculiar and special relationship of the…
The General Accounting Office (GAO), created by the Budget and Accounting Act, 1921 (31 U.S.C.A. 41), was vested with all powers and duties of the six auditors and the comptroller of the Treasury, as stated in the act of July 31, 1894 (28 Stat. 162), and other statutes extending back to the original Treasury Act of 1789 (1 Stat. 65). The 1921 act broadened the audit activities of the government an…
The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) originated with a meeting of 22 nations meeting in 1947 in Geneva, Switzerland. By 2000, there were 142 member nations, with another 30 countries seeking admission. The detailed commitments by each country to limit tariffs on particular items by the amount negotiated and specified in its tariff schedule is the central core of the GATT system of int…
Because racial segregation was law throughout most of the South, the Fifth Circuit became the United States' proving ground for civil rights in the late 1950s and 1960s. Tuttle and fellow judges John R. Brown, of Houston, Texas, Richard T. Rives, of Montgomery, Alabama, and Tuttle probably reflected on his own schooling when championing equal education for all. He was born July 17, 189…
In England, the collective classification of particular courts that exercised jurisdiction primarily over spiritual matters. A system of courts, held by authority granted by the sovereign, that assumed jurisdiction over matters concerning the ritual and religion of the established church, and over the rights, obligations, and discipline of the clergy. …
A specially constructed vessel to bring passengers and property across rivers and other bodies of water from one shoreline to another, making contact with a thoroughfare at each terminus. The landing place for a boat. A right or privilege to maintain a vessel upon a body of water in order to transport people and their vehicles across it in exchange for payment of a reasonable toll. A ferry is …
The act by which a defendant completely consents to the jurisdiction of the court by appearing before it either in person or through an authorized representative thereby waiving any jurisdictional defects that might be raised except for that of the competency of the court. …
Franklin Delano Roosevelt. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Roosevelt attended Columbia University Law School but left without receiving a degree when he passed the New York bar exam in 1907. Roosevelt was nominated for vice president on the 1920 Democratic party ticket. He waged Roosevelt's life changed in August 1921, when he was stricken with poliomyelitis while vacationing at Campobello …
An individual to whom money is due from a debtor, but whose debt is not secured by property of the debtor. One to whom property has not been pledged to satisfy a debt in the event of nonpayment by the individual owing the money. …
When such officer is given the authority to seize only particular property or types of property, the writ or order is sometimes known as a special execution. …
A decree or law of major import promulgated by a king, queen, or other sovereign of a government. An edict can be distinguished from a public proclamation in that an edict puts a new statute into effect whereas a public proclamation is no more than a declaration of a law prior to its actual enactment. …
The legal authority of a court to entertain whatever type of case comes up within the geographical area over which its power extends. General jurisdiction differs from special or limited jurisdiction, which is the power of a court to hear only certain types of cases, or those in which the amount in controversy is below a certain sum or that is subject to exceptions. …
Maitland's historiography was not based on ideology or theory. History, to Maitland, was not the product of impersonal social or economic forces, but something more complex. Therefore, in the world described in his writings, individual personalities, particular events, cultural traditions, and the peculiarity of language play significant roles. Running through his work is a deep respect for…
A monetary gift, payable out of the collective assets of the estate of a testator—one who makes a will—and not from a designated source. …
The rights of any unborn human fetus, which is generally a developing human from roughly eight weeks after conception to birth. A doctor performs an ultrasound examination on a pregnant woman. The legal status of a fetus remains unclear. Although an unborn child does have some rights under the law, those rights sometimes conflict with the rights of the mother. AMY ETRA/PHOTOEDIT Roe evoked …
The General Services Administration (GSA) was established by section 101 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.A. § 751). The GSA sets policy for and manages government property and records. More specifically, GSA duties include the construction and operation of buildings; procurement and distribution of supplies; utilization and disposal of property; man…
A sitting of the court en banc, with the participation of the entire membership of the court rather than the regular quorum. A phrase used in some jurisdictions to signify the ordinary session of a court during which the trial determination of actions occur. General term is distinguishable from special term, in that the latter entails the hearing of motions, which are applications for court orders…
Created in 1980, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) is the cabinet-level agency that establishes policy for, administers, and coordinates most federal assistance to education. It is directed by the secretary of education, who assists the president of the United States by executing policies and implementing laws enacted by Congress. The DOE has six major responsibilities: (1) providing national…
A decision by a jury that determines which side in a particular controversy wins, and in some cases, the amount of money in damages to be awarded. …
The concern of the government for the health, peace, morality, and safety of its citizens. Providing for the welfare of the general public is a basic goal of government. The preamble to the U.S. Constitution cites promotion of the general welfare as a primary reason for the creation of the Constitution. Promotion of the general welfare is also a stated purpose in state constitutions and statutes. …
In March 1869, Hoar was named attorney general of the United States by President Grant. Hoar was popular with the public and thoroughly qualified to serve but he was also independent and outspoken. As attorney general, he severely alienated patronage-seeking senators when he insisted on filling nine new circuit judgeships with competent judges rather than using the positions as opportunities for p…
The term involuntary euthanasia is used to describe the killing of a person who has not explicitly requested aid in dying. This term is most often used with respect to patients who are in a persistent vegetative state and who probably will never recover consciousness. …
Scientific experimentation performed upon or using tissue taken from human fetuses. …
The standard accounting rules, regulations, and procedures used by companies in maintaining their financial records. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) provide companies and accountants with a consistent set of guidelines that cover both broad accounting principles and specific practices. For example, accountants use GAAP standards to prepare financial statements. Other countries have…
A series of contractual relationships between the upper classes, designed to maintain control over land. Feudalism flourished between the tenth and thirteenth centuries in western Europe. At its core, it was an agreement between a lord and a vassal. A person became a vassal by pledging political allegiance and providing military, political, and financial service to a lord. A lord possessed complet…
[Latin, Let it be done.] In old English practice, a short order or warrant of a judge or magistrate directing some act to be done; an authority issuing from some competent source for the doing of some legal act. Arbitrary or authoritative order or decision. …
The removal of a tenant from possession of premises in which he or she resides or has a property interest done by a landlord either by reentry upon the premises or through a court action. …
An assumption made by a court and embodied in various legal doctrines that a fact or concept is true when in actuality it is not true, or when it is likely to be equally false and true. …
Based upon a fabrication or pretense. A fictitious name is an assumed name that differs from an individual's actual name. A fictitious action is a lawsuit brought not for the adjudication of an actual controversy between the parties but merely for the purpose of obtaining the opinion of the court on a particular point of law. …
An insurance device in the form of a personal guaranty that protects against loss resulting from disreputable or disloyal employees or other individuals who possess positions of confidence. A bank might, for example, insure itself against losses deliberately or negligently caused by their officers and staff through the execution of a fidelity bond. If such losses occur, the amount of the bond is f…
The human manipulation of the genetic material of a cell. Genetic engineering involves isolating individual DNA fragments, coupling them with other genetic material, and causing the genes to replicate themselves. Introducing this created complex to a host cell causes it to multiply and produce clones that can later be harvested and used for a variety of purposes. Current applications of the techno…
Perkins was born April 10, 1880, in Boston, and raised in Worcester, Massachusetts. After graduating from Worcester Classical High School, Perkins attended Mount Holyoke College, where she studied physics and chemistry and was class president. As a senior at Mount Holyoke, Perkins was influenced by Jacob A. Riis's 1890 book How the Other Half Lives and by a speech given by Florence Kelley, …
An agreement whereby, for a designated sum of money, one party agrees to guarantee the loyalty and honesty of an agent, officer, or employee of an employer by promising to compensate the employer for losses incurred as a result of the disloyalty or dishonesty of such individuals. …
An individual in whom another has placed the utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect property or money. The relationship wherein one person has an obligation to act for another's benefit. A fiduciary relationship encompasses the idea of faith and confidence and is generally established only when the confidence given by one person is actually accepted by the other person. Mere resp…
A field audit differs from a correspondence audit and an office audit in the location where it occurs. …
The Field Code was a radical departure from the procedures of the past. As a result of its merger of law and equity actions into one action, the code provided a uniform set of rules of pleading to be used in each type of case. The pleadings were to be in simple, concise language that set forth only the facts of the dispute between the two parties. …
Boudinot was a representative to the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1784. He was president of the Congress from 1782 to 1784 and was named secretary of foreign affairs. He became commissary general of prisoners in 1777 and donated a large sum of his own money to help improve prison conditions. In 1787 Boudinot played a key role in obtaining New Jersey's ratification of the new U.S. …
The body of state and federal constitutional provisions; local, state, and federal statutes; court opinions; and government regulations that provide the legal framework for educational institutions. …
The scientific procedure of examining genetic makeup to determine if an individual possesses genetic traits that indicate a tendency toward acquiring or carrying certain diseases or conditions. In 2001, scientists first published the complete human genome map (a human's genetic blueprint), greatly advancing the capability and use of genetic screening, manipulation, and replication. …
As a verb, to do; to produce; to make; to bring to pass; to execute; enforce; accomplish. As a noun, that which is produced by an agent or cause; result; outcome; consequence. The result that an instrument between parties will produce in their relative rights, or which a statute will produce upon the existing law, as discovered from the language used, the forms employed, or other materials for con…
The International Committee of the Red Cross was active in organizing the conferences and preparing draft treaties that resulted in the final conventions. In addition, the International Red Cross assumed responsibility under portions of the conventions to serve as a neutral party to observe compliance with the conventions and to perform humanitarian tasks. With a world community that, in 2000, com…
Another name for annual percentage rate that refers to the amount of yearly interest to be charged by a lender on the money borrowed by a debtor. Federal income tax laws increase the rate of taxation as a taxpayer reaches certain marginal income levels. For example, taxpayers might pay a tax rate of 20 percent on the first $10,000 of taxable income. Thereafter, any increase in income up to an addi…
In its original form, the writ directed the seizure and sale of goods and chattels only, but eventually was enlarged to permit levy on real property, too; largely synonymous with a modern writ of execution. …
Stanton was born on December 19, 1814, in Steubenville, Ohio. He attended Kenyon College and studied law. He was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1836 and began his law practice in Cadiz, Ohio. From 1837 to 1839, Stanton was a county prosecutor. In 1842 he was elected reporter of the decisions of the Ohio Supreme Court. In Edwin M. Stanton. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 1847 Stanton moved to Pittsburgh, P…
That which actually precipitates an accident or injury. The term efficient cause is frequently used interchangeably with proximate cause—the immediate act in the production of a particular effect—or the cause that sets the others in operation. …
An abbreviation for first-in, first-out, a method employed in accounting for the identification and valuation of the inventory of a business. FIFO assumes that the first goods purchased are the first sold. As a consequence, the items that remain in the inventory at the end of the year are assumed to be those purchased last. First-in, first-out (FIFO) is a method of inventory control that means…
The crime of destroying or conspiring to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. Genocide can be committed in a number of ways, including killing members of a group or causing them serious mental or bodily harm, deliberately inflicting conditions that will bring about a group's physical destruction, imposing measures on a group to prevent births, and forcefully transferring …
Elizabeth Cady Stanton. NATIONAL ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ADMINISTRATION Stanton was born November 12, 1815, in Johnstown, New York. She was the middle daughter of Daniel Cady and Margaret Livingston Cady, a prominent couple in Johnstown. Elizabeth was one of eleven children, but all five of her brothers and one sister died during childhood. In some ways, Stanton was raised by her parents as a …
The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: …
Although agreements between individuals often create legally binding commitments, instances may arise in which mutual promises yield no legally enforceable agreement. Sometimes called "gentlemen's agreements," parties may honor them because moral obligations compel observance or because future relations will be more difficult if the present arrangement is broken. International…
Felix Solomon Cohen was born July 3, 1907, in New York City. He graduated from the College of the City of New York with a bachelor of arts degree in 1926. He subsequently received a master of arts degree in 1927, a doctor of philosophy degree in 1929 from Harvard University, and a bachelor of laws degree from Columbia Law School in 1931. In 1931 and 1932 Cohen performed the duties of secretary to …
The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1919 and subsequently repealed in 1933. A woman displays an anti-Prohibition slogan printed on an automobile tire cover. Ratified in January 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment in December 1933. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS …
The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: Trial court judges are given less latitude under the Excessive Bail Clause. Bail is the amount of money, property, or bond that a defendant must pledge to the court as security for his or her appearance at trial. If the defendant meets bail or is able to pay the amount set by the court, the defendant is entitled to recover the pledged amount at …
Any matter of fact that a party to a lawsuit offers to prove or disprove an issue in the case. A system of rules and standards that is used to determine which facts may be admitted, and to what extent a judge or jury may consider those facts, as proof of a particular issue in a lawsuit. …
A phrase used by stockbrokers that denotes that a stock is sold without the purchaser receiving the right to own its recently declared dividend which has not yet been paid to the stockholders. The seller of a stock sold ex dividend retains the right to receive payment of the declared dividend. The purchaser of such a stock usually buys it at a price that is reduced by the amount of the dividend to…
Originally, the action of ejectment was intended to protect the rights of a tenant who leased the land. Ultimately, it came to be the principal method for determining the ownership of real property. When the question of title to land became the issue, it was essential to describe the property as carefully as it would be described in a deed to a purchaser. This led to enforcement of very strict tec…
[Latin, From office.] By virtue of the characteristics inherent in the holding of a particular office without the need of specific authorization or appointment. The phrase ex officio refers to powers that, while not expressly conferred upon an official, are necessarily implied in the office. A judge has ex officio powers of a conservator of the peace. …
Without a durable power of attorney, a guardian will be appointed, in the event of mental incapacity, to make healthcare decisions. A conservator will be appointed to manage property. The appointment of a guardian and a conservator is accomplished by a judicial proceeding. This proceeding is involuntary, and the court is free to appoint whoever will act in the best interests of the person who is m…
[Latin, On one side only.] Done by, for, or on the application of one party alone. An ex parte judicial proceeding is conducted for the benefit of only one party. Ex parte may also describe contact with a person represented by an attorney, outside the presence of the attorney. The term ex parte is used in a case name to signify that the suit was brought by the person whose name follows the term. A…
Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Born into the colonial aristocracy, Washington attended local schools and supplemented his formal education by reading widely. As a young man he became a surveyor, and in 1749 he was appointed county surveyor for Culpeper County, Virginia. In 1752, at the age of twenty, Washington inherited the family estate at Mount Verno…
The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: …
[Latin, "After-the-fact" laws.] Laws that provide for the infliction of punishment upon a person for some prior act that, at the time it was committed, was not illegal. The Constitution did not provide a definition for ex post facto laws, so the courts have been forced to attach meaning to the concept. In Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386, 1 L. Ed. 648 (1798), the U.S. Supreme Cou…
A record of the court. A paper is said to be filed when it is delivered to the proper officer to be kept on file as a matter of record and reference. But in general the terms file and the files are used loosely to denote the official custody of the court or the place in the offices of a court where the records and papers are kept. The file in a case includes the original complaint and all pleading…
A search, inspection, or interrogation. In trial practice, the interrogation of a witness to elicit his or her testimony in a civil or criminal action, so that the facts he or she possesses are presented before the trial of fact for consideration. In the law governing real property transactions, an investigation made into the history of the ownership of and conditions that exist upon land so that …
A filiation proceeding is also referred to as a bastardy proceeding or an affiliation proceeding. …
An official or other person empowered by another—whether an individual, business, or government agency—to investigate and review specified documents for accuracy and truthfulness. A court-appointed officer, such as a master or referee, who inspects evidence presented to resolve controverted matters and records statements made by witnesses in the particular proceeding pending before t…
A tactic used by a legislative representative to hinder and delay consideration of and action to be taken on a proposed bill through prolonged, irrelevant, and procrastinating speeches on the floor of the House, Senate, or other legislative body. A filibuster is stopped by cloture, a legislative procedure that enables a vote to be taken on the proposed measure. …
Election campaigns for public office are expensive. Candidates need funding for support staff, advertising, traveling, and public appearances. Unless they are independently wealthy, most must finance their campaigns with contributions from individuals and from businesses and other organizations. Today, state and federal laws set limits on campaign contributions; create contribution disclosure requ…
The act of excepting or excluding from a number designated or from a description; that which is excepted or separated from others in a general rule or description; a person, thing, or case specified as distinct or not included; an act of excepting, omitting from mention, or leaving out of consideration. Express exclusion of something from operation of contract or deed. An exception operates to tak…
Laws have broadened the legal rights of illegitimate children who, in the language of some statutes, are referred to as nonmarital children. …
Once a plaintiff elects a remedy, he or she precludes the pursuit of other inconsistent methods of relief. Not all jurisdictions require a plaintiff to elect remedies, and many have abolished this requirement because of its sometimes harsh effects. In the jurisdictions that retain the election of remedies, a plaintiff usually must choose a remedy early in the action. Since an election can be made …
Murphy served for nine years as an associate justice. He wrote 199 opinions. Inherently suspicious of government power and passionately devoted to the rights of the weak, Murphy supported civil rights in nearly every case. He scorned the federal government's treatment of Japanese Americans during World War II, for example, and at other times sided with the claims of workers and religious mi…
The resolution of a controversy by a court or series of courts from which no appeal may be taken and that precludes further action. The last act by a lower court that is required for the completion of a lawsuit, such as the handing down of a final judgment upon which an appeal to a higher court may be brought. …
The amount owed to a lender by a purchaser-debtor to be allowed to pay for goods purchased over a series of installments, as opposed to one lump sum at the time of the sale or billing. A finance charge, sometimes called the cost of credit, is expressed as an annual interest rate levied upon the purchase price. It does not include any amounts that the lender might require for insurance premiums, de…
During his 30-year career in the federal courts, Edward Thaxter Gignoux developed a reputation as an articulate, compassionate, and competent trial judge. He was also a leader in the fields of judicial ethics, court administration, Edward T. Gignoux. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS Gignoux was born in Portland, Maine, on June 28, 1916. He graduated cum laude from Harvard College in 1937 and went on to…
State statutes that require owners of motor vehicles to produce proof of financial accountability as a condition to acquiring a license and registration so that judgments rendered against them arising out of the operation of the vehicles may be satisfied. …
At a time when women in the United States were often excluded from higher education, Ellen Spencer Mussey helped found a coeducational law school to promote the social and economic advancement of women. Mussey was born May 13, 1850, in Geneva, Ohio, to Platt Rogers Spencer and Persis Duty Spencer. After attending Lake Erie Seminary, in Painesville, Ohio, and Rockford Seminary, in Rockford, Illinoi…
Any report summarizing the financial condition or financial results of a person or an organization on any date or for any period. Financial statements include the balance sheet and the income statement and sometimes the statement of changes in financial position. …
A security is a written proof of ownership of an investment, usually in the form of shares of stock, which are fractional units of ownership in a company. Commodities are raw materials, like wheat, gasoline, or silver, that are sold either on the spot market, where cash is paid "on the spot," or through futures contracts, where a price for a contract is set in advance, not to be chan…
The processes of voting to decide a public question or to select one person from a designated group to perform certain obligations in a government, corporation, or society. In elections, a candidate is a person who is selected by others as a contestant. A ballot is anything that a voter uses to express his or her choice, such as a paper and pen or a lever on a machine. A poll is the place where a …
A transaction wherein parties trade goods, or commodities, for other goods, in contrast with a sale or trading of goods for money. An exchange of property is a type of barter contract, applicable only to agreements relating to goods and services, not to agreements involving land. …
Gillett was born July 30, 1852, in Princeton, Wisconsin. After her father, Richard J. Gillett, died in 1854, Gillett moved to Girard, Pennsylvania, with her mother, Sarah Ann Gillett, and family. Like Mussey, Gillett attended Lake Erie Seminary in Painesville, Ohio. Upon graduation in 1870, Gillett became a public school teacher. Both Gillett and Mussey had been denied admission to the all-male, a…
Statutory provision that a surviving spouse may choose between taking that which is provided in the will of the deceased spouse or taking a statutorily prescribed share of the estate. Such election may be presented if the will leaves the spouse less than he or she would otherwise receive by statute. This election may also be taken if the spouse seeks to set aside a will that contains a provision t…
The fact that an owner has involuntarily parted with the property and that he or she is ignorant of its location sufficiently establishes that the property is lost. Mislaid property is property that an owner intentionally places somewhere so that it can eventually be found again, but he or she subsequently forgets where it was placed. The right to possess the property rests in the issue of whether…
A voter who has fulfilled the qualifications imposed by law; a constituent; a selector of a public officer; a person who has the right to cast a ballot for the approval or rejection of a political proposal or question, such as the issuance of bonds by a state or municipality to finance public works projects. A member of the electoral college—an association of voters elected by the populace …
The exclusionary clause contains the exceptions to insurance coverage upon which the insurer and insured have agreed prior to the execution of the policy. …
Monetary charges imposed upon individuals who have been convicted of a crime or a lesser offense. A fine is a criminal sanction. A civil sanction, by contrast, is called a penalty. The term fine is sometimes used to describe a penalty, but the terms fine and penalty should be kept separate because the consequences are different: nonpayment of a criminal fine can result in incarceration, whereas no…
Nominated persons, known as electors, from the states and the District of Columbia, who meet every four years in their home state or district and cast ballots to choose the president and vice president of the United States. In the popular election, the American people actually vote for electors, not for the candidates themselves. The candidate who receives the majority of votes from electors takes…
The exclusionary rule has been in existence since the early 1900s. Before the rule was fashioned, any evidence was admissible in a criminal trial if the judge found the evidence to be relevant. The manner in which the evidence had been seized was not an issue. This began to change in 1914, when the U.S. Supreme Court devised a way to enforce the Fourth Amendment. In Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S…
Pertaining to the subject alone, not including, admitting, or pertaining to any others. Sole. Shutting out; debarring from interference or participation; vested in one person alone. Apart from all others, without the admission of others to participation. For example, if a court has been granted exclusive jurisdiction over cases relating to a particular subject matter, no other court is able to ent…
Impressions or reproductions of the distinctive pattern of lines and grooves on the skin of human fingertips. Fingerprints are reproduced by pressing a person's fingertips into ink and then onto a piece of paper. Fingerprints left on surfaces can be obtained and examined through a dusting process and other processes conducted by forensics experts. The lines and grooves in fingertips are uni…
Grant to an agent of exclusive right to sell within a particular market or area. A contract to give an exclusive agency to deal with property is ordinarily interpreted as not precluding competition by the principal generally, but only as precluding him or her from appointing another agent to accomplish the result. The grant of an exclusive agency to sell, that is, the exclusive right to sell the p…
The primary result of combustion. The juridical meaning does not differ from the vernacular meaning. The act of willfully and maliciously setting fire to property belonging to another person—such as stacks of hay or grain, grasses, fences, or wood—is ordinarily punishable as a misdemeanor. Some jurisdictions grade the offense as a felony. Statutes relating to fires ordinarily define …
To clear or excuse from guilt. An individual who uses the excuse of justification to explain the lawful reason for his or her action might be exculpated from a criminal charge. Exculpatory evidence is evidence that works to clear an individual from fault. …
The explanation for the performance or nonperformance of a particular act; a reason alleged in court as a basis for exemption or relief from guilt. …
A definite and binding proposal, in writing, to enter into a contractual agreement. A firm offer generally states that it will remain open for a certain set time period during which it is incapable of being revoked. …
Pierce was born on November 23, 1804, in Hillsboro, New Hampshire. His parents were Benjamin and Anna Kendrick Pierce. Pierce graduated from Bowdoin College in 1824 and returned home to take over his father's duties as postmaster, after his father entered politics. Pierce studied law with a local attorney and was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1827. In that same year his father was el…
To complete; to make; to sign; to perform; to do; to carry out according to its terms; to fulfill the command or purpose of. To perform all necessary formalities, as to make and sign a contract, or sign and deliver a note. Execute is the opposite of executory, incomplete or yet to be performed. …
Pierrepont was born on March 4, 1817, in North Haven, Connecticut. When baptized, he was given the name Munson Edwards Pierpont. He legally discarded his given first name and changed the spelling of his family name. He graduated from Yale University in 1837 and Yale Law School in 1840 and then moved to Columbus, Ohio, to open his first law practice. By 1845 he had returned to the East Coast and en…
Electricity has been known since ancient times, but scientists could not make use of it safely until the eighteenth century. Thomas Edison's invention of the electric lightbulb in 1879 sparked the demand for electric power that continues to this day, ultimately resulting in the need for legislative and regulatory controls on the electric-power-generating industry. …
Widely recognized for its expertise in legal matters related to computer networks and electronic media, EFF has become a leading resource for those seeking to better understand the complex issues associated with new communications technology. As part of its civil liberties mission, EFF seeks to ensure that the creators of electronic communications have the same political freedoms as the creators o…
The process whereby an official, usually a sheriff, is directed by an appropriate judicial writ to seize and sell as much of a debtor's nonexempt property as is necessary to satisfy a court's monetary judgment. With respect to contracts, the performance of all acts necessary to render a contract complete as an instrument, which conveys the concept that nothing remains to be done to m…
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: At first glance, the First Amendment appears to be written in clear, unequivocal, and facile terms: "Congress shall make no law" (emphasis added) in contravention of certain religious and political principles. After a closer reading, and upon further reflection, the amendment's underlying complexities rise to the surface in t…
A case is labeled of the first impression when it sets forth a completely original issue of law for decision by the court. Such a case cannot be decided by reliance on any existing precedent, law formulated in a prior case decided on a comparable question of law, or similar facts. …
The branch of the U.S. government that is composed of the president and all the individuals, agencies, and departments that report to the president, and that is responsible for administering and enforcing the laws that Congress passes. The U.S. government is composed of three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive. The legislative branch consists of the U.S. Congress, which is responsible …
The initial trial court where an action is brought. A court of first instance is distinguishable from an appellate court, which is a court of last instance. In the federal court system, a federal district court is a court of first instance, whereas the Supreme Court is the court of last instance. …
Observing or listening to persons, places, or activities—usually in a secretive or unobtrusive manner—with the aid of electronic devices such as cameras, microphones, tape recorders, or wire taps. The objective of electronic surveillance when used in law enforcement is to gather evidence of a crime or to accumulate intelligence about suspected criminal activity. Corporations use elec…
Relating to finance or financial matters, such as money, taxes, or public or private revenues. A fiscal agent is a bank engaged in the business of collecting and disbursing money. Such a bank also serves as a place for the deposit of private and public funds on behalf of others. A fiscal year is a period of twelve months that does not necessarily correspond with the traditional calendar year. Duri…
A material factor; a basic component.…
A presidential policy directive that implements or interprets a federal statute, a constitutional provision, or a treaty. The president's power to issue executive orders comes from Congress and the U.S. Constitution. Executive orders differ from presidential proclamations, which are used largely for ceremonial and honorary purposes, such as declaring National Newspaper Carrier Appreciation …
The right of the president of the United States to withhold information from Congress or the courts. Finally, the third development in executive privilege resulted from Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. v. United States, 157 F. Supp. 939, 141 Ct. Cl. 38 (Cl. Ct. 1958). In this case, Kaiser President Richard Nixon cited executive privilege when he refused to release tapes of his conversat…
George Edmund Badger was a lawyer, judge, and politician, and the subject of a U.S. Supreme Court confirmation battle in 1853. The only son of a lawyer who died prematurely and a daughter of a Revolutionary War leader, Badger was born on April 17, 1795, in New Bern, North Carolina. He was first educated at a local academy and then attended Yale College. Because of poverty, he was forced to leave t…
The Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The text of the Eleventh Amendment limits the power of federal courts to hear lawsuits against state governments brought by the citizens of another state or the citizens of a foreign country. The Supreme Court has also interpreted the Eleventh Amendment to bar federal courts from hearing lawsuits instituted by citizens of the state being sued …
George Frederick Baer was born September 26, 1842, near Lavansville, Pennsylvania. Baer was educated at Franklin and Marshall College, where he received an honorary master of arts degree in 1875 and a doctor of laws degree in 1886. During the Civil War, Baer fought on the side of the Union at Bull Run, Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg. He was admitted to the bar in 1864, moved to Rea…
George Washington Ellis was born May 4, 1875, in Weston, Missouri. He earned a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Kansas in 1893, attended Howard University in Washington, D.C., for two years where he studied psychology and philosophy, and graduated from Gunton's Institute of Economics and Sociology in New York in 1900. After practicing law for several years, Ellis worked in the…
From earliest times, fish and fishing have played a crucial role in the life of the people of North America. Native Americans of all tribes depended heavily on fish to eat and to trade, and fishing also held an important place in native cultural practices and religious rites. Beginning in the sixteenth century, and possibly even earlier, European adventurers were drawn to the rich fishing grounds …
Goldman suffered the fate of being a female in a culture that valued males. When she was young, her father made no effort to disguise his disappointment at having still another daughter instead of the much-prized son he hoped for. He has been described as hot tempered and impatient, particularly with Goldman's rebelliousness, which she showed at an early age. He was a traditional Jewish fat…
Senator Charles Schumer of New York, shown displaying his unsolicited e-mail, introduced legislation in April 2003 that would restrict spam as well as create criminal and civil penalties for spammers. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS E-mail is less secure than traditional mail, even though federal law protects e-mail from unauthorized tampering and interception. Under the Electronic Communications Priv…
Also known as a "fishing trip." Using the courts to find out information beyond the fair scope of the lawsuit. The loose, vague, unfocused questioning of a witness or the overly broad use of the discovery process. Discovery sought on general, loose, and vague allegations, or on suspicion, surmise, or vague guesses. The scope of discovery may be restricted by protective orders as prov…
The act or process by which a person is liberated from the authority and control of another person. The term is primarily employed in regard to the release of a minor by his or her parents, which entails a complete relinquishment of the right to the care, custody, and earnings of such child, and a repudiation of parental obligations. The emancipation may be express—pursuant to a voluntary a…
Those who are designated by the terms of a will or appointed by a court of probate to manage the assets and liabilities of the estate of the deceased. States require court supervision for the settlement of estates for a number of reasons. Courts ensure that the assets of an estate will be properly collected, preserved, and assessed; that all relevant debts of the deceased and taxes will be paid; a…
Property, such as machinery or buildings, utilized in a business that will not be used or liquidated during the current fiscal period. …
In the text of the proclamation—which is almost entirely the work of Lincoln himself—Lincoln characterizes his order as "an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity." These words capture the essential character of Lincoln's work in the document. On the one hand, he perceived the proclamation as a kind of military tactic that would aid…
That which is yet to be fully executed or performed; that which remains to be carried into operation or effect; incomplete; depending upon a future performance or event. The opposite of executed. …
Costs that do not vary with changes in output and would continue even if a firm produced no output at all, such as most management expenses, interests on bonded debt, depreciation, property taxes, and other irreducible overhead. …
At about this time, Mason helped found the city of Alexandria, Virginia. Because he suffered from chronic poor health, Mason avoided public office, serving only a short time in the Virginia George Mason. ARCHIVE PHOTOS, INC. The Virginia Declaration of Rights stated that government derived from the people, that individuals were created equally free and independent, and that they had in…
A proclamation or order of government, usually issued in time of war or threatened hostilities, prohibiting the departure of ships or goods from some or all ports until further order. Government order prohibiting commercial trade with individuals or businesses of other specified nations. Legal prohibition on commerce. …
An official copy of a document from public records, made in a form to be used as evidence, and authenticated or certified as a true copy. Such a duplicate is also referred to as an exemplified copy or a certified copy. …
A legislative measure enacted by Congress in 1807 at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson that banned trade between U.S. ports and foreign nations. The Embargo Act was intended to use economic pressure to compel England and France to remove restrictions on commercial trading with neutral nations that they imposed in their warfare with each other. Napoleon decreed under his Continental system t…
To put into action, practice, or force; to make use of something, such as a right or option. To exercise dominion over land is to openly indicate absolute possession and control. To exercise discretion is to choose between doing and not doing something, the decision being based on sound judgment. …
The career of attorney F. Lee Bailey is a celebrated one. Few criminal defense lawyers have earned as much success or notoriety as the tough-talking former Marine lieutenant, known for winning what have often been considered hopeless cases. Early in his career, Bailey built a reputation for fastidious attention to detail as an investigator who could ferret out the minutiae needed to acquit his cli…
This .22-caliber revolver used by John Hinckley in his assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan was submitted as evidence in Hinckley's 1982 trial. An exhibit is tangible evidence submitted to a court for inspection during the course of trial proceedings. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS remedies before filing her suit in federal court, because such a requirement would be inconsiste…
As a verb, to show or display; to offer or present for inspection. To produce anything in public, so that it may be taken into possession. To present; to offer publicly or officially; to file of record. To administer; to cause to be taken, as medicines. To submit to a court or officer in the course of proceedings. As a noun, a paper or document produced and exhibited to a court during a trial or h…
The removal of a burden, charge, responsibility, duty, or blame imposed by law. The right of a party who is secondarily liable for a debt, such as a surety, to be reimbursed by the party with primary liability for payment of an obligation that should have been paid by the first party. …
A thing is deemed to be affixed to real property when it is attached to it by roots, imbedded in it, permanently resting upon it, or permanently attached to what is thus permanent, as by means of cement, plaster, nails, bolts, or screws. Goods are fixtures when they become so related to particular real estate that an interest in Fixtures, such as ovens, stoves, and cabinets, are considered par…
Sanford was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on July 23, 1865, the son of a lumber and construction millionaire. He earned four degrees from the University of Tennessee and Harvard, and studied languages in France and Germany. At Harvard Law School, he distinguished himself as the editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude. He began practicing law in Tennessee in the 1890s. He the…
The statute also contained a declaration to enforce the enactment of Magna Charta, the charter granted by King John to the barons at Runnymede on June 15, 1215. Magna Charta regulated the administration of justice, defined the jurisdictions of church and state, limited taxation, and secured the personal liberty of the subjects and their rights of property. The statute prohibited excessive fines, w…
A mere hope, based upon no direct provision, promise, or trust. An expectancy is the possibility of receiving a thing, rather than having a vested interest in it. The term has been applied to situations where an individual hopes and expects to receive something, generally property or money, but has no founded assurance of possession. A person named in a will as an heir has only an expectancy to in…
The fraudulent conversion of another's property by a person who is in a position of trust, such as an agent or employee. Embezzlement is distinguished from swindling in that swindling involves wrongfully obtaining property by a false pretense, such as a lie or trick, at the time the property is transferred, which induces the victim to transfer to the wrongdoer title to the property. One or …
The official banner of a state or nation, often decorated with emblems or images that symbolize that state or nation. On the U.S. flag, 13 horizontal stripes (in red and white) represent the original 13 colonies. The union is represented by 50 white stars, for the 50 states, arrayed on a field of blue. The U.S. flag is sometimes called the Stars and Stripes, Old Glory, or the Red, White, and Blue.…
Crops annually produced by the labor of a tenant. Corn, wheat, rye, potatoes, garden vegetables, and other crops that are produced annually, not spontaneously, but by labor and industry. The doctrine of emblements denotes the right of a tenant to take and carry away, after the tenancy has ended, such annual products of the land as have resulted from the tenant's care and labor. …
Testimony about a scientific, technical, or professional issue given by a person qualified to testify because of familiarity with the subject or special training in the field. Generally speaking, the law of evidence in both civil and criminal cases confines the testimony of witnesses to statements of concrete facts within their own observation, knowledge, and recollection. Testimony must normally …
In this case, the school district's interest in creating national unity was more important than the rights of the students to refuse to salute the flag. Justice Frankfurter noted that national unity is the basis of national security. To allow children not to salute the flag or to recite the Pledge of Allegiance would weaken the effect of the collective patriotic exercise and thereby injure …
The crime of attempting to influence a jury corruptly to one side or the other by promises, persuasions, entreaties, entertainments, and the like. The person guilty of it is called an embraceor. This is both a state and federal crime, and is commonly included under the offense of obstructing justice. In order for the offense of embracery to be committed, it is essential that the accused individual…
Explosives are a necessity in a developing world. They allow building contractors to excavate land and clear pathways for road building. However, explosives are inherently dangerous, and, despite strict government regulation, even the authorized use of explosives may cause injuries or property damage. When injury or damage occurs, an aggrieved person may seek redress in civil court. Strict liabili…
[Latin, In the act of perpetrating the crime.]…
Baker was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 13, 1903, the second of three children of Georgianna Ross Baker and Blake Baker. Baker's mother insisted that her children do well in school, because she felt that they needed an education in order to live a full life. Baker was sent to a private boarding school from ninth grade to twelfth grade, after her mother decided that she and her sibl…
A principle that allows individuals to take action in the face of a sudden or urgent need for aid, without being subject to normal standards of reasonable care. Also called imminent peril doctrine, or sudden peril doctrine. The emergency doctrine allows people to act in critical situations that call for quick action—a fire, an automobile crash, a collapsing building—without danger of…
The Export-Import Bank of the United States, commonly known as Eximbank, facilitates and helps to finance exports of U.S. goods and services. Eximbank has implemented a variety of programs to meet the needs of the U.S. exporting community, according to the size of the transaction. These programs take the form of direct lending, or the issuance of guarantees and insurance so that exporters and priv…
An 1810 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Fletcher v. Peck, 10 U.S. (6 Cranch) 87, 3 L. Ed. 162, held that public grants were contractual obligations that could not be abrogated without fair compensation, even though the state legislature that made the grant had been corrupted and a subsequent legislature had passed an act nullifying the original grant. The property in question had passed throug…
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country to live somewhere else. These men emigrated from Italy to the United States in 1911. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS …
A law executed to explain the actual meaning and intent of a previously enacted statute. Courts have stated that Congress has the power to declare the proper construction of a statute by subsequent legislation. Courts are generally bound to apply subsequent legislative construction in lawsuits involving transactions that occurred after the enactment of the legislation. Provisions of expository sta…
Funds retained for the purpose of paying current expenses as opposed to fixed assets. Floating capital is also known as circulating capital. It encompasses (1) the raw materials consumed in each phase of manufacturing; (2) money designated for wages; and (3) products stored in the warehouses of manufacturers or merchants. …
Clear; definite; explicit; plain; direct; unmistakable; not dubious or ambiguous. Declared in terms; set forth in words. Directly and distinctly stated. Made known distinctly and explicitly, and not left to inference. Manifested by direct and appropriate language, as distinguished from that which is inferred from conduct. The word is usually contrasted with implied. Express authority is plainly or…
A security interest retained in collateral even when the collateral changes in character, classification, or location. An inventory loan in which the lender receives a security interest or general claim on all of a company's inventory. A security interest under which the borrower pledges security for present and future advances. …
A name for the goods that float upon the sea when cast overboard for the safety of the ship or when a ship is sunk. Distinguished from jetsam (goods deliberately thrown over to lighten ship) and ligan (goods cast into the sea attached to a buoy). …
The taking of private property for public use or in the public interest. The taking of U.S. industry situated in a foreign country, by a foreign government. President Truman issued an executive order to expropriate 88 steel mills, including this one in Youngstown, Ohio. The Supreme Court held in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co.v. Sawyer that the president did not have the power to take priva…
An abbreviation for free on board, which means that a vendor or consignor will deliver goods on a railroad car, truck, vessel, or other conveyance without any expense to the purchaser or consignee. …
To destroy; blot out; obliterate; erase; efface designedly; strike out wholly. The act of physically destroying information—including criminal records—in files, computers, or other depositories. …
To conform to, comply with, or be fixed or determined by; as in the expression "costs follow the event of the suit." To go, proceed, or come after. To seek to obtain; to accept as authority, as in adhering to precedent. …
Elmo Bolton Hunter, a federal judge, has been a leader in national efforts to take party politics out of the state courts through the adoption of judicial merit selection programs. (Under most merit selection systems, a nonpartisan commission of lawyers and nonlawyers evaluates candidates for judicial vacancies and sends recommendations to, usually, a governor, who makes appointments.) In 1990, th…
An increase in the length of time specified in a contract. A part constituting an addition or enlargement, as in an annex to a building or an extension to a house. Addition to existing facilities. An allowance of additional time for the payment of debts. An agreement between a debtor and his or her creditors, by which they allow the debtor further time for the payment of liabilities. A creditor&#x…
Shiras was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on January 26, 1832, to a wealthy brewing family. He attended Yale Law School in 1853. Two years later he completed his training at a law office in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, before starting a legal practice with his brother. The practice specialized in representing the railroads George Shiras Jr. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS and other big industries…
The power to take private property for public use by a state, municipality, or private person or corporation authorized to exercise functions of public character, following the payment of just compensation to the owner of that property. Eminent domain is a challenging area for the courts, which have struggled with the question of whether the regulation of property, rather than its acquisition, is …
Facts surrounding the commission of a crime that work to mitigate or lessen it. Extenuating circumstances render a crime less evil or reprehensible. They do not lower the degree of an offense, although they might reduce the punishment imposed. Extenuating circumstances might include extraordinary circumstances, which are unusual factors surrounding an event, such as the very young age of a defenda…
The profit arising from office, employment, or labor; that which is received as a compensation for services, or which is annexed to the possession of office as salary, fees, and perquisites. Any perquisite, advantage, profit, or gain arising from the possession of an office. …
The destruction or cancellation of a right, a power, a contract, or an estate. Extinguishment is sometimes confused with merger, though there is a clear distinction between them. Merger is only a mode of extinguishment, and applies to estates only under particular circumstances, but extinguishment is a term of general application to rights, as well as estates. Extinguishment connotes the end of a …
To compel or coerce, as in a confession or information, by any means serving to overcome the other's power of resistance, thus making the confession or admission involuntary. To gain by wrongful methods; to obtain in an unlawful manner, as in to compel payments by means of threats of injury to person, property, or reputation. To exact something wrongfully by threatening or putting in fear. …
State and federal laws that define or restrict the grounds under which, and the extent to which, the owner of a business who hires workers can be held liable for damages arising from injuries to such workers that occur during the course of the work. …
In 1990, nobody would have predicted that by the end of the twentieth century people could conduct nearly all of their commercial transactions electronically. Today, a person with a simple Internet connection can purchase anything from clothing to books to jewelry to stereo equipment online. It is possible to purchase insurance, pay one's telephone bill, and buy groceries over the Internet.…
To ensure compliance with its regulations, the FDA employs over 1,000 investigators and inspectors who visit over 15,000 food-processing, drug-manufacturing, and other facilities each year. If it finds violations of law, the FDA first encourages an offending company to voluntarily correct the problem or to recall a faulty product from the market. If the firm does not voluntarily comply with the la…
The obtaining of property from another induced by wrongful use of actual or threatened force, violence, or fear, or under color of official right. Most jurisdictions have statutes governing extortion that broaden the common-law definition. Under such statutes, any person who takes money or property from another by means of illegal compulsion may be guilty of the offense. When used in this sense, e…
In upholding the constitutionality of the Filled Milk Act, the Supreme Court drew a distinction between legislation that regulates ordinary economic activities and legislation that curtails important personal liberties. The constitutional authority of state and federal legislatures over economic matters is plenary, the Court said, and laws passed to regulate such matters are entitled to a presumpt…
Frank B. Kellogg. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS During the latter part of his life, Kellogg acted as judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice. He died December 21, 1937, in St. Paul, Minnesota. …
The origin of White's political and judicial careers reflected the spoils systems of late nineteenth century politics. In the 1870s White served as a lieutenant to Louisiana Governor Francis T. Nicholls. Nicholls appointed him to the state supreme court in 1878, a post which lasted only until the governor's electoral defeat in 1880. But after the governor battled back into office in …
A common-law rule that an employment contract of indefinite duration can be terminated by either the employer or the employee at any time for any reason; also known as terminable at will. Traditionally, U.S. employers have possessed the right to discharge their employees at will for any reason, be it good or bad. The "at-will" category encompasses all employees who are not protected …
[Latin, Beyond, except, without, out of, outside.] Additional. An extra in a contract would include anything outside of, beyond, or not called for by the contract, such as additional materials. …
Refraining from doing something that one has a legal right to do. Giving of further time for repayment of an obligation or agreement; not to enforce claim at its due date. A delay in enforcing a legal right. Act by which creditor waits for payment of debt due by a debtor after it becomes due. …
Power, violence, compulsion, or constraint exerted upon or against a person or thing. Power dynamically considered, that is, in motion or in action; constraining power, compulsion; strength directed to an end. Commonly the word occurs in such connections as to show that unlawful or wrongful action is meant, e.g., forcible entry. Power statically considered, that is, at rest, or latent, but capable…
The transfer of an accused from one state or country to another state or country that seeks to place the accused on trial. Extradition comes into play when a person charged with a crime under state statutes flees the state. An individual charged with a federal crime may be moved from one state to another without any extradition procedures. Article IV, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution provides t…
[French, A superior or irresistible power.] An event that is a result of the elements of nature, as opposed to one caused by human behavior. The term force majeure relates to the law of insurance and is frequently used in construction contracts to protect the parties in the event that a segment of the contract cannot be performed due to causes that are outside the control of the parties, such as n…
Levi was born June 26, 1911, in Chicago. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1932 and earned a law degree there in 1935. He was a Sterling Fellow at Yale University in 1935 and 1936, and received a degree of Doctor of Juristic Science (J.S.D.) from Yale in 1938. Edward H. Levi. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS Levi returned to the University of Chicago Law School in 1945 as a professor. In 1…
That which is done, given, or effected outside the course of regular judicial proceedings. Not founded upon, or unconnected with, the action of a court of law, as in extrajudicial evidence or an extrajudicial oath. That which, though done in the course of regular judicial proceedings, is unnecessary to such proceedings, or interpolated, or beyond their scope, as in an extrajudicial opinion. …
An involuntary transaction that occurs in the form and at the time specified by law for the purpose of applying the proceeds to satisfy debts, such as a mortgage or a tax lien, incurred by the owner of the property. A forced sale results from the execution of a judgment previously rendered by a court. …
Most states have eliminated extraordinary remedies. The relief formerly provided by them can be sought through an ordinary action. …
A summary and expeditious statutory remedy used by a party entitled to actual possession of premises to secure its possession, where the occupant initially in lawful possession of it refuses to relinquish it when his or her right to possession ends. …
Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy, the youngest of nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, was born February 22, 1932, in Brookline, Massachusetts. He started at Harvard University in 1950, then left in 1951 to serve in the U.S. Army. He returned to college in 1953 and graduated in 1956. He next attended the University of Virginia Law School, where he graduated in 19…
The operation of laws upon persons existing beyond the limits of the enacting state or nation but who are still amenable to its laws. Jurisdiction exercised by a nation in other countries by treaty, or by its own ministers or consuls in foreign lands. The general laws binding nations to extraterritorial agreements still rest on principle more than established order. The modern, global marketplace …
A summary proceeding to recover possession of land that is instituted by one who has been wrongfully ousted from, or deprived of, possession. The forcible intrusion into another person's peaceable possession constitutes one type of infraction. Even if it is unlawful, peaceable possession cannot be terminated by violence. In many jurisdictions, even the rightful owner is held liable for dama…
A description of the state of being ill beyond the hope of recovery, with death imminent. An individual who is so seriously ill as to be dying is said to be in extremis. …
Facts or information not embodied in a written agreement such as a will, trust, or contract. …
An individual who was present during an event and is called by a party in a lawsuit to testify as to what he or she observed. …
A procedure by which the holder of a mortgage—an interest in land providing security for the performance of a duty or the payment of a debt—sells the property upon the failure of the debtor to pay the mortgage debt and, thereby, terminates his or her rights in the property. Statutory foreclosure is foreclosure by performance of a power of sale clause in the mortgage without need for …
The external appearance or surface of anything; that which is readily observable by a spectator. The words contained in a document in their plain or obvious meaning without regard to external evidence or facts. The term is applied most frequently in business law to mean the apparent meaning of a contract, paper, bill, bond, record, or other such legal document. A document might appear to be valid …
That which belongs to, or operates in accordance with, another nation, territory, state, or jurisdiction, as in the case of nonresident trustees, corporations, or persons. …
A readily ascertainable amount of money determinable from the words of a written instrument alone without the aid of any other source. The face value of an instrument such as a financial document is only the amount shown on it, without the inclusion of interest or fees customarily added or reference to its actual market value. …
An exact replica of a document that is copied so as to preserve all its original marks and notations. …
Incident, act, event, or circumstance. A fact is something that has already been done or an action in process. It is an event that has definitely and actually taken place, and is distinguishable from a suspicion, innuendo, or supposition. A fact is a truth as opposed to fiction or mistake. …
In 1978, Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), 50 U.S.C.A. §§ 1800–1829 (West 2003) to prescribe separate procedures for federal agents to follow when conducting foreign surveillance. FISA created two courts with special jurisdiction: the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review (FISCR…
The section of a constitution or statute that provides government officials with the power to put the constitution or statute into force and effect. Seven of the amendments to the U.S. Constitution contain clauses that give Congress the power to enforce their provisions by appropriate legislation. An example of an enabling clause is Clause 2 of the Nineteenth Amendment. …
Belonging to courts of justice.…
A law that gives new or extended authority or powers, generally to a public official or to a corporation. A sample enabling statute. …
A concise description of all the occurrences or circumstances of a particular case, without any discussion of their consequences under the law. The fact situation, sometimes referred to as a fact pattern, is a summary of what took place in a case for which relief is sought. The fact situation of one case is almost always distinguishable from that of another case. When one case with a particular fa…
Forensic accountants typically become involved in financial investigations after fraud auditors have discovered evidence of deceptive financial transactions. After conducting an investigation, they write and submit a report of their findings. When a case goes to trial, they are likely to testify as expert witnesses. …
To establish by law; to perform or effect; to decree. Enact, sometimes used synonymously with adopt, is generally applied to legislative rather than executive action. …
An event, circumstance, influence, or element that plays a part in bringing about a result. …
As a legal scholar and historian, Sir Frederick Pollock was a leading figure in the modernization of English legal studies in the nineteenth century. Born in London on December 10, 1845, Pollock was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, admitted to the bar in 1871, and soon Among Pollock's many admirers was his friend, Justice Holmes. The British law professor and the U.S. Supreme Co…
An illegal intrusion in a highway or navigable river, with or without obstruction. An encroachment upon a street or highway is a fixture, such as a wall or fence, which illegally intrudes into or invades the highway or encloses a portion of it, diminishing its width or area, but without closing it to public travel. …
After the war, McCarthy joined the faculty at the College of St. Thomas, in St. Paul, where he taught sociology. In 1948, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, beginning a 22-year political career in Washington, D.C. During the 1950s McCarthy worked on labor and agricultural issues and maintained a liberal Democratic voting record. In 1957, he established an informal coalition of me…
To burden property by way of a charge that must be removed before ownership is free and clear. Property subject to an encumbrance may have a lien or mortgage imposed upon it. …
People who are employed by others to sell or purchase goods, who are entrusted with possession of the goods, and who are compensated by either a commission or a fixed salary. A factor is a type of agent who sells goods owned by another, called a principal. The factor engages more frequently in the sale of merchandise than the purchase of goods. A factor is distinguished from a mere agent in that a…
The application of scientific knowledge and methodology to legal problems and criminal investigations. Sometimes called simply forensics, forensic science encompasses many different fields of science, including anthropology, biology, chemistry, engineering, genetics, medicine, pathology, phonetics, psychiatry, and toxicology. Modern forensic science originated in the late nineteenth century, when …
[Latin, Fact, act, or deed.] A fact in evidence, which is generally the central or primary fact upon which a controversy will be decided. …
The facility to perceive, know in advance, or reasonably anticipate that damage or injury will probably ensue from acts or omissions. …
George M. Dallas. Dallas returned to Philadelphia and served as deputy attorney general before becoming mayor in 1829 for a three-year period. He also acted as U.S. district attorney, and in 1831, he entered the federal government. Dallas filled a vacancy in the U.S. Senate and represented Pennsylvania until 1833; in that same year, he also performed the duties of attorney general of Pennsy…
As applied to contracts, this term does not necessarily mean a want of consideration, but implies that a consideration, originally existing and good, has since become worthless or has ceased to exist or been extinguished, partially or entirely. It means that sufficient consideration was contemplated by the parties at the time the contract was entered into, but either on account of some innate defe…
This nonconsensual deprivation transfers the property to another person or restores it to the original grantor. …
Dying without having any children or without surviving children. Children are commonly referred to at law as issue of a marriage. Whether or not a person has The Tudor line of English monarchs ended in 1603 when Queen Elizabeth I died without issue. She was succeeded by her cousin, King James VI of Scotland, who became James I of England. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS any issue becomes important in d…
Edward King was a lawyer whose 1844 nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court failed because of political animosity between Congress and the president who proposed him. Tyler, who had originally been a Democrat, lacked strong congressional support from either the Democrats or the Whigs. When he nominated King to the Supreme Court on June 5, 1844, the Senate voted to postpone consideration of the propos…
Within a judicial forum, the failure to present sufficient facts which, if taken as true, would indicate that any violation of law occurred or that the claimant is entitled to a legal remedy. Failure to state a claim is frequently raised as a defense in civil litigation. In some jurisdictions, such as California, the defense is called a demurrer. The successful invocation of this defense will resu…
Forfeiture is a broad term that can be used to describe any loss of property without compensation. A forfeiture may be privately arranged. For example, in a contractual relationship, one party may be required to forfeit specified property if the party fails to fulfill its contractual obligations. Courts are often called upon to resolve disputes regarding a forfeiture of property pursuant to a priv…
That same year Vaughn played a prominent role in the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. As a Missouri delegate, Vaughn proposed a resolution that would bar the seating of the Mississippi delegation because of the white supremacy provisions contained in the Mississippi state constitution. His resolution fell just 115 votes short of prevailing. Vaughn died in St. Louis in 1950. …
The federal Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) (16 U.S.C.A. §§ 1531 et seq.) was enacted to protect animal and plant species from extinction by preserving the ecosystems in which they survive and by providing programs for their conservation. The ESA is administered by two agencies: the National Marine Fisheries Service, which designates marine fish and certain marine mammals, and t…
In order for a statement to fall into the category of a fair comment, it must not extend beyond matters of concern to the public. It must be a mere expression of the opinion of the commentator. …
To sign a paper or document, thereby making it possible for the rights represented therein to pass to another individual. Also spelled indorse. …
The creation of a false written document or alteration of a genuine one, with the intent to defraud. Forgery consists of filling in blanks on a document containing a genuine signature, or materially altering or erasing an existing instrument. An underlying intent to defraud, based on knowledge of the false nature of the instrument, must accompany the act. Instruments of forgery may include bills o…
An endorsement on a negotiable instrument, such as a check or a promissory note, has the effect of transferring all the rights represented by the instrument to another individual. The ordinary manner in which an individual endorses a check is by placing his or her signature on the back of it, but it is valid even if the signature is placed somewhere else, such as on a separate paper, known as an a…
FCRA represents the first federal regulation of the consumer reporting industry, covering all credit bureaus, investigative reporting companies, detective and collection agencies, lenders' exchanges, and computerized information reporting companies. The consumer is guaranteed several rights under the FCRA, including the right to a notice of reporting activities, the right of access to infor…
A matter of form, as distinguished from a matter of substance—with respect to pleadings, affidavits, indictments, and other legal instruments—entails the method, style, or form of relating the applicable facts; the selection or arrangement of terms; and other such matters without influencing the essential sufficiency or validity of the instrument, or without reaching the merits. …
A transfer, generally as a gift, of money or property to an institution for a particular purpose. The bestowal of money as a permanent fund, the income of which is to be used for the benefit of a charity, college, or other institution. A classic example of an endowment is money collected in a fund by a college. The college invests the endowment so that a regular amount of income is earned for the …
A judicial proceeding that is conducted in such a manner as to conform to fundamental concepts of justice and equality. …
A person who has no interest in the dispute between the immediate litigants but has an interest in the subject matter that can be expeditiously settled in the current proceedings and thereby prevent additional litigation. …
The Fair Housing Act prohibits discriminatory conduct by a variety of legal entities. The act defines "person" to include one or more individuals, corporations, partnerships, associations, labor organizations, legal representatives, mutual companies, joint-stock companies, trusts, unincorporated organizations, trustees, receivers, and fiduciaries. In addition, municipalities, local g…
Over the years, the Fair Labor Standards Act has been subject to amendment but continues to play an integral role in the U.S. workplace. …
The customary test of fair market value in real estate transactions is the price that a buyer is willing, but is not under any duty, to pay for a particular property to an owner who is willing, but not obligated, to sell. Various factors can have an effect on the fair market value of real estate, including the uses to which the property has been adapted and the demand for similar property. Fair ma…
In 1961, Williams became special assistant to Sargent Shriver, who helped to establish the Peace Corps. In 1963, Williams served as director of the African regional division. In the same year, Williams became the first African-American to serve as U.S. representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Williams returned to New York City after leaving his diplomatic post. He headed t…
Francis Channing Barlow achieved prominence as a lawyer and a soldier. Barlow was born October 19, 1834, in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Harvard in 1855, and was admitted to the New York bar in 1858. From 1859 to 1861, and also in 1866, Barlow practiced law. At the onset of the Civil War in 1861, Barlow joined the Union Army and fought at various battles, including Fair Oaks, Antieta…
In 1876, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Munn v. Illinois, 94 U.S. (Otto) 113, 24 L. Ed. 77, held that "natural monopolies" could be regulated by the government. Munn concerned grain elevators but stood more generally for the principle that the public must be allowed to control private property committed to a use in which the public has an interest. This legal recognition of natural monop…
State statutes enacted in the first half of the twentieth century permitting manufacturers to set minimum, maximum, or actual selling prices for their products, and thus to prevent retailers from selling products at very low prices. Manufacturers have an interest in establishing and maintaining good will toward their products. This means assuring consumers that the manufacturers' goods are …
Ernest Knaebel was an attorney who became an assistant U.S. attorney for Colorado and later a U.S. Supreme Court reporter of decisions. Knaebel served as reporter of decisions from 1916 until January 31, 1944, when he retired because of ill health. He died on February 19, 1947, in West Boxford, Massachusetts. …
After Williams lost his Senate seat, President Grant appointed Williams attorney general in 1871. His term as attorney general was unremarkable, but his reputation was damaged by the events surrounding his failed nomination as chief justice in 1873. There were allegations that Williams had participated in fraudulent activities involving voting in Oregon, but the organized bar on the East Coast als…
Edmund Burke was an orator, philosophical writer, political theorist, and member of Parliament who helped shape political thought in England and the United States during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Burke was born January 12, 1729, in Dublin, Ireland, to a Protestant father and a Roman Catholic mother. His father, a prosperous Dublin attorney, was cold and authoritarian, and…
The doctrine that imposes affirmative responsibilities on a broadcaster to provide coverage of issues of public importance that is adequate and fairly reflects differing viewpoints. In fulfilling its fairness doctrine obligations, a broadcaster must provide free time for the presentation of opposing views if a paid sponsor is unavailable and must initiate programming on public issues if no one els…
The old common-law patterns for different kinds of lawsuits. …
Sexual intercourse between a man and a woman who are not married to each other. Today, statutes in a number of states declare that fornication is an offense, but such statutes are rarely enforced. On the theory that fornication is a victimless crime, many states do not prosecute persons accused of the offense. Under modern-day legislation, if one of the two persons who engage in sexual intercourse…
Grundy was born September 11, 1777, in Berkeley County, Virginia (now West Virginia). His family moved to Kentucky in 1780. Although he had little early formal education, he studied law and was admitted to the Kentucky bar in 1797. An able advocate, he soon developed a reputation as an outstanding criminal lawyer. In 1799 he was elected a delegate to the Kentucky state constitutional convention, w…
Immediately; promptly; without delay; directly; within a reasonable time under the circumstances of the case. …
A court of justice where disputes are heard and decided; a judicial tribune that hears and decides disputes; a place of jurisdiction where remedies afforded by the law are pursued. The appropriate forum for a lawsuit depends upon which court has jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter of the case, a matter governed mostly by statutes and court rules. For example, rules of procedure pr…
Born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts, Bush was the son of Prescott Sheldon Bush, an international banker and U.S. senator from Connecticut, and Dorothy Walker Bush, the daughter of a wealthy St. Louis businessman. Both parents had a tremendous influence on Bush, who was unpretentious and hardworking despite his privileged background. As a young boy, Bush attended Greenwich Country Day Scho…
A payment of money made by one attorney who receives a client to another attorney who referred the client. The Code of Professional Responsibility has been adopted by many state bar associations. If an attorney accepts a forwarding fee without providing any services, or undertaking any responsibility, the bar association may institute disciplinary proceedings against the individual for his or her …
Meese was born on December 2, 1931, in Oakland, California. He graduated from Yale Ed Meese. BETTMANN/CORBIS University in 1953 and received his law degree from the University of California School of Law at Berkeley in 1958. From 1958 to 1967, Meese worked as a deputy district attorney for Alameda County, California. From 1967 to 1969, Meese served then-California governor Ronald Reagan as …
Bush's biggest oil venture, however, proved controversial. During the late 1970s, he built a small, thriving company called Bush Exploration. When the energy market turned soft in the early 1980s, Bush Exploration, like many oil enterprises, floundered. In 1983, Bush merged his outfit with Spectrum 7; three years later Spectrum 7 was bought by Harken Energy. Bush's supporters said th…
The DOE was created in 1977 under the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C.A. § 7131). The act brought together all major federal energy responsibilities into one cabinet-level department. The DOE divides itself into three major programs, or divisions: energy programs, weapons/waste clean-up programs, and science and technology programs. It also oversees five power administration…
A permanent fund established and maintained by contributions for charitable, educational, religious, research, or other benevolent purposes. An institution or association given to rendering financial aid to colleges, schools, hospitals, and charities and generally supported by gifts for such purposes. The founding or building of a college or hospital. The incorporation or endowment of a college or…
The document itself; the face of a written instrument. The term is ordinarily included in the phrase within the four corners of the document, which denotes that in ascertaining the legal significance and consequences of the document, the parties and the court can only examine its language and all matters encompassed within it. Extraneous information concerning the document that does not appear in …
To become involved with, do, or take part in something. To be engaged in something, such as a type of employment, implies a continuity of action. It is used in reference to an occupation or anything in which an individual habitually participates. A person can also be engaged to do a particular activity by contract or other agreement. When two people become engaged to marry, they are bound together…
The Fourteenth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution reads: The Supreme Court has explained that each of these incorporated rights is "deeply rooted in the nation's history" and "fundamental" to the concept of "ordered liberty" represented by the Due Process Clause (Palko v. Connecticut, 302U.S. 319, 58 S. Ct. 149, 82 L. Ed. 288 [1937]). Any state tha…
A binding, pledging, or coming together. A mutual pact, contract, or agreement. An engagement letter is a clear delineation of an agreement that covers a particular project or employment. An attorney can require a client to sign such a letter to indicate that the person has been employed to perform specifically designated tasks. …
An inaccurate or erroneous description of an individual or item in a written instrument. With respect to testamentary gifts, where the description of an individual or item in a will is partly true and partly false, in the event that the true portion describes the subject or object of the gift with adequate certainty, the untrue part may be rejected under the doctrine of false demonstration, and th…
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads: The Framers drafted the Fourth Amendment in response to their colonial experience with British officials, whose discretion in collecting revenues for the Crown often went unchecked. Upon a mere suspicion held by British tax collectors or their informants, colonial magistrates were compelled to issue general warrants, which permitted blanket door…
Bates was born September 4, 1793, in Belmont, Virginia. He left his native Virginia at the age of twenty-one and settled in Missouri, where he concentrated his career efforts. Bates was admitted to the Missouri bar in 1816 and was attorney general from 1820 to 1822. He was also a member of the Missouri Constitutional Convention in 1820. In 1822 Bates began the legislative phase of his career as a …
The illegal confinement of one individual against his or her will by another individual in such a manner as to violate the confined individual's right to be free from restraint of movement. To recover damages for false imprisonment, an individual must be confined to a substantial degree, with her or his freedom of movement totally restrained. Interfering with or obstructing an individual&#x…
The crime of falsely assuming the identity of another to gain a benefit or avoid an expense. A false impersonator need not alter her or his voice, wear a disguise, or otherwise change her or his characteristics or appearance in order to be found guilty. False personation simply involves passing oneself off as another person. For example, an individual who misrepresents herself to be someone else i…
The right of suffrage; the right or privilege of voting in public elections. Such right is guaranteed by the Fifteenth, Nineteenth, and Twenty-fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. As granted by a professional sports association, franchise is a privilege to field a team in a given geographic area under the auspices of the league that issues it. It is merely an incorporeal right. …
The system of law that has developed in England from approximately 1066 to the present. Many of the concepts embodied in the U.S. Constitution—such as the separation and delegation of powers between three branches of government and the creation of an elective national assembly representing the will of the people—trace their roots to English law. Fundamental legal procedures applied i…
False representations of material past or present facts, known by the wrongdoer to be false, and made with the intent to defraud a victim into passing title in property to the wrongdoer. Suppose Reba tells Alberto that a synthetic gemstone is a valuable diamond that she will give to Alberto in exchange for Alberto's truck. Alberto thinks this sounds like a good deal and transfers title of h…
The family car doctrine, also known as the family purpose doctrine, is based on the premise that a car is provided by the head of the household for the family's use and, therefore, the operator of the car acts as an agent of the owner. For example, if a husband is the owner of a car and his wife uses the car for one of the purposes for which it was purchased, such as grocery shopping, then …
Laws that seek to establish English as the official language of the United States. The movement to make English the official language of the United States gained momentum at both the state and federal levels in the mid 1990s. In 1995 alone, more than five bills designating English as the official language of the United States were introduced in the U.S. Congress. In September 1995, Representative …
Frankfurter was born November 15, 1882, in Vienna. At the age of twelve, he emigrated from Vienna to the United States with his parents and four siblings. The Frankfurters, like many other Jews in Vienna, had lived in Leopoldstadt, the center of the Jewish Ghetto, where they faced an undercurrent of hostility and a future of economic uncertainty. Along with 18 million other Europeans who immigrate…
Engrossment was used in ancient law where the method of drawing up a written deed or contract involved working out a rough draft and then having the final terms of the instrument copied legibly onto parchment paper. Today the term denotes modern forms of copying, including engraving or any other such form of printing that will provide a legible final copy. Engrossment is also used to describe a st…
A legislative proposal that has been prepared in a final form for its submission to a vote of the lawmaking body after it has undergone discussion and been approved by the appropriate committees. …
Increase in value; improvement. Enhancement is generally used to mean an increase in the market value of property that is the result of an improvement. The enhancement of a criminal penalty means the increase of punishment, such as by increasing a jail sentence. This type of enhancement might be affected when the criminal's motive is found to be particularly depraved. …
A false representation of a matter of fact—whether by words or by conduct, by false or misleading allegations, or by concealment of what should have been disclosed—that deceives and is intended to deceive another so that the individual will act upon it to her or his legal injury. Fraud is commonly understood as dishonesty calculated for advantage. A person who is dishonest may be cal…
To direct, require, command, or admonish.…
The exercise of a right; the possession and fruition of a right or privilege. Comfort, consolation, contentment, ease, happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction. Such includes the beneficial use, interest, and purpose to which property may be put, and implies right to profits and income therefrom. …
Many jurisdictions passed statutes based upon one enacted in 1603 during the reign of King James I of England, which barred the conviction of a spouse on bigamy charges if he or she remarried seven years after the absent spouse disappeared without any knowledge that the absent spouse was alive. Such statutes transformed the probability of the death of the absent spouse into a legal certainty. Stat…
Under the enrolled bill rule, once an election for the adoption of a statute is held, the procedural method by which the measure was placed on the ballot cannot be challenged with a lawsuit since judicial inquiry into legislative procedure is barred as an intrusion into the internal affairs of the lawmaking body. In addition, this rule enhances the stability of statutory enactments. Citizens can r…
Statutes, court decisions, and provisions of the federal and state constitutions that relate to family relationships, rights, duties, and finances. …
To abridge, settle, or limit succession to real property. An estate whose succession is limited to certain people rather than being passed to all heirs. In real property, a fee tail is the conveyance of land subject to certain limitations or restrictions, namely, that it may only descend to certain specified heirs. …
Federal, state, and local laws that authorize employees to take paid or unpaid leave for a defined period of time for major health-related medical issues affecting their immediate family. Beginning in the 1990s, federal and state family medical leave laws were passed, allowing employees to take unpaid leaves of absence from work for major, family-related medical issues without first obtaining perm…
To form a constituent part; to become a part or partaker; to penetrate; share or mix with, as tin enters into the composition of pewter. To go or come into a place or condition; to make or effect an entrance; to cause to go into or be received into. In the law of real property, to go upon land for the purpose of taking possession of it. In strict usage, the entering is preliminary to the taking po…
The modern FCA derives its authority from the Farm Credit Act of 1971 (12 U.S.C.A. § 2241 et seq.), which superseded all prior authorizing legislation. The FCA examines the lending institutions that constitute the Farm Credit System to certify that they are sound. It also ensures compliance with the regulations under which the Farm Credit institutions operate. To that end, it is authorized …
Deadly or mortal; destructive; devastating. A fatal error in legal procedure is one that is of such a substantial nature as to harm unjustly the person who complains about it. It is synonymous with reversible error, which, in appellate practice, warrants the reversal of the judgment before the appellate court for review. A fatal error can warrant a new trial. A fatal injury is one that results in …
A transfer of property that is made to swindle, hinder, or delay a creditor, or to put such property beyond his or her reach. For example, a man transfers his bank account to a relative by putting the account in the relative's name. He informs the relative that he has not relinquished ownership of the funds, but merely wants to isolate the money from the reach of his creditors. This is a fr…
Fault has been held to embrace a refusal to perform an action that one is legally obligated to do, such as the failure to make a payment when due. …
A legal status that allows a professional athlete to negotiate an employment contract with the team of his or her choosing instead of being confined to one team. Athletes may become free agents after they have served a specific amount of time under contract with a team. Star athletes can benefit significantly from free agency. When their contract is up, they may get lucrative offers from rival tea…
Hamer was born October 6, 1917, in Montgomery County, Mississippi. She was the twentieth and youngest child of Jim Townsend and Lou Ella Townsend, who were sharecroppers in rural Mississippi. Hamer grew up in a tar paper shack and slept on a cotton sack stuffed with dry grass. She first went into the cotton fields to work when she was six years old, picking thirty pounds of cotton a week. By the t…
The performance of an act.…
Democrats and Whigs wanted to avoid party division in the election of 1848, so they virtually ignored the slavery question. The Democrats nominated Lewis Cass, who was sympathetic to Southern slaveholders. In defiance, anti-slavery Martin Van Buren and C. F. Adams were the Free Soil Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1848 election. Van Buren received 291,616 vote…
Relating to the general government or union of the states; based upon, or created pursuant to, the laws of the Constitution of the United States. The United States has traditionally been named a federal government in most political and judicial writings. The term federal has not been prescribed by any definite authority but is used to express a broad opinion concerning the nature of the form of go…
A legal reference source containing federal courts of appeals decisions that have not been selected by the court for publication. The first volume of the Federal Appendix was published September 1, 2001. Coverage began with decisions handed down after January 1,2001. The Federal Appendix is an appendix to the Federal Reporter, Third Series (F.3d). However, unpublished opinions from the Fifth and E…
The right to associate with others for the purpose of engaging in constitutionally protected activities. General types of association unrelated to First Amendment rights are not protected by the Constitution. For instance, in City of Dallas v. Stanglin, 490 U.S. 19, 109 S. Ct. 1591, 104 L. Ed. 2d 18 (1989), the Court held that a city ordinance limiting adult entrance into teenage dance halls did n…
Half a century after Wilbur and Orville Wright flew an airplane for 12 seconds in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17, 1903—becoming the first U.S. residents to successfully fly a powered aircraft—Congress established the Federal Aviation Agency, later renamed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 (49 U.S.C.A. § 106). Under the…
Since FOIA was enacted in 1966, over a half million requests for information have been filed with government agencies. Although initially envisioned as a means to make the federal government more accessible to citizens, FOIA has been used extensively by reporters and newsgathering agencies, corporations, and even foreign governments. When the act was first passed, most government data were stored …
The entertainment industry includes the fields of theater, film, fine art, dance, opera, music, literary publishing, television, and radio. These fields share a common mission of selling or otherwise profiting from creative works or services provided by writers, songwriters, musicians, and other artists. …
Edmond Nathaniel Cahn was the author of numerous publications including The Sense of Injustice (1949), The Moral Decision (1955), and The Edmond Cahn Reader (1966). After his admission to the Louisiana bar in 1927 and the New York bar in 1928, Cahn established a law firm in New York City where he practiced law from 1927 to 1950. He extended his career interests to the field of education and taught…
To wrongfully solicit, persuade, procure, allure, attract, draw by blandishment, coax, or seduce. To lure, induce, tempt, incite, or persuade a person to do a thing. Enticement of a child is inviting, persuading, or attempting to persuade a child to enter any vehicle, building, room, or secluded place with intent to commit an unlawful sexual act upon or with the person of said child. …
The word is also used to designate that which the law considers as one whole, and not capable of being divided into parts. Thus, a judgment, it is held, is an entirety, and, if void as to one of the two defendants, cannot be valid as to the other. Also, if a contract is an entirety, no part of the consideration is due until the whole has been performed. …
George Harding is known as the greatest U.S. patent attorney of the late nineteenth century. Harding was born in Philadelphia on October 26, 1827. He was the son of Jesper Harding, publisher of the Pennsylvania Inquirer. Harding attended public schools and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1846. After graduating, he worked as an intern for John Cadwalader, who later became a U.S. di…
Labor leader, presidential candidate, author, and radical, social, and political agitator, Eugene Debs employed a combination of self-determination, grit, defiance, and risk-taking to play a sometimes pivotal role in American law from the late 1890s through the early twentieth century. The son of Alsatian immigrants, Eugene Victor Debs was born in Terre Haute, Indiana, on November 5, 1855. As a yo…
An individual's right to receive a value or benefit provided by law. …
A real being; existence. An organization or being that possesses separate existence for tax purposes. Examples would be corporations, partnerships, estates, and trusts. The accounting entity for which accounting statements are prepared may not be the same as the entity defined by law. An existence apart, such as a corporation in relation to its stockholders. Entity includes person, estate, trust, …
An annual effort to balance federal spending in such areas as forestry, education, space technology, and the national defense, with revenue, which the United States collects largely through federal taxes. The 1974 act greatly reduced the president's role in the budget process—in particular, the president's responsibility of determining and recommending budget aggregates to Con…
The act of government agents or officials that induces a person to commit a crime he or she is not previously disposed to commit. Entrapment is a defense to criminal charges when it is established that the agent or official originated the idea of the crime and induced the accused to engage in it. If the crime was promoted by a private person who has no connection to the government, it is not entra…
J. Edgar Hoover points to a crime map of the United States. He served as FBI director for 48 years, during which the bureau grew in size and expertise, though he was criticized for abuse of power and harrassment of suspects. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS The modern FBI divides its investigations among seven major areas: applicant matters (background checks on applicants and candidates for federal p…
The act of making or entering a record; a setting down in writing of particulars; or that which is entered; an item. Generally synonymous with recording. Passage leading into a house or other building or to a room; a vestibule. In immigration law, any coming of an alien into the United States, from a foreign part or place or from an outlying possession, whether voluntary or otherwise. In customs l…
Formally recording the result of a lawsuit that is based upon the determination by the court of the facts and applicable law, and that makes the result effective for purposes of bringing an action to enforce it or to commence an appeal. Entering judgment is a significant action because it establishes permanent evidence of the rendition by the court of a judgment. Under some statutes and court rule…
Democracies have long grappled with the issue of the limits, if any, to place on the expression of ideas and beliefs. The dilemma dates back at least to ancient Greece, when the Athenians, who cherished individual freedom, nevertheless prosecuted Socrates for his teachings, claiming that he had corrupted young people and insulted the gods. During the two centuries since the adoption of the First A…
This term is often used in law as equivalent to mentioned specifically, designated, or expressly named or granted; as in speaking of enumerated governmental powers, items of property, or articles in a tariff schedule. …
Freedom of the press, like freedom of speech, is not absolute. Notwithstanding the limitations placed on it, the press exercises enormous power and influence, and is burdened with commensurate responsibility. Because journalists generally have access to more information than does the average individual, they serve as the eyes, ears, and voice of the public. Some legal scholars even argue that the …
A life estate, an interest in land the duration of which is restricted to the life or lives of a particular person or persons holding it, or an estate in fee, an interest in property that is unconditional and represents the broadest ownership interest recognized by law. In order to be categorized as a freehold, an estate must possess the characteristics of (1) immobility—in the sense that t…
The price or compensation paid for the transportation of goods by a carrier. Freight is also applied to the goods transported by such carriers. The responsibility for the payment of freight is a subject of a term of a sales contract between the buyer and seller of the goods to be shipped. When a contract contains a c.f. & i. provision, the buyer accepts liability for paying the cost of frei…
An individual who, as a regular business, assembles and combines small shipments into one lot and takes the responsibility for the transportation of such property from the place of receipt to the place of destination. The role of a freight forwarder is to collect and consolidate shipments that are less than a carload or truckload and obtain common carrier transportation for the long-haul transport…
Almost every aspect of life in the United States is touched by environmental law. Drinking water must meet state and federal quality standards before it may be consumed by the public. Car manufacturers must comply with emissions standards to protect air quality. State and federal regulations govern the manufacture, storage, transportation, and disposal of the hazardous chemicals used to make deodo…
Freund was born in New York City on January 30, 1864, to German American parents. He attended the University of Berlin and the University of Heidelberg, receiving a law degree from the latter in 1884. He went to New York and practiced law there from 1886 to 1894. Freund became a prominent figure at the law school and served as the John P. Wilson Professor of Law from 1929 to 1932. One of his many …
A person who has a strong interest in a matter that is the subject of a lawsuit in which he or she is not a party. …
Fire burning in a place where it was intended to burn, although damages may result. In a military conflict, the discharge of weapons against one's own troops. A fire burning in a fireplace is regarded as a friendly fire, in spite of the fact that extensive smoke damage might result there from. Ordinarily, when an individual purchases fire insurance, the coverage does not extend to damages r…
A lawsuit brought by an executor or administrator of the estate of a deceased person in the name of a creditor as if that creditor had initiated the action. The executor or administrator brings the suit against himself or herself in order to compel the creditors to take an equal distribution of the assets of the estate. An action brought by parties who agree to submit some doubtful question to the…
In 1800 William W. Woodword, a Philadelphia publisher, used shorthand notes taken by Thomas Carpenter to produce a report of John Fries's two trials for treason. LIBRARY COMPANY OF PHILADELPHIA Defense counsel's pleas for freedom of expression of political sentiment did not convince members of the jury, who were probably influenced by Iredell's and Peters's instr…
Born on January 22, 1890, in Louisa, Kentucky, Vinson was the son of a jailer. He graduated from Kentucky Normal College in 1908. In 1909 and 1911, he earned bachelor of arts and laws degrees from Center College in Danville, Kentucky, with the highest marks ever recorded at that school. Establishing his law practice in his hometown, he practiced law for two years before serving as city attorn…
Of minimal importance; legally worthless. A frivolous appeal is one that is completely lacking merit, since no review able question has been raised therein. …
Activities performed by an employee during working hours that are not considered to be in the course of his or her employment, since they are for the employee's personal purposes only. …
Hayes was born July 1, 1894, in Richmond, and lived most of his life in Washington, D.C., where he attended public schools. He graduated from Brown University, in Providence, in 1915 and received his law degree from Howard University in 1918. While at Howard, he attained one of the highest academic averages on record there. Hayes had open and sometimes bitter differences with the younger, more mil…
The Constitution created the Supreme Court and empowered Congress, in Article I, Section 8, to establish inferior federal courts. The authority of federal courts is limited to that given to them by the federal statutes that created them. Federal courts exist independently of the system of courts in each state that adjudicate controversies that arise pursuant to the laws of that state. …
The name fruit of the poisonous tree is thus a metaphor: the poisonous tree is evidence seized in an illegal arrest, search, or interrogation by law enforcement. The fruit of this poisonous tree is evidence later discovered because of knowledge gained from the first illegal search, arrest, or interrogation. The poisonous tree and the fruit are both excluded from a criminal trial. Assume further th…
George Franklin Comstock was born August 24, 1811, in Williamstown, New York. He graduated from Union College in 1834, was admitted to the New York bar in 1837, and received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1858. Comstock pursued interests in the field of education in addition to his legal career. He was a trustee of Hobart College from 1870 to 1877 and of Syracuse University from 1870 to 1890…
The FDIC is an independent agency of the federal government. Its management was established by the Banking Act of 1933. It consists of a board of directors numbering three members, one the comptroller of the currency, and two appointed by the president with approval of the Senate. The two appointed members serve six-year terms, and one is elected by the members to serve as chair of the board. The …
In the law of contracts, the destruction of the value of the performance that has been bargained for by the promisor as a result of a supervening event. Frustration of purpose has the effect of discharging the promisor from his or her obligation to perform, in spite of the fact that performance by the promisee is possible, since the purpose for which the contract was entered into has been destroye…
Little-Collins was born December 4, 1912, in Butler, Georgia, the eldest of three children of the Reverend Earl Lee Little and his first wife, Daisy Mason. Her parents had two more children, Mary and Earl, Jr., and divorced in 1917 or 1918. Little-Collins's mother moved to Boston around 1920, taking Earl Jr. with her. Ella and Mary were left in Butler, Georgia, with Earl Sr.'s parent…
According to his own calculations, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born in February 1817, on a plantation west of the Tuckahoe River in Talbot County, Maryland. (As an adult, he celebrated his birthday on February 14.) His mother was a black slave, and his father most likely her white owner. Douglass was separated from his mother at an early age, and at age 7 he was sent to Baltimore to w…
An individual who, after having committed a criminal offense, leaves the jurisdiction of the court where such crime has taken place or hides within such jurisdiction to escape prosecution. …
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the federal agency charged with eliminating discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or age, in all terms and conditions of employment. The EEOC investigates alleged discrimination through its 50 field offices, makes determinations based on gathered evidence, attempts conciliation when discrimination has …
The FEC is composed of six commissioners who are appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate. The act also provides for three statutory officers—the staff director, the general counsel, and the inspector general—who are appointed by the commission. The FEC's main responsibility is to enforce federal campaign financing laws. Thus, its scope is limi…
Northern reaction against the Fugitive Slave Act was strong, and many states enacted laws that nullified its effect, making it worthless. In cases where the law was enforced, threats or acts of mob violence often required the dispatch of federal troops. Persons convicted of violating the act were often heavily fined, imprisoned, or both. The refusal of northern states to enforce the Fugitive Slave…
Francis Beverly Biddle achieved prominence as a jurist. In 1912, Biddle was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar and from 1915 to 1939, practiced with Francis Beverly Biddle. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS two successful Philadelphia law firms—Biddle, Paul and Jayne, and Barnes, Biddle and Myers—specializing in corporation law. He died October 4, 1968, in Hyannis, Massachusetts. …
In the weeks following the attacks, FEMA employees worked relentlessly in a massive rescue and recovery effort at the World Trade Center site. More than 1,500 employees of FEMA and more than 6,500 other federal employees took part in the effort. Tens of thousands of tons of debris were removed from the site in New York and taken to a landfill on Staten Island. Several hundred bodies were discovere…
In an effort to end gender-based discrimination in labor wages, Congress enacted the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Pub. L. No. 88-38, 77 Stat. 56 (codified at 29 U.S.C.A. § 206(b)). The act established the requirement that women should receive "equal pay for equal work." However, the average wages given to women are still lower than those of men, and some critics have deemed the Equa…
Because of increasing caseloads and the growing complexity of the law, court administration has become an important part of the judicial branch. Congress gave the FJC a broad mandate to improve the performance of the courts and judges through research, planning, and education. The FJC conducts research on the operation of federal courts and coordinates similar research with other public and privat…
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) regulates the waterborne foreign and domestic offshore commerce of the United States; ensures that U.S. international trade is open to all nations on fair and equitable terms; and protects against unauthorized activity in the waterborne commerce of the United States. The FMC reviews agreements made by groups of common carriers (those who operate ships for comm…
The Full Faith and Credit Clause—Article IV, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution—provides that the various states must recognize legislative acts, public records, and judicial decisions of the other states within the United States. It states that "Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State.�…
The military argued that the designation of Indiana as a military district with a commander because of the constant threat of invasion by Confederate troops justified the imposition of martial law. The military commission, therefore, had lawful jurisdiction under the "laws and usages of war." The Court rejected this argument. The state of Indiana had not opposed federal authority, it…
The Labor-Management Relations Act requires that parties to a labor contract must file a notice with the FMCS if agreement is not reached within 30 days before a contract termination or reopening date. The FMCS is required by the act to avoid mediation of disputes that would have only a minor effect on interstate commerce. However, in seeking to promote labor peace through the encouragement and de…
A comprehensive term for any money that is set aside for a particular purpose or that is accessible for the satisfaction of debts or claims. …
The constitution of a state or nation; the basic law and principles contained in federal and state constitutions that direct and regulate the manner in which government is exercised. …
Fannie Mae has sought to provide consumers with comprehensive information about securing home mortgages. It provides lists of lenders, mortgage calculators, glossaries of terms and worksheets through its web site. In addition, Fannie Mae has developed programs to promote home ownership by people who traditionally have been cut off from financing. It has made a $2 trillion pledge to increase home-o…
A description applied to items of which each unit is identical to every other unit, such as in the case of grain, oil, or flour. Fungible goods are those that can readily be estimated and replaced according to weight, measure, and amount. …
Francisco de Vitoria was a Spanish theologian, teacher, and defender of the rights of the Native Americans who inhabited the newly discovered continents of North and South America. Vitoria was born circa 1483 in Vitoria, Álava, Spain. He taught at the University of Valladolid from 1523 until 1526. In that year, he moved to Salamanca, Spain, where he taught theology for the next twenty years…
The constitutional guarantee that no person or class of persons shall be denied the same protection of the laws that is enjoyed by other persons or other classes in like circumstances in their lives, liberty, property, and pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of Independence states: …
An issue directly involving the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes, or treaties between the United States and a foreign country. …
A daily publication that makes available to the public the rules, regulations, and other legal notices issued by federal administrative agencies. The Federal Register includes (1) presidential proclamations and executive orders; (2) other documents that the president from time to time determines to have general applicability and legal effect; (3) documents that are required by an act of Congress t…
When the amendment was first submitted to the states in 1972, Congress prescribed a deadline of seven years for ratification. Because an amendment must be ratified by the legislatures or conventions of three-fourths of the states, the ERA required approval by thirty-eight states. By 1973, less than two years after its submission to the states, thirty states had ratified the ERA, and the success of…
A legal reference source primarily covering published decisions of federal appellate courts. A case may be found in the Federal Reporter in the volume whose number is that given first in the citation for the case. If the case was decided after 1924, the citation will refer to the second series of the Federal Reporter. For example, the case of O'Connor v. Lee-Hy Paving Co., decided by the U.…
Property that is received or obtained by a borrower subsequent to the date that he or she executes a loan agreement which offers property currently owned as collateral. The treatment of future acquired property varies, however, from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. …
Earnings that, if it had not been for an injury, could have been made in the future, but which were lost as result of the injury. …
A claim on property, real or personal, that will begin at some point in the future. A future interest allows the grantor to retain the right to use that property until the specified transfer date. Future interest agreements are often used by donors for tax purposes. For example, a person may grant a future interest in his or her home to a charity, with the stipulation that he will retain use of th…
Elliot Lee Richardson. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS In July 1973, it was revealed that Nixon had secretly recorded conversations in his White House offices. Cox immediately subpoenaed the tapes of the conversations. When Nixon refused to honor the subpoena, Judge John Sirica ordered that the tapes be turned over. After the federal court of appeals upheld the order, Nixon offered Cox written summari…
Contracts that promise to purchase or sell standard commodities at a forthcoming date and at a fixed price. This type of contract is an extremely speculative transaction and ordinarily involves such standard goods as rice or soybeans. Profit and loss are based upon promises to deliver—as opposed to possession of—the actual commodities. …
Alan Greenspan became chair of the Federal Reserve Board in 1987. The board determines monetary and credit policies and influences national interest rates. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS Following the passage of the Federal Reserve Act, Congress attempted to claim exclusive control over the management of monetary policy. It asserted that this was the proper function of Congress, as the constitutional…
A court order to gag or bind an unruly defendant or remove her or him from the courtroom in order to prevent further interruptions in a trial. In a trial with a great deal of notoriety, a court order directed to attorneys and witnesses not to discuss the case with the media—such order being felt necessary to assure the defendant of a fair trial. A court order, directed to the media, not to …
Norton, the eldest of three daughters, was born to Coleman Holmes and Vela Holmes on June 13, 1937, in Washington, D.C. Her father was a government employee in the District of Columbia, and her mother was a schoolteacher. Norton grew up in the segregated Washington, D.C., of the 1940s and 1950s and was a member of the last segregated class at Dunbar High School. Norton attended Antioch College, wh…
Frustrated plaintiffs turned to the king, who referred these extraordinary requests for relief to a royal court called the Chancery. The Chancery was headed by a chancellor who possessed the power to settle disputes and order relief according to his conscience. The decisions of a chancellor were made without regard for the common law, and they became the basis for the law of equity. Despite this k…
The full-text decisions that appear in the Federal Rules Decisions, commonly abbreviated F.R.D., are not published in the Federal Supplement. …
A rule, regulation, or law that prohibits debate or discussion of a particular issue. When the first gag rule was instituted in 1836, House protocol required that the first thirty days of each session of Congress be devoted to the reading of petitions from constituents. After those thirty days, petitions were read in the House every other Monday. Each petition was read aloud, printed, and assigned…
The right of a mortgagor, that is, a borrower who obtains a loan secured by a pledge of his or her real property, to prevent foreclosure proceedings by paying the amount due on the loan, a mortgage, plus interest and other expenses after having failed to pay within the time and according to the terms specified therein. This right is based upon the equitable principle that it is only fair that a bo…
In some instances the Federal Rules of Evidence apply only to the extent that they have not been superseded by statute or other Supreme Court rules governing certain proceedings in particular areas of law. For example, the Federal Rules of Evidence do not fully apply to the trial of misdemeanors and other petty offenses before U.S. magistrates, to the review of orders by the Secretary of Agricultu…
Wild birds and beasts. The word includes all game birds and game animals. The state, in its sovereign power, owns game for the benefit of the general public. The only manner in which a private individual can acquire ownership in game is by possessing it lawfully such as by hunting and killing it under a license. Generally, every individual has the right to hunt and take game in any public place wh…
Latin, therefore; hence; because.…
A set of legal reference books containing decisions of federal courts in chronological order. The first volume of the Federal Supplement was published in 1933, and successive volumes have been numbered consecutively. Volume 900 was published in 1994. A citation to an opinion printed in the Federal Supplement gives, first, the volume and then the page number on which the case begins. For example, 4…
A 1938 landmark decision by the Supreme Court, Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U.S. 64, 58 S. Ct. 817, 82 L. Ed. 1188, that held that in an action in a federal court, except as to matters governed by the U.S. Constitution and acts of Congress, the law to be applied in any case is the law of the state in which the federal court is situated. Tompkins wanted to sue the railroad and recover monetar…
The act or practice of gambling; an agreement between two or more individuals to play collectively at a game of chance for a stake or wager, which will become the property of the winner and to which all involved make a contribution. Since the early 1990s, gaming laws have been in a constant state of flux. Regulation of gaming is generally reserved to the states, but the U.S. Congress became involv…
Johnson was born October 30, 1918, in Delmar, a town in northern Alabama's Winston County. The county, in which Johnson spent his youth, was a Republican stronghold in an overwhelmingly Democratic state; in fact, it had attempted to remain neutral during the Civil War. Johnson's father, Frank Minis Johnson Sr. served as one of the few Republicans in the Alabama state legislature. Joh…
[Latin, Error.] The term used in the Latin formula for the assignment of mistakes made in a case. After reviewing a case, if a judge decides that there was no error, he or she indicates so by replying, "In nollo est erratum," which means, "no error was committed." The plural is errata. …
The FTCA permits persons to sue the government of the United States in federal court for In passing the FTCA, Congress allowed the federal government to be sued. Congress also made specific exceptions to the act, and the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted one provision broadly, both actions resulting in the dismissal of many plaintiffs' lawsuits. Now a person who alleges that an employee of…
Sutherland was born on March 25, 1862, in Buckinghamshire, England. When Sutherland was a young child, his parents emigrated to the United States, settling in Provo, Utah. Sutherland graduated from Brigham Young University in 1881 and attended the University of Michigan Law School in 1882 and 1883. He was admitted to the Michigan bar in 1883 but returned that same year to Utah, where he establishe…
The nature of the error dictates the availability of a legal remedy. Generally speaking, mistaken or erroneous application of law will void or reverse a judgment in the matter. Conversely, errors or mistakes in facts, upon which a judge or jury relied in rendering a judgment or verdict, may or may not warrant reversal, depending upon other factors involved in the error. However, appellate decision…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent federal regulatory agency charged with the responsibility of promoting fair competition among rivals in the marketplace by preventing unfair and deceptive trade practices and restraining the growth of monopolies that tend to lessen free trade. The FTC's creation was supported both by anti-monopolists seeking to halt "unfair competi…
A stipulation contained in a union contract stating that wages will be raised or lowered, based upon an external standard such as the cost of living index. A term, ordinarily in a contract or lease, that provides for an increase in the money to be paid under certain conditions. Escalator clauses frequently appear in business contracts to raise prices if the individual providing a particular servic…
The Federal Unemployment Compensation Act (FUCA) was enacted by Congress to care for workers who in times of economic hardship and through no fault of their own lose their job and are unable to find new employment. FUCA was first enacted in 1939, underwent substantial revision in 1954, and has been amended over the years, most recently in 1988 (42 U.S.C.A. §§ 501–504, 1101…
In 1911, Corwin was promoted to full professor. Seven years later, he was appointed to a chair first occupied by Wilson, the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, which Corwin held until his retirement from Princeton in 1946. In 1924, he also became chair of the newly formed Department of Politics. Corwin was known at Princeton as a demanding yet popular professor; students regularly voted his cou…
The criminal offense of fleeing legal custody without authority or consent. In order for an individual who has been accused of escape to be convicted, all elements of the crime must be proved. Such elements are governed by the specific language of each state statute. The general common-law principles may be incorporated within a statute, or the law may depart from them in various ways. Federal sta…
A gang is sometimes difficult to define, especially in legal terms. Although gangs typically involve a congregation of individuals, primarily young males, certainly not all congregations or informal gatherings of young individuals constitute gangs. Definitions of gangs or street gangs vary among the laws governing them. Alabama law, for example, defines a "streetgang" as, "[A]…
The power of a state to acquire title to property for which there is no owner. The most common reason that an escheat takes place is that an individual dies intestate, meaning without a valid will indicating who is to inherit his or her property, and without relatives who are legally entitled to inherit in the absence of a will. A state legislature has the authority to enact an escheat statute. In…
The old English word for jail.…
The case involved Danny Escobedo, who was arrested on the night of January 19, 1960, for the murder of his brother-in-law, but was released after contacting his lawyer. The lawyer told him not to answer any more questions if the police rearrested him. Ten days later, he was arrested a second time and made a request to contact his attorney repeatedly. This request was denied. His attorney then arri…
A principle of government that defines the relationship between the central government at the national level and its constituent units at the regional, state, or local levels. Under this principle of government, power and authority is allocated between the national and local governmental units, such that each unit is delegated a sphere of power and authority only it can exercise, while other power…
Something of value, such as a deed, stock, money, or written instrument, that is put into the custody of a third person by its owner, a grantor, an obligor, or a promisor, to be retained until the occurrence of a contingency or performance of a condition. An escrow also refers to a writing deposited with someone until the performance of an act or the occurrence of an event specified in that writin…
An individual who holds money or property that belongs to a debtor subject to an attachment proceeding by a creditor. …
Edward Codrington Carrington was born April 10, 1872, in Washington, D.C. He was admitted to the Maryland bar in 1894 and established his legal practice in Baltimore, specializing in corporation law. Carrington initiated proceedings in Maryland to combine the Progressives once again with the Republicans, and in 1914 he was nominated by the Republicans for a seat in the U.S. Senate, but was defeate…
Espionage, commonly known as spying, is the practice of secretly gathering information about a foreign government or a competing industry, with the purpose of placing one's own government or corporation at some strategic or financial advantage. Federal law prohibits espionage when it jeopardizes the national defense or benefits a foreign nation (18 U.S.C.A. § 793). Criminal espionage…
The essays that constitute The Federalist Papers were published in various New York newspapers between October 27, 1787, and August 16, 1788, and appeared in book form in March and May 1788. They remain important statements of U.S. political and legal philosophy as well as a key source for understanding the U.S. Constitution. The Federalist Papers originated in a contentious debate over ratificati…
A legal procedure by which a creditor can collect what a debtor owes by reaching the debtor's property when it is in the hands of someone other than the debtor. Garnishment is a drastic measure for collecting a debt. A court order of garnishment allows a creditor to take the property of a debtor when the debtor does not possess the property. A garnishment action is taken against the debtor …
Randolph was born on August 10, 1753, in Williamsburg, Virginia. He attended William and Mary College and then studied law with his father, who was a prominent lawyer and the king's attorney in the colony of Virginia. As the American Revolution approached, Randolph sided with the independence movement, while his father remained loyal to the crown. In 1775 Randolph's father, mother, a…
Thus the Wilson administration proposed and Congress passed the "Espionage Act of 1917." Much of the act simply served to supersede existing espionage laws. Sections of the act covered the following: vessels in ports of the United States, interference with foreign commerce by violent means, seizure of arms and other articles intended for export, enforcement of neutrality, passports, …
Even before the Articles of Confederation were ratified by the original 13 states in 1781, prominent Americans were criticizing the document for having failed to create a strong federal government. In 1783, George Washington, as commander in chief of the army, sent a circular to state governors discussing the need to add tone to our federal government. Three years later Washington and his politica…
In the United States, Esq. is written after a lawyer's name, for example: John Smith, Esq. …
A joining together of states or nations in a league or association; the league itself. An unincorporated association of persons for a common purpose. …
A compensation paid for particular acts, services, or labor, generally those that are performed in the line of official duties or a particular profession. An interest in land; an estate of inheritance. An estate is an interest in land, and a fee, in this sense, is the shortened version of the phrase fee simple. A fee simple is the greatest estate that an individual may have in the land because it …
Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel had a profound effect on modern thought. Hegel wrote his earliest work in 1807 and his groundbreaking Philosophy of Right in 1827. An idealist, he explored the nature of rationality in an attempt to create a single system of thought that would comprehend all knowledge. Among his chief contributions was developing the hegelian dialectic, a three-part proces…
Carswell also suffered a reputation as a legal lightweight. His opponents noted that a dismal 58 percent of Carswell's judicial decisions had been overruled by higher courts. In a vote of no confidence, the Ripon Society, a Republican group, rated Carswell's performance as a federal judge well below the average level of competence. A slim majority of senators refused to support a jur…
To settle, make, or fix firmly; place on a permanent footing; found; create; put beyond doubt or dispute; prove; convince. To enact permanently. To bring about or into existence. …
The greatest possible estate in land, wherein the owner has the right to use it, exclusively possess it, commit waste upon it, dispose of it by deed or will, and take its fruits. A fee simple represents absolute ownership of land, and therefore the owner may do whatever he or she chooses with the land. If an owner of a fee simple dies intestate, the land will descend to the heirs. The term fee use…
An estate in land subject to a restriction regarding inheritance. A fee tail is an interest in real property that is ordinarily created with words such as "to A and the heirs of his body." It may be limited in various ways, such as to male or female heirs only, or to children produced by a particular spouse. A fee tail is passed by inheritance from generation to generation to the hei…
A sexual act in which a male places his penis into the mouth of another person. Under both the common law and present-day statutes, there must be actual insertion of the male organ into the mouth of another for the crime to be committed. Any penetration, however slight, is sufficient. Emission is not a necessary element of the offense under most modern statutes. If the offense is committed by two …
Various legal issues arise concerning the use and distribution of gas. …
The fellow-servant rule first appeared in 1837, in Great Britain, in Priestly v. Fowler (150 Eng. Rep. 1030 [1837]). In that case, an over-loaded delivery van driven by one employee overturned and fractured the leg of another employee. The injured employee's lawsuit against their common employer succeeded, but it was overturned by the Court of Exchequer. The magistrate, Lord Abinger, scoldi…
When used in connection with probate proceedings, the term encompasses the total property that is owned by a decedent prior to the distribution of that property in accordance with the terms of a will, or when there is no will, by the laws of inheritance in the state of domicile of the decedent. It means, ordinarily, the whole of the property owned by anyone, the realty as well as the personalty. I…
Edward Allen Tamm served the federal bench with distinction for almost forty years, as a district and appellate court judge. For much of his life, he was a guiding force in the field of judicial ethics. His commaittee work for the U.S. Judicial Conference helped to set the standards for judicial conduct throughout the nation and to instill public confidence in the fair administration of justice. (…
Done with an intent to commit a serious crime or a felony; done with an evil heart or purpose; malicious; wicked; villainous. An aggravated assault, such as an assault with an intent to murder, is a felonious assault. A simple assault, such as one done with an intent to frighten, is not felonious. …
A serious crime, characterized under federal law and many state statutes as any offense punishable by death or imprisonment in excess of one year. …
Starting in 1975, Jones spent two years working for the federal government. As a special assistant to the U.S. secretary of transportation, she helped to formulate official policies on a broad range of transportation issues. Among other accomplishments, she helped to open the doors of the U.S. Coast Guard to women. But she longed to return to her former job at the LDF. "Once you get st…
Generally an intent to kill is not necessary for felony-murder. The rule becomes operative when there is a killing during or a death soon after the felony, and there is some causal connection between the felony and the killing. …
