Unlawful carnal knowledge of a female by a male by force, against her will and without her consent. Ravishment is the same as rape, a criminal offense defined by most statutes as unlawful sexual intercourse with a female by a male with force and without her consent. …
[Latin, In the matter of; in the case of.] A term of frequent use in designating judicial proceedings, in which there is only one party. Thus, "Re Vivian" signifies "In the matter of Vivian," or "in Vivian's Case." …
Land, buildings, and things permanently attached to land and buildings. Also called realty and real property. The sale and lease of real estate in the United States are major economic activities and are regulated by state and federal laws. The two major types of real estate are commercial and residential real estate. Commercial real estate involves the sale and lease of property for business purpo…
Probative matter furnished by items that are actually on view, as opposed to a verbal description of them by a witness. For example, a weapon used in the commission of a crime would be classified as real evidence. …
The nature and extent of the privileges afforded to individuals kept in custody or confinement against their will because they have been convicted of performing an unlawful act. For most of U.S. history, the treatment of prisoners was left entirely to the discretion of prison administrators. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the federal courts began to oversee state prison systems and develop a b…
Actual; converted into cash. A realized profit, for example, is a cash-in-hand gain as opposed to a paper profit, such as the increase in value of a particular stock, which could potentially be lost prior to the time it is sold. …
Suitable; just; proper; ordinary; fair; usual. The term reasonable is a generic and relative one and applies to that which is appropriate for a particular situation. …
A standard of proof that must be surpassed to convict an accused in a criminal proceeding. The reasonable doubt standard is not used in every stage of a criminal prosecution. The prosecution and defense need not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that every piece of evidence offered into trial is authentic and relevant. If a prosecutor or defendant objects to a piece of evidence, the objecting party …
The amount of force necessary to protect oneself or one's property. Reasonable force is a term associated with defending one's person or property from a violent attack, theft, or other type of unlawful aggression. It may be used as a defense in a criminal trial or to defend oneself in a suit alleging tortious conduct. If one uses excessive force, or more than the force necessary for …
The decision whether an accused is guilty of a given offense might involve the application of an objective test in which the conduct of the accused is compared to that of a reasonable person under similar circumstances. In most cases, persons with greater than average skills, or with special duties to society, are held to a higher standard of care. For example, a physician who aids a person in dis…
In evaluating alleged sexual harassment, the reasonable person standard is an objective standard of perception based on a fictitious, reasonable person. Using this standard in a sexual harassment case, the fact finder would ask whether a reasonable person in the plaintiff's position would have felt that the respondent's actions constituted grounds for a sexual harassment claim. By co…
Discount; diminution of interest on capital lent in consideration of prompt repayment thereof; reduction of a stipulated charge that is not credited in advance but is returned subsequent to payment in full. A tax rebate is a sum of money refunded to a taxpayer after full payment of the tax has been made. Rather than reducing retail prices, many automobile manufacturers choose to offer rebates …
[Latin, At this point of affairs; in these circumstances.] A tacit condition attached to all treaties to the effect that they will no longer be binding as soon as the state of facts and conditions upon which they were based changes to a substantial degree. …
The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C.A. 552a) is a federal law that places restrictions on the federal government's collection, use, and dissemination of personal information. As with most comprehensive federal statutes, the act provides general and specific exemptions as well as an administrative appeals process. The genesis of the Privacy Act can be traced back to 1965, when a congressional s…
To defeat, dispute, or remove the effect of the other side's facts or arguments in a particular case or controversy. When a defendant in a lawsuit proves that the plaintiff's allegations are not true, the defendant has thereby rebutted them. …
That which affects, characterizes, or belongs to an individual person, as opposed to the general public. …
A conclusion as to the existence or nonexistence of a fact that a judge or jury must draw when certain evidence has been introduced and admitted as true in a lawsuit but that can be contradicted by evidence to the contrary. A rebuttable presumption can be overturned only if the evidence contradicting it is true and if a reasonable person of average intelligence could logically conclude from the ev…
A private citizen who commences a lawsuit to enforce a legal right that benefits the community as a whole. …
Legislation that benefits an individual or a locality. Also called special legislation or a private act. Many state constitutions prohibit the enactment of private bills or acts when a general law could apply. The prohibition of private bills, now more commonly known as special laws, applies to legislation that affects local governments or private individuals. Despite this constitutional language,…
The right or procedure by which a public official may be removed from a position by a vote of the people prior to the end of the term of office. Recall is the retiring of an elected officer by a vote of the electorate. Some state constitutions prescribe the procedure that must be followed in a recall—for example, requiring the filing of a petition containing the signatures of a specific num…
Regaining possession of; taking back.…
That portion of the law that defines, regulates, enforces, and administers relationships among individuals, associations, and corporations. As used in distinction to public law, the term means that part of the law that is administered between citizen and citizen, or that is concerned with the definition, regulation, and enforcement of rights in cases where both the person in whom the right inheres…
Acknowledgment in writing that something of value, or cash, has been placed into an individual's possession; written confirmation of payment rendered. Receipt of goods refers to the act of taking physical possession of them. …
A street or route that is designated by a public authority to accommodate a person or a group of people. A private road is often established because an individual needs to gain access to land; such a road can cross another person's property. A private road can be used by the general public and is open to all who wish to use it, but it primarily benefits those at whose request it was establi…
A privately owned vessel that is commissioned by one power to attack merchant ships from a hostile power. The term also refers to the commander or a crew member of such a vessel. Privateering was abolished on an international scale with the ratification of the Declaration of Paris in 1856, which was signed by Great Britain, France, Turkey, Sardinia, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. The United States,…
Courts appoint receivers to take custody, manage, and preserve money or property that is subject to litigation so that when the final judgment is rendered, the property remains available to accomplish what has been ordered. The power to appoint a receiver is rarely utilized by the courts, and only upon a showing that it is required to preserve the property. Receivership cannot properly be used to …
A court order whereby all the property subject to dispute in a legal action is placed under the dominion and control of an independent person known as a receiver. Receivership is an extraordinary remedy, the purpose of which is to preserve property during the time needed to prosecute a lawsuit, if a danger is present that such property will be dissipated or removed from the jurisdiction of the cou…
The privilege against self-incrimination forbids the government from compelling any person to give testimonial evidence that would likely incriminate him or her during a subsequent criminal case. This right enables a defendant to refuse to testify at a criminal trial and, according to the U.S. Supreme Court, "privileges him not to answer official questions put to him in any other proceeding…
The offense of acquiring goods with the knowledge that they have been stolen, extorted, embezzled, or unlawfully taken in any manner. An honest, although mistaken, belief that property is not stolen is a defense to the crime of receiving stolen property. Intoxication is another defense, but the intoxication must be severe enough to prevent any knowledge that the property was stolen. Infancy and in…
In the practice of courts, a brief interval during which all business is suspended without an adjournment. A recess in legislative practice is an interval of time between sessions of the same continuous body, as opposed to the period between the final adjournment of one legislative body and the convening of another at the next regular session. …
An exchange of information between two individuals in a confidential relationship. A privileged communication is a private statement that must be kept in confidence by the recipient for the benefit of the communicator. Even if it is relevant to a case, a privileged communication cannot be used as evidence in court. Privileged communications are controversial because they exclude relevant facts fro…
Concepts contained in the U.S. Constitution that place the citizens of each state on an equal basis with citizens of other states in respect to advantages resulting from citizenship in those states and citizenship in the United States. Article IV provides that "The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities in the several states." The purpose of the cla…
The behavior of a repeat or habitual criminal. A measurement of the rate at which offenders commit other crimes, either by arrest or conviction baselines, after being released from incarceration. In March 2003, the Supreme Court ruled on two separate cases Ewing v. California, 538 U.S. 11, 123 S. Ct. 1179, 155 L. Ed. 2d 108 (2003), and Lockyer v. Andrade,, 538 U.S. 63, 123 S. Ct. 1166, 155 L. Ed. …
Reva Beck Bosone was Utah's first woman judge and the first woman elected to the House of Representatives from that state. Bosone was born April 2, 1895, in American Fork, Utah, the only daughter among the four children of Christian M. Beck and Zilpha Chipman Beck. Her father was of Danish extraction, and her mother was a descendant of the 1847 Mormon pioneers and of the Mayflower pilgrims.…
Born in Oxford, Massachusetts, on September 15, 1835, Olney was educated at Brown University and Harvard Law School. Admitted to the Boston bar in 1859, he established a successful law practice and earned recognition for his work with railroads. A brief political career followed with his election to the Massachusetts state legislature, where he served one term between 1873 and 1874. In 1893 he was…
A close, direct, or successive relationship; having a mutual interest or right. Privity refers to a connection or bond between parties to a particular transaction. Privity of contract is the relationship that exists between two or more parties to an agreement. Privity of estate exists between a lessor and a lessee, and privity of possession is the relationship between parties in successive possess…
Bilateral; two-sided; mutual; interchanged. Reciprocal obligations are duties owed by one individual to another and vice versa. A reciprocal contract is one in which the parties enter into mutual agreements. …
One who has a direct, successive relationship to another individual; a coparticipant; one who has an interest in a matter; private. Privy refers to a person in privity with another—that is, someone involved in a particular transaction that results in a union, connection, or direct relationship with another. Privies in blood are the heirs of an ancestor. Privies in estate are people who succ…
A formal statement appearing in a legal document such as a deed that is preliminary in nature and provides an explanation of the reasons for the transaction. The recital in a deed, for example, might indicate the reasons why the owner is selling the property. …
The Privy Council is the British Crown's private council. It is composed of more than three hundred members, including cabinet members, distinguished scholars, judges, and legislators. Once a powerful body, it has lost most of the judicial and political functions it exercised since the middle of the seventeenth century and has largely been replaced by the Cabinet. The Privy Council derived …
Rashness; heedlessness; wanton conduct. The state of mind accompanying an act that either pays no regard to its probably or possibly injurious consequences, or which, though foreseeing such consequences, persists in spite of such knowledge. …
Anything offered as a reward for a contest. It is distinguished from a bet or wager in that it is known before the event who is to give either the premium or the prize, and there is but one operation until the accomplishment of the act, thing, or purpose for which it is offered. In time of war, an enemy vessel or a ship captured at sea by a belligerent power. The fair market value of a prize or aw…
A nation is not truly sovereign and independent unless other nations recognize its sovereignty. Formal recognition operates to assure a new state that it will be permitted to hold its place and rank as an independent political body among the nations. Recognition takes effect from the time it is given as if the state had always existed, and a new government can carry forward international projects …
Tribunals with jurisdiction to decide disputes involving captures made upon the high seas during times of war and to declare the captured property as a prize if it is lawfully subject to that sentence. In the United States, federal district courts have original jurisdiction to try prize cases. …
A recorded obligation, entered into before a tribunal, in which an individual pledges to perform a specific act or to subscribe to a certain course of conduct. For example, an individual who owes money might enter into a recognizance whereby she agrees to satisfy the debt. …
Prize law has not been completely consistent in its development because the tribunals that rule on the seizure of the vessel are national tribunals and may reflect the interests of the belligerent state in interdicting the enemy war effort. The expanding scope of warfare and the concept of total war have also blurred the distinction between vessels subject to capture as a prize of war and those th…
The restoration of peaceful or amicable relations between two individuals who were previously in conflict with one another. …
[Latin, For; in respect of; on account of; in behalf of.] …
Short for pro bono publico [Latin, For the public good]. The designation given to the free legal work done by an attorney for indigent clients and religious, charitable, and other nonprofit entities. As members of a profession, lawyers are bound by their ethical rules to charge reasonable rates for their services and to serve the public interest by providing free legal service to indigent persons …
The transfer of real property that takes place when a mortgage is fully paid off and the land is returned to the owner free from the former debt. …
As a matter of form or for the sake of form. Used to describe accounting, financial, and other statements or conclusions based upon assumed or anticipated facts. The phrase pro forma, in an appealable decree or judgment, usually means that the decision was rendered not on a conviction that it was right, but merely to facilitate further proceedings. …
For this turn; for this one particular occasion. For example, an out-of-state lawyer may be admitted to practice in a local jurisdiction for a particular case only. …
A process by which proof of ownership of real property is filed in the appropriate county office or court to allow purchasers, creditors, and other interested parties to determine the status of the property interests therein. In nearly every state the validity of a conveyance, as between grantor (seller) and grantee (purchaser), is not affected by whether the deed is filed in the public records or…
[Latin, Proportionately.] A phrase that describes a division made according to a certain rate, percentage, or share. A pro rata clause in an automobile insurance policy provides that when an insured person has other insurance policies covering the same type of risk, the company issuing the policy with the pro rata clause will be liable only for a proportion of the loss represented by the ratio bet…
Written accounts of acts, transactions, or instruments that are drawn up pursuant to legal authority by an appropriate officer and appointed to be retained as memorials or permanent evidence of matters to which they are related. A public record is a document that has been filed with, or furnished by, a governmental agency and is available to the public for inspection. For example, title of record …
For one's own behalf; in person. Appearing for oneself, as in the case of one who does not retain a lawyer and appears for himself or herself in court. …
[Latin, For so much; for as much as one is able; as far as it can go.] A term that refers to a partial payment made on a claim. A pro tanto defense is a defendant's counter-claim against the plaintiff for one-half the requested damages. …
Recourse is the right of the holder to recover against a prior endorser, who is secondarily liable. When a check is endorsed without recourse, it signifies that the endorser will not be liable to pay in the event that payment is refused. …
[Latin, For the time being.] An abbreviation used for pro tempore, Latin for "temporary or provisional." A person who acts as a temporary substitute serves pro tem. The term is often used to describe the acting head of a governing body, such as the president pro tem of the Senate, who presides over the Senate when the vice president is unable to do so. …
Richard Coke achieved prominence as a politician and jurist in the state of Texas. Coke was born March 13, 1829, in Williams-burg, Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1849 and was admitted to the Texas bar in 1850. After a tour of military duty during the Civil War, Coke became a district court judge in 1865 and subsequently presided as an associate justice of the Texas …
Probable cause is a level of reasonable belief, based on facts that can be articulated, that is required to sue a person in civil court or to arrest and prosecute a person in criminal court. Before a person can be sued or arrested and prosecuted, the civil plaintiff or police and prosecutor must possess enough facts that would lead a reasonable person to believe that the claim or charge is true. I…
The heightened awareness of child sexual abuse that developed in the 1980s also brought with it the controversial topic of recovered memory. Some mental health therapists contended that children repress memories of abuse so completely that years later they have no memory of it. These therapists believed that through the use of recovered memory therapy, victims are able to recover the memories of t…
The acquisition of something of value through the judgment of a court, as the result of a lawsuit initiated for that purpose. For example, an individual might obtain recovery in the form of damages for an injury. The term recovery is also used to describe the amount ultimately collected, or the amount of the judgment itself. …
A charge made by an individual who is being accused of some act against the accuser. …
In some cases the parties to a proceeding may waive the judge's disqualification and allow the judge to preside over the case. The judge's disqualification is waived when both parties agree to the waiver or when one or more of the parties continues to participate in the proceedings. The term recusation was at one time considered an exception to jurisdiction, the effect of which was t…
Wills often contain instructions on who should be appointed legal guardian of the decedent's minor children. The probate court may investigate the qualifications of the proposed guardian before granting an order of appointment. When a will does not contain a guardianship provision, the court itself must determine, based on the best interests of the children, who should be appointed guardian…
The liberation of an estate in real property from a mortgage. Redemption is the process by which land that has been mortgaged or pledged is bought back or reclaimed. It is accomplished through a payment of the debt owed or a fulfillment of the other conditions. …
A discriminatory practice whereby lending institutions refuse to make mortgage loans, regardless of an applicant's credit history, on properties in particular areas in which conditions are allegedly deteriorating. …
A sentence whereby a convict is released from confinement but is still under court supervision; a testing or a trial period. Probation can be given in lieu of a prison term or can suspend a prison sentence if the convict has consistently demonstrated good behavior. The status of a convicted person who is given some freedom on the condition that for a specified period he or she act in a manner appr…
[Latin, Reduction to absurdity.] In logic, a method employed to disprove an argument by illustrating how it leads to an absurd consequence. …
Having the effect of proof, tending to prove, or actually proving. Probative facts are data that have the effect of proving an issue or other information. Probative facts establish the existence of other facts. They are matters of evidence that make the existence of something more probable or less probable than it would be without them. They are admissible as evidence and aid the court in the fina…
The body of law that prescribes formal steps to be taken in enforcing legal rights. Procedural law is often called adjective law by legal writers. …
A judicial officer who presides over civil hearings but usually does not have the authority or power to render judgment. Referees are usually appointed by a judge in the district in which the judge presides. Referees aid the judge by hearing certain matters and by making recommendations concerning special or complicated issues. Judges generally delegate a portion of their judicial power to referee…
The process by which a tribunal sends a civil action, or a particular issue in the action, to an individual who has been appointed by the tribunal to hear and decide upon it, or to obtain evidence, and make a report to the court. …
Supplementary proceedings are separate from the original action. They help a successful party collect what is owed on a judgment by summoning the defendant-debtor, requiring that individual to disclose what he or she owns, and ordering that it be delivered in order to satisfy the judgment. …
The right reserved to the people to approve or reject an act of the legislature, or the right of the people to approve or reject legislation that has been referred to them by the legislature. The referendum, along with the initiative, are the two forms of direct legislation adopted by many states during the direct democracy movement of the early twentieth century. Referendum allows the people to s…
The yield, income, money, or anything of value produced from a sale of property or a particular transaction. Proceeds refers to whatever is received when an item is sold or to that which results or accrues from some possession or transaction. Proceeds are classified into cash and noncash categories. …
A series of actions, motions, or occurrences; a method, mode, or operation, whereby a result or effect is produced; normal or actual course of procedure; regular proceeding, as, the process of vegetation or decomposition; a chemical process; processes of nature. In patent law, an art or method by which any particular result is produced. A definite combination of new or old elements, ingredients, o…
H. Ross Perot, founder of Electronic Data Systems, Inc., ran for president in 1992 as an independent candidate and received 19 percent of the popular vote. In September 1995 Perot organized the Reform Party and was the party's 1996 presidential candidate. The Reform Party's ticket, which included Perot's running mate, Pat Choate, appeared on the ballot in every state and won e…
In the law of evidence, an event having a corporeal existence, as distinguished from a mere conception of the mind; one that is visible, audible, or tangible, such as the sound of footsteps or impressions made by human feet on the ground. …
A person authorized by law to deliver papers, typically the complaint, to the defendant. …
Legal documents, such as contracts, deeds, mortgages, and trusts, are all proper subjects for reformation. Since the original intent of the parties must control, however, a totally new agreement cannot be created through reformation. …
An act that formally declares to the general public that the government has acted in a particular way. A written or printed document issued by a superior government executive, such as the president or governor, which sets out such a declaration by the government. …
State institutions for the confinement of juvenile delinquents. Reformatories—which are also known as houses of refuge, state vocational institutions, reform schools, juvenile correction centers, and industrial or training schools—are generally not considered prisons. In some states, however, they are part of the prison system with adult inmates. …
Richard Rush served as U.S. attorney general from 1814 to 1817. Although he was recognized as an able lawyer, Rush's greatest contributions came in the field of diplomacy. He negotiated treaties that demilitarized the Great Lakes and set the northernmost boundaries between the United States and Canada. He also played a part in the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution. …
Physicians and surgeons are medical practitioners who treat illness and injury by prescribing medication, performing diagnostic tests and evaluations, performing surgery, and providing other medical services and advice. Physicians and surgeons are highly trained and duly authorized by law to practice medicine. Statutes and regulations carefully regulate who may use the title "doctor."…
A person appointed to manage the affairs of another or to represent another in a judgment. In old English law, a proctor was an attorney who practiced in the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts. Proctors, also known as procurators, served a similar function as solicitors in the ordinary courts of England. The title of proctor was merged with that of solicitor in 1873, but it is sometimes used in t…
The process of aiding a witness's recollection of certain details during a trial by allowing him or her to consult documents, memoranda, or books in order to better remember past transactions or events about which he or she is testifying. A witness is not permitted to rely completely upon such materials, nor may the witness read from them directly while giving testimony. The witness must be…
The presence at an employer's business of one or more employees and/or other persons who are publicizing a labor dispute, influencing employees or customers to withhold their work or business, respectively, or showing a union's desire to represent employees; picketing is usually accompanied by patrolling with signs. …
To cause something to happen; to find and obtain something or someone. Procure refers to commencing a proceeding; bringing about a result; persuading, inducing, or causing a person to do a particular act; obtaining possession or control over an item; or making a person available for sexual intercourse. …
As a noun, the product of natural growth, labor, or capital. Articles produced or grown from or on the soil, or found in the soil. As a verb, to bring forward; to show or exhibit; to bring into view or notice; as, to present a play, including its presentation in motion pictures. To produce witnesses or documents at trial in obedience to a subpoena or to be compelled to produce materials subject to…
Glanvill was probably born at Stratford St. Andrew, near Saxmundham, Suffolk, England. Although few details are known about his life, it is recorded that he had bumpy political fortunes. He was sheriff of Yorkshire from 1163 to 1170, but lost his authority following an official inquiry into the corruption of sheriffs. He regained it by helping raise troops against Scottish invaders in 1173–…
In maritime law, a person who assumes responsibility for a vessel at a particular place for the purpose of navigating it through a river or channel, or from or into a port. The captain, or master, of a large ship has total command in the high seas. However, when a ship enters or leaves a port, or enters a river or channel, the captain turns over navigation to a local pilot. Because of safety and c…
Individuals who leave their native country for social, political, or religious reasons, or who are forced to leave as a result of any type of disaster, including war, political upheaval, and famine. Often refugees are unwilling to return to their country of citizenship because they fear political, social, or cultural persecution. The refugees turn to other countries for protection and support. A r…
After Princeton, Nader attended Harvard Law School, where he edited the Harvard Law Record, and graduated with distinction in 1958. Ralph Nader. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS It was at Harvard that he first became interested in auto safety. After studying auto-injury cases, in 1958 he published his first article on the subject, "American Cars: Designed for Death," in the Harvard Law Rec…
In feudal England, a type of tenure by which a tenant was permitted to use real property that belonged to a lord in exchange for the performance of some service, such as providing young women for the use and pleasure of the lord. An individual who, for a fee, supplies another individual with a prostitute for sexual purposes. To pander, or cater to the sexual desires of others in exchange for money…
Reimbursing funds in restitution or repayment. The process of refinancing or borrowing money, ordinarily through the sale of bonds, to pay off an existing debt with the proceeds derived therefrom. …
Pinkerton Agents, hired as strikebreakers, surrendered to armed miners during the 1892 Homestead Strike in Pennsylvania. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS Allan Pinkerton established offices throughout the country. A Pinkerton innovation was photographing criminals after arrest. The "mug shot" soon was adopted by police departments. By the 1870s the Pinkerton agency had the largest collect…
A 1978 decision by the Supreme Court, Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. Allan Bakke on his first day of medical school at the University of California, Davis, in September 1978. The Supreme Court's ruling that the university's admission plan had excluded Bakke on the basis of race allowed for Bakke's admittance but left questions of the use of race…
To record, or enter precisely in a designated place, certain information in the public records as is mandated by statute. A book of public records. A register contains various types of information that is available to the public, such as births, dates, and marriages. The term register is also used as a designation for the public official charged with the duty of maintaining such records. …
The designation, in certain jurisdictions, of the public officers who record documents that establish ownership of property, mortgages, and other instruments that relate to real property in official record books provided and maintained for such purpose. Registers of deeds are also known as recorders of deeds. …
Piracy is a crime with ancient origins. As long as there have been ships at sea, pirates have sought to steal from them. Internationally, laws against piracy have ancient origins, too, but U.S. law developed chiefly in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The power to criminalize piracy originated in the U.S. Constitution, which was followed by the first federal law in 1790 and crucial revisions…
The public official charged with the duty of making and maintaining public records. Common examples are the registrars of voters and deeds. …
Enrollment; the process of recording entries in an official book. For example, the names of stockholders might be registered in the official books of a corporation. Similarly motor vehicles are ordinarily registered with the state motor vehicle department, and voters are registered so that they may participate in elections. In some jurisdictions, statutes establish systems by which land titles can…
A system by which ownership of real property is established through the issuance of an official certificate indicating the name of the individual in whom such ownership is vested. Land titles are registered through a statutory process called the Torrens title system, in somewhat the same way that automobile titles are now registered in most states. Under current Torrens acts, land ownership can be…
The act of appropriating the literary composition of another author, or excerpts, ideas, or passages therefrom, and passing the material off as one's own creation. Plagiarism can take a broad range of forms. At its simplest and most extreme, plagiarism involves putting one's own name on someoneelse's work; this is commonly seen in schools when a student submits a paper that so…
The principle that an appeals court can reverse a judgment and order a new trial because of a serious mistake in the proceedings, even though no objection was made at the time the mistake occurred. …
A tax with a rate that decreases as the taxpayer's income increases. Consumption taxes, which are taxes on consumer goods and services, are usually regressive because individuals with lower incomes spend a larger portion of their income on these goods and services than higher-income individuals do. Some examples of these consumption taxes are the taxes on alcohol and tobacco, also referred …
A principle used by courts in interpreting contracts that provides that the objective definitions of contractual terms are controlling, irrespective of whether the language comports with the actual intention of either party. …
Customary; usual; with no unexpected or unusual variations; in conformity with ordinary practice. An individual's regular course of business, for example, is the occupation in which that person is normally engaged to gain a livelihood. …
The responsibility of a manufacturer or vendor of goods to compensate for injury caused by defective merchandise that it has provided for sale. …
A rule of order having the force of law, prescribed by a superior or competent authority, relating to the actions of those under the authority's control. Regulations are issued by various federal government departments and agencies to carry out the intent of legislation enacted by Congress. Administrative agencies, often called "the bureaucracy," perform a number of different …
The party who sues in a civil action; a complainant; the prosecution—that is, a state or the United States representing the people—in a criminal case. …
Irreverence towards sacred things; particularly, an irreverent or blasphemous use of the name of God. Vulgar, irreverent, or coarse language. …
The restoration of former rights, authority, or abilities. …
The unsuccessful party in a lawsuit who commences proceedings for appellate review of the action because a mistake or "error" has been made resulting in a judgment against him or her; an appellant. …
The right of contracting parties to stipulate in the document the law that will govern their agreement. …
A plat is usually drawn to scale.…
To restore to a condition that has terminated or been lost; to reestablish. To reinstate a case, for example, means to restore it to the same position it had before dismissal. …
A formal response by the defendant to the affirmative assertions of the plaintiff in a civil case or to the charges of the prosecutor in a criminal case. There were two kinds of pleas, dilatory and peremptory. A dilatory plea did not argue against the merits of the plaintiff's claim but challenged that individual's right to have the court hear the case. It was called dilatory not bec…
The contract made between an insurance company and a third party to protect the insurance company from losses. The contract provides for the third party to pay for the loss sustained by the insurance company when the company makes a payment on the original contract. The parties to the reinsurance contract are the reinsurer, the reinsured, and the original policyholder. The reinsurer is the third p…
The rejoinder allows a defendant to present a more responsive and specific statement challenging the allegations made against him or her by the plaintiff. …
The process whereby a criminal defendant and prosecutor reach a mutually satisfactory disposition of a criminal case, subject to court approval. Plea bargaining can conclude a criminal case without a trial. When it is successful, plea bargaining results in a plea agreement between the prosecutor and defendant. In this agreement, the defendant agrees to plead guilty without a trial, and, in return,…
The obligation of lawyers to adhere to rules of professional conduct. …
The doctrine of relation is the principle by which an act performed at one time is deemed, through a legal fiction, to have been performed at a prior time. For example, in the conveyance of real property, the final proceeding that completes the transfer of property is considered, for certain purposes, to have become effective by relation as of the day when the first proceeding took place. Relation…
A plea in abatement does not absolutely defeat the plaintiff's claim because, even if the plea is successful, the plaintiff may renew the lawsuit in a proper form, time, or place. For this reason, it is called a dilatory plea, because it has the effect of postponing the time when a court considers the actual merits of the case of each party. …
To offer or tender, as, the production of a document and offer of the same in evidence. …
The individual in whose name a legal action is brought by a state; the individual who relates the facts on which an action is based. The relator is the individual upon whose complaint certain writs are issued. The relator is the party of interest in a proceeding, who is allowed to institute such proceeding in the name of the people, or in the name of the attorney general when such official has the…
An answer to a plaintiff's claim that absolutely and entirely defeats it. …
Most commonly, the gross proceeds of a business transaction less the costs of the transaction; i.e., net proceeds. Excess of revenues over expenses for a transaction; sometimes used synonymously with net income for the period. Gain realized from business or investment over and above expenditures. Accession of good, valuable results, useful consequences, avail, or gain. The benefit, advantage, or p…
Asking a court to grant relief. The formal presentation of claims and defenses by parties to a lawsuit. The specific papers by which the allegations of parties to a lawsuit are presented in proper form; specifically the complaint of a plaintiff and the answer of a defendant plus any additional responses to those papers that are authorized by law. In 1938, federal courts began using a modern system…
[French, Right of taking.] The right of persons to share in the land owned by another. …
Pledges are different from sales. In a sale both possession and ownership of property are permanently transferred to the buyer. In a pledge only possession passes to a second party. The first party retains ownership of the property in question, while the second party takes possession of the property until the terms of the contract are satisfied. The second party must also have a lien—or leg…
Beginning in the 1900s, the political history of the United States has been the story of the two mainstream political parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, and the third party movements that have grown and receded in their wake. Between 1912 and 1948, progressivism, a broadly based reform movement, had three national incarnations as the Progressive Party. Progressivism began as a response to…
A contractual agreement by which one individual assents to relinquish a claim or right under the law to another individual against whom such claim or right is enforceable. No particular form or language is required for a release, provided the contract is complete and clearly indicates the releasor's intention. In the absence of a specific statutory provision, releases need not be in writing…
An 1896 decision by the Supreme Court, Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, 16 S. Ct. 1138, 41 L. Ed. 256, upheld the constitutionality of an 1890 Louisiana statute requiring white and "colored" persons to be furnished "separate but equal" accommodations on railway passenger cars. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court maintained that the Fourteenth Amendment …
A type of graduated tax that applies higher tax rates as the income of the taxpayer increases. …
The name of the arrangement by which local public school boards permit students to be dismissed from classes prior to the completion of the regular school day for purposes of religious instruction. Vashti McCollum and her son, Terry. McCollum was successful in her 1948 challenge of an Illinois public school release time program, which the Supreme Court found unconstitutional. AP/WIDE WORLD PHO…
The opinion of an appellate court in which more justices join than in any concurring opinion. The excess of votes cast for one candidate over those votes cast for any other candidate. Appellate panels are made up of three or more justices. In some cases the justices disagree over the outcome of the case to such an extent that a majority opinion cannot be achieved. (A majority opinion is one in whi…
The popular name for the period in U.S. history from 1920 to 1933 when the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages—except for medicinal or religious purposes—were illegal. The impetus for the Eighteenth Amendment can be traced to the Anti-Saloon League, which was established in 1893. The league worked to enact state prohibition laws and had great success between 1906 and 1913. By…
The tendency of a fact offered as evidence in a lawsuit to prove or disprove the truth of a point in issue. A fact offered as evidence must bear a logical relationship to a point in issue for the court to permit its admission as evidence. In addition to such relevancy, evidence must also be material; it must strongly establish the truth or falsity of a point in issue if it is to be used as proof o…
The illegal shooting, trapping, or taking of game or fish from private or public property. The poaching of game and fish was made a crime in England in the seventeenth century, as aristocratic landowners sought to preserve their shooting and property rights. Poor peasants did most of the poaching to supplement their diets with meat and fish. In the United States, poaching was not considered a seri…
Russell was on the Prohibition Party's first ticket, as vice president; the presidential candidate was James Black, a lawyer and activist from Pennsylvania. The ticket drew only about 5,000 votes from six states. It drew only a few thousand more votes in the 1876 and 1880 elections, but it won the support of groups such as the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and the Anti-Sa…
Financial assistance provided to the indigent by the government. The redress, or benefit, given by a court to an individual who brings a legal action. The relief sought in a lawsuit might, for example, be the return of property wrongfully taken by another, compensation for an injury in the form of damages, or enforcement of a contract. …
An addition to many lawbooks that updates them until a new edition is published. A pocket part is located inside the back cover of the book. A legal researcher should always consult it to ensure that the most current law is examined. …
With respect to the home mortgage finance industry, a fee or charge of one percent of the principal of the loan that is collected by the lender at the time the loan is made and is in addition to the constant long-term stated interest rate on the face of the loan. …
A written or oral declaration given in exchange for something of value that binds the maker to do, or forbear from, a certain specific act and gives to the person to whom the declaration is made the right to expect and enforce performance or forbearance. An undertaking that something will or will not occur. It is a manifestation of intent to act, or refrain from acting, in a certain manner. The pe…
Thornburgh was born on July 16, 1932, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Yale University with an engineering degree in 1954 and earned a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1957. After his admission to the Pennsylvania bar in 1958, he joined the Pittsburgh law firm of Kirkpatrick, Lockhart, Johnson, and Hutchinson. Richard L. Thornburgh. UPI/CORBIS-BETTMANN Taking…
Economic poisons are those substances that are used to control insects, weeds, fungi, bacteria, rodents, predatory animals, or other pests. Economic poisons are useful to society but are still dangerous. In the past, an individual who was harmed by a poison that had been handled in a careless manner could institute a lawsuit for damages against the person who had mishandled the chemical. As time w…
In the law of contracts, the doctrine that provides that if a party changes his or her position substantially either by acting or forbearing from acting in reliance upon a gratuitous promise, then that party can enforce the promise although the essential elements of a contract are not present. Certain elements must be established to invoke promissory estoppel. A promisor—one who makes a pro…
A written, signed, unconditional promise to pay a certain amount of money on demand at a specified time. A written promise to pay money that is often used as a means to borrow funds or take out a loan. The individual who promises to pay is the maker, and the person to whom payment is promised is called the payee or holder. If signed by the maker, a promissory note is a negotiable instrument. It co…
A defensive strategy based on issuing special stock that is used to deter aggressors in corporate takeover attempts. The poison pill is a defensive strategy used against corporate takeovers. Popularly known as corporate raiding, takeovers are hostile mergers intended to acquire a corporation. A takeover begins when a so-called aggressor tries to buy sufficient stock in another corporation, known a…
A person who devises a plan for a business venture; one who takes the preliminary steps necessary for the formation of a corporation. …
To officially announce, to publish, to make known to the public; to formally announce a statute or a decision by a court. …
A body sanctioned by local, state, or national government to enforce laws and apprehend those who break them. The police force as we know it came into being in England in the 1820s when Sir Robert Peel established London's first municipal force. Before that, policing had either been done by volunteers or by soldiers. Police officers in the twenty-first century have technological advantages …
The establishment of a fact by the use of evidence. Anything that can make a person believe that a fact or proposition is true or false. It is distinguishable from evidence in that proof is a broad term comprehending everything that may be adduced at a trial, whereas evidence is a narrow term describing certain types of proof that can be admitted at trial. …
To determine whether an action of the federal or state government infringes upon a person's right to freedom of religion, the court must decide what qualifies as religion or religious activities for purposes of the First Amendment. The Supreme Court has interpreted religion to mean a sincere and meaningful belief that occupies in the life of its possessor a place parallel to the place held …
Born in Jackson, Michigan, on January 23, 1915, Stewart came from old money and a family steeped in law and politics. Educated at University School, Hotchkiss, as well as at Yale, Stewart's legacy on the Court defies easy categorization. At best he is remembered for his pragmatism and at worst for leaving a less than cohesive body of opinions. He retired from the Court in 1981 and died…
The use of private security guards and police by such entities as businesses and school campuses to protect their property, employees, and students has grown rapidly since the early 1980s. The authority of these guards, sometimes known disparagingly as "rent-a-cops," depends upon the employer and the type of security involved. Some guards are considered private employees of security …
Fit; correct; reasonably sufficient. That which is well adapted or appropriate. Proper care is the degree of care a reasonable, prudent person would use under similar circumstances. A proper party is an individual who has an interest in the litigation. He or she can be joined—that is, brought into the action—but his or her nonjoinder will not result in a dismissal. A substantial judi…
A future interest held by one person in the real property of another that will take effect upon the expiration of the other property interests created at the same time as the future interest. The law of real property permits a person who owns real estate to convey all or part of her rights in the property to another person or persons. Legal conveyances of property become more complicated when the …
To send back.…
A law enacted for the purpose of correcting a defect in a prior law, or in order to provide a remedy where none previously existed. …
The violation of state and federal laws or the violation of individuals' constitutional rights by police officers; also when police commit crimes for personal gain. Through both criminal and civil statutes, federal law specifically targets police misconduct. Federal law is applicable to all state, county, and local officers, including those who work in correctional facilities. The key feder…
The manner in which a right is enforced or satisfied by a court when some harm or injury, recognized by society as a wrongful act, is inflicted upon an individual. The law of remedies is concerned with the character and extent of relief to which an individual who has brought a legal action is entitled once the appropriate court procedure has been followed, and the individual has established that h…
Police power describes the basic right of governments to make laws and regulations for the benefit of their communities. Under the system of government in the United States, only states have the right to make laws based on their police power. The lawmaking power of the federal government is limited to the specific grants of power found in the Constitution. The right of states to make laws governin…
Extinguishment or release of a debt. A remission is conventional when it comes about through an express grant to the debtor by a creditor. It is tacit when the creditor makes a voluntary surrender of the original title to the debtor under private signature constituting the obligation. …
The general principles by which a government is guided in its management of public affairs, or the legislature in its measures. A general term used to describe all contracts of insurance. …
Real property is land and ordinarily anything erected on, growing on, or affixed to it, including buildings and crops. The term is also used to declare any rights that issue from the ownership of land. The terms real estate and real property generally refer to land. The term land, in its general usage, includes not only the face of the earth but everything of a permanent nature over or under it, i…
To transmit or send. To relinquish or surrender, such as in the case of a fine, punishment, or sentence. An individual, for example, might remit money to pay bills. …
A generic term that refers to any type of right to specific property whether it is personal or real property, tangible or intangible; e.g., a professional athlete has a valuable property right in his or her name, photograph, and image, and such right may be saleable by the athlete. …
Money sent from one individual to another in the form of cash, check, or some other manner. Financial statements sent by a creditor to a debtor frequently refer to the process of submitting a monthly remittance. …
Limits that government can impose on the occasion, location, and type of individual expression in some circumstances. The Supreme Court has developed a four-part analysis to evaluate the constitutionality of TPM restrictions. To pass muster under the First Amendment, TPM restrictions must be contentneutral, be narrowly drawn, serve a significant government interest, and leave open alternative chan…
A group not endorsed by a candidate or political party but organized to engage in political election activities, especially the raising and spending of money for "campaigning." Some political action committees (PACs) are organized solely to help defeat a candidate deemed undesirable by the group. Many types of special-interest groups have established PACs, including the following exa…
Remittitur frequently occurs when a defendant requests a new trial because he or she regards the verdict for the plaintiff as excessive. …
The ERA stated, "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex." After passing Congress, the amendment was sent to the 50 states on March 22, 1972, for ratification. To become law, the amendment needed to be passed by 38 states within seven years. By 1973, 30 states had already ratified the ERA. However, as mom…
Statutes and court rulings that govern candidates running for public office. More difficult situations arise when one candidate alleges that another candidate has intentionally misrepresented the position of the other. Open political debate is expected in a campaign but candidates can be prosecuted if the claims are judged to be objectively false. Candidates who retract or withdraw challenged camp…
Property settlements can arise through agreement of the parties, subject to approval by the court, or by court order. Once approved, the settlement functions like a contract for enforcement or modification purposes. Some states use alternate terms to describe a property settlement, such as property agreement, settlement agreement, or separation agreement. Two types of property that must be distrib…
The transfer of a person or thing from one place to another. The transfer of a case from one court to another. In this sense, removal generally refers to a transfer from a court in one jurisdiction to a court in another, whereas a change of venue may be granted simply to move a case to another location within the same jurisdiction. Normally a plaintiff has the right to choose the court where he or…
One who offers or proposes. A proponent is a person who comes forward with an a item or an idea. A proponent supports an issue or advocates a cause, such as a proponent of a will. …
Return; yield; pay or perform, as in charges or services. To render judgment means to pronounce, declare, or state the decision of the court in a particular case. To render a verdict means that a jury agrees upon and returns a written decision into court and hands the decision to the judge sitting at the trial. …
To offer or propose. To form or put forward an item, plan, or idea for discussion and ultimate acceptance or rejection. …
Rehabilitation; reestablishment; substitution of a new right or obligation for another of the same or similar nature. In regard to bonds, renewal signifies an extension of time for maturity. A stipulation for the renewal of a lease requires the making of a new lease, as opposed to an extension, which involves adding time to a leasehold agreement already in existence without executing a new instrum…
An issue that the federal courts refuse to decide because it properly belongs to the decision-making authority of elected officials. Political questions include such areas as the conduct of foreign policy, the ratification of constitutional amendments, and the organization of each state's government as defined in its own constitution. The rule preventing federal courts from deciding such ca…
As a noun, a proprietor or owner; one who has the exclusive title to a thing; one who possesses or holds the title to a thing in his or her own right; one who possesses the dominion or ownership of a thing in his or her own right. As an adjective, belonging to ownership; owned by a particular person; belonging or pertaining to a proprietor; relating to a certain owner or proprietor. Proprietary re…
To divide proportionately. To adjust, share, or distribute something or some amount on a pro rata basis. …
An organized protest on the part of tenants in which they withhold the payment of consideration for the use or occupation of property from their landlord until their grievances are settled. A rent strike is ordinarily unlawful since a tenant who occupies leasehold premises has a legal obligation to pay rent. Even if a landlord does not make needed repairs or provide necessary services, a tenant or…
Although it is sometimes difficult to distinguish political trials from ordinary legal proceedings, political trials generally fall into one of four categories. The most familiar type of political trial is a partisan trial, which consists of criminal legal proceedings instituted by the government to solidify its power, extinguish its opposition, or flex its muscle. Such political trials, while tak…
To follow through; to commence and continue an action or judicial proceeding to its ultimate conclusion. To proceed against a defendant by charging that person with a crime and bringing him or her to trial. The state, on behalf of the people, generally prosecutes a defendant accused of a crime. …
The renunciation of a right, power, or privilege involves a total divestment thereof; the right, power, or privilege cannot be transferred to anyone else. For example, when an individual becomes a citizen of a new country, that individual must ordinarily renounce his or her citizenship in the old country. …
President Calvin Coolidge, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, and Secretary of State Frank Kellogg (all three standing), with representatives of the governments that ratified the Kellogg-Briand Pact, a formal renunciation of war. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS signatories and nonparty states, and against a signatory that had derogated its obligations under the treaty by going to war. …
One who prosecutes another for a crime in the name of the government. State and county governments employ prosecutors to represent their local communities in complaints against criminal defendants. On the federal level, the president appoints prosecutors to represent the United States in complaints against criminal defendants. Second, a prosecutor may not vindictively add charges because a defenda…
The process by which a court adopts the rules of a foreign jurisdiction with respect to any conflict of laws that arises. In some instances, the rules of the foreign state might refer the court back to the law of the forum where the case is being heard. The term renvoi also refers to the rules that, in a lawsuit by a nonresident upon a cause arising locally, the capacity to sue is determined by th…
A specified sum of money levied upon each person who votes. …
A document, notice, circular, advertisement, letter, or communication in written form or by radio or television that offers any security for sale, or confirms the sale of any security. …
The process of carrying out, through agreements and legal proceedings, a business plan for winding up the affairs of, or foreclosing a mortgage upon, the property of a corporation that has become insolvent. …
A scheme authorized by federal law and promulgated by the president whereby he or she alters the structure of federal agencies to promote government efficiency and economy through a transfer, consolidation, coordination, authorization, or abolition of functions. A reorganization plan must specify the reorganizations that the president deems to be necessary after making an investigation. A plan may…
A power that is conferred upon a donee to dispose of the donor's property by nominating and selecting one or more third-parties to receive it. The property may consist of tangible items like cars, boats, and household items, or it may consist of an intangible interest in property, such as the right to receive dividend income from stocks. No particular semantic formula is necessary for the c…
A practice whereby the jurors are asked individually whether they assented, and still assent, to the verdict; it consists of calling the name of each juror and requiring a declaration of his or her verdict before it is recorded. Polling can be accomplished by questioning the jurors individually or by ascertaining the fact of unanimous concurrence by general questions. Once concurrence has been det…
The act of offering one's self for hire to engage in sexual relations. purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, states began to encourage the arrest of prostitutes for such crimes as vagrancy and loitering. Congress passed the Mann Act in 1910, which criminalized interstate prostitution, and state legislatures made prost…
Compensation for an injury; redress for a wrong inflicted. The losing countries in a war often must pay damages to the victors for the economic harm that the losing countries inflicted during wartime. These damages are commonly called military reparations. The term reparation may also be applied to other situations where one party must pay for damages inflicted upon another party. The treaty requi…
The revocation of the law can either be done through an express repeal, whereby a statute specifically indicates that the former law shall be revoked and abrogated, or through an implied repeal, which arises when the later statute contains provisions that are so contrary or irreconcilable with those of the prior law that only one can remain in force. The repeal of a law differs from the amendment …
An arrangement whereby a person is safeguarded by law enforcement authorities in a location other than the person's home because his or her safety is seriously threatened. When a witness to a crime is intimidated not to testify because the alleged perpetrator or her associates have threatened physical violence against the witness or the witness's family, law enforcement authorities h…
Charles Pollock—a Massachusetts stockholder employed by the New York defendant, Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.—appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court after unsuccessfully suing the defendant in federal courts to prevent it from breaching its fiduciary duty by filing returns for and paying a federal income tax. The tax was levied upon the profits that the defendant earned, includ…
A protective order can limit the time and place where a deposition can be taken, restrict the inspection of documents in the possession of a party, or regulate or modify the enforcement of a judgment. …
Ralph Abernathy. BETTMANN/CORBIS buses by black passengers that led to the successful desegregation of local bus lines one year later. To build on this triumph, the pastors called a meeting of black leaders from ten southern states in January 1957 at an Atlanta church. This meeting marked the founding of the SCLC, which was devoted to the goal of furthering civil rights throughout the south…
The place where voters cast their ballots. Heads; individuals; persons singly considered. An objection to a particular juror is called a challenge to the poll, as distinguished from a challenge to the array or panel, which is opposition to the jury as an entity, based on a universal defect among the jurors. …
The extent of the reciprocal rights and duties between the protecting state and the protected state depends upon the terms of the treaty and the conditions under which other states have recognized the protectorate. Although it loses some of its independence, the protected state still exists as a state in international law and may avail itself of some of the rights of a state. Its diplomatic repres…
In most states and in the federal courts, a reply is permitted only when the defendant has specifically made a properly labeled counter-claim or when the court orders the plaintiff to file a formal response to an answer. …
The contamination of the air, water, or earth by harmful or potentially harmful substances. The U.S. environmental movement in the 1960s emerged from concerns that air, water, and soil were being polluted by harmful chemicals and other toxic substances. During the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, the mass production of goods created harmful wastes, much of which was dumped into riv…
A formal declaration whereby a person expresses a personal objection or disapproval of an act. A written statement, made by a notary, at the request of a holder of a bill or a note that describes the bill or note and declares that on a certain day the instrument was presented for, and refused, payment. A protest is generally made to save some right that would be waived unless a negative opinion wa…
An official or formal statement of facts or proceedings. To give an account of; to relate; to tell or convey information; the written statement of such an account. For example, one kind of report is the formal statement in writing made to a court by a master, a clerk, or a referee who has been appointed to inquire into a particular matter for the court. Sometimes the report of a public official is…
A title given to the principal clerk of a court.…
One who prepares a summary or gives an account. A court reporter is a person who records court proceedings as they take place and then later transcribes the account. A published volume of the decisions of a court or a group of courts. The National Reporter System, published by Thomson West, is the most comprehensive collection of the decisions of the appellate courts of the states and of the Unite…
A brief summary; the minutes of a meeting; the etiquette of diplomacy. Protocol refers to a summarized document or the minutes of a meeting that are initialed by the parties present to indicate the accuracy of the document or minutes. …
The taking back of an item that has been sold on credit and delivered to the purchaser because the payments have not been made on it. For example, if an individual fails to render prompt payments on a new car, the car might be subject to repossession by the finance company, which has extended the credit. …
The district into which a country has been divided; as, the province of Ontario in Canada. More loosely, a sphere of activity or a profession such as medicine or law. …
To exhibit or expose; to appear in the character of. When an item is represented, it is produced publicly. To represent an individual means to stand in his or her place, acting as his or her substitute or attorney. …
Temporary; not permanent. Tentative, contingent, preliminary. A provisional civil service appointment is a temporary position that fills a vacancy until a test can be properly administered and statutory requirements can be fulfilled to make a permanent appointment. …
Any action or conduct that can be turned into a statement of fact. For example, displaying a car with an odometer reading of ten miles constitutes a representation to a prospective buyer that the car has only been driven ten miles. The term representation is used in reference to any express or implied statement made by one of the parties to a contract to another, regarding a particular fact or cir…
The offense of willfully and knowingly having more than one wife or husband at the same time. The offense of willfully and knowingly entering into a second marriage while validly married to another individual is bigamy. …
A condition, stipulation, or limitation inserted in a document. A condition or a provision in a deed, lease, mortgage, or contract, the performance or non-performance of which affects the validity of the instrument. It generally begins with the word provided. A proviso clause in a statute excepts something from statutory requirements, qualifies the statute, or excludes some potential area of misin…
An individual who stands in the place of another. …
Conduct by which one induces another to do a particular deed; the act of inducing rage, anger, or resentment in another person that may cause that person to engage in an illegal act. …
A legal action in which one or a few members of a class sue on behalf of themselves and other members of the same class; a lawsuit brought by the stockholders of a corporation, on its behalf, for the enforcement of a corporate right. …
An instrument used to measure physiological responses in humans when they are questioned in order to determine if their answers are truthful. Also known as a "lie detector," the polygraph has a controversial history in U.S. law. First developed in the late nineteenth century, its modern incarnation is an electromechanical device that is attached to a subject's body during an i…
An act from which an injury results as a natural, direct, uninterrupted consequence and without which the injury would not have occurred. Proximate cause is the primary cause of an injury. It is not necessarily the closest cause in time or space nor the first event that sets in motion a sequence of events leading to an injury. Proximate cause produces particular, foreseeable consequences without t…
The suspension of the execution of the death penalty for a period of time. Reprieve is generally an act of clemency that is extended to a prisoner in order to give him or her an opportunity to find a means or reason for reducing the sentence imposed. The term reprieve is also used generally in reference to the withdrawal of any sentence for a period of time. …
A fraudulent investment plan in which the investments of later investors are used to pay earlier investors, giving the appearance that the investments of the initial participants dramatically increase in value in a short amount of time. A Ponzi scheme is a variation of illegal pyramid sales schemes. In a pyramid sales plan, a person pays a fee to become a distributor. Once the person becomes a dis…
A representative; an agent; a document appointing a representative. A proxy is a person who is designated by another to represent that individual at a meeting or before a public body. It also refers to the written authorization allowing one person to act on behalf of another. In corporate law, a proxy is the authority to vote stock. This authority is generally provided by the charter and bylaws of…
The notion of proportionality is important in reprisals. Any response from an aggrieved country must be proportional to the injury it sustained. For example, if an enemy uses an illegal weapon such as a chemical warhead, the concept of reprisal would permit the use of weapons that would "otherwise be unlawful in order to compel the enemy to cease its prior violation." In addition to …
Reference charts that aid in locating statutes, if the names by which they are commonly referred to are known. …
Historically known as the prudent or reasonable man rule, this standard does not mandate an individual to possess exceptional or uncanny investment skill. It requires only that a fiduciary exercise discretion and average intelligence in making investments that would be generally acceptable as sound. …
As a noun, the whole body politic, or the aggregate of the citizens of a state, nation, or municipality. The community at large, without reference to the geographical limits of any corporation like a city, town, or county; the people. As an adjective, open to all; notorious. Open to common use. Belonging to the people at large; relating to or affecting the whole people of a state, nation, or commu…
Richard Henry Dana achieved prominence as a lawyer and author, and for his knowledge of the sea. Dana was born August 1, 1815, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. A student at Harvard University, he interrupted his studies in 1834 and spent two years as a sailor. In 1836, he returned to Harvard, graduating in 1837. He subsequently received an honorary doctor of laws degree in 1866. acting as attorney for…
Kleindienst was born August 5, 1923, in Winslow, Arizona. He served in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946 and then attended college. He graduated from Harvard University in 1947 and received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1950. He was admitted to the Arizona bar in 1950 and entered practice with a law firm in Phoenix. In 1972, Mitchell agreed to resign as attorney general and to become the…
The representation in books, magazines, photographs, films, and other media of scenes of sexual behavior that are erotic or lewd and are designed to arouse sexual interest. The Supreme Court added requirements to the definition of obscenity in a 1966 case involving the English novel Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, more commonly known as Fanny Hill. In A Book Named "John Cleland's Mem…
Agencies endowed with governmental functions. Administrative agencies are continuing organizations, unaffected by changes in personnel. Ordinarily final actions of administrative officers or bodies within the scope of their authority are binding on their successors. All persons are equally eligible to hold an administrative office unless they are excluded by some constitutional or statutory disqua…
Direct proof of the fact or point in issue, as distinguished from circumstantial proof; proof that if believed, establishes the truth or falsity of a fact in issue and does not arise from a presumption. …
Those laws that have been duly enacted by a properly instituted and popularly recognized branch of government. …
Positivism has been criticized for its harshness. Some critics of positivism have argued that not every law enacted by a legislature should be accepted as legitimate and binding. For example, laws depriving African Americans and Native Americans of various rights have been passed by governments but later overturned as unjust or unconstitutional. Critics conclude that written law ceases to be legit…
Richard A. Posner. REUTERS NEWMEDIA INC./CORBIS double the national average of judicial opinions annually, Posner has continued to publish many articles and books that range across legal, social, and intellectual topics. During the 1970s, Posner became a leader of the Chicago School of antitrust theory. This was a group of scholars, (mostly associated with the University of Chicago) wh…
An agreement to perform a particular task to benefit the community at large that is financed by government funds. A public contract is a legally enforceable commitment of a party to undertake the work or improvement desired by a public authority. Public contracts are largely governed by the general law of contracts. Private individuals and corporations are held to stricter standards in their deali…
That form of government in which the administration of affairs is open to all the citizens. A political unit or "state," independent of its form of government. The word republic, derived from the Latin res publica, or "public thing," refers to a form of government where the citizens conduct their affairs for their own benefit rather than for the benefit of a ruler. Hist…
In the United States, the posse comitatus was an important institution on the western frontier, where it became known as the posse. At various times vigilante committees, often acting without legal standing, organized posses to capture wrongdoers. Such posses sharply warned first-time cattle rustlers, for instance, and usually hanged or shot second-time offenders. In 1876 a four-hundred-man posse …
An attorney appointed by a court or employed by the government to represent indigent defendants in criminal actions. …
Republicans depended upon the support of northern voters and courted the vote of emancipated slaves. The party fanned hostility by reminding northern voters of the South's disloyalty during the war. The Republicans were the dominant party in the United States from 1860 to 1931, and the party's base among southern whites began to grow in the 1950s, when political loyalties began to sh…
The reexecution or reestablishment by a testator of a will that he or she had once revoked. …
The rejection or refusal of a duty, relation, right, or privilege. Repudiation of a contract means a refusal to perform the duty or obligation owed to the other party. …
Inconsistent defenses or claims are permitted under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. …
A written agreement whereby a buyer assents to purchase for a sufficient consideration (the inducement to enter into an agreement) all the merchandise of a designated type that he or she might require for use in his or her own established business. Although the UCC does not explicitly make output and requirements agreements enforceable as contracts, the implication of validity is clear. The theore…
The U.S. Supreme Court has said that "there is no word more ambiguous in its meaning than possession" (National Safe Deposit Co. v. Stead, 232 U.S. 58, 34 S. Ct. 209, 58 L. Ed. 504 [1914]). Depending on how and when it is used, the term possession has a variety of possible meanings. As a result, possession, or lack of possession, is often the subject of controversy in civil cases inv…
A written demand; a formal request or requirement. The formal demand by one government upon another, or by the governor of one state upon the governor of another state, of the surrender of a fugitive from justice. The taking or seizure of property by government. …
A proceeding instituted to obtain or recover the actual possession of property, as distinguished from a proceeding that merely seeks to establish the plaintiff's title or ownership of property. For example, an eviction proceeding is a possessory action to regain control of the property from a tenant. …
[Latin, A thing.] An object, a subject matter, or a status against which legal proceedings have been instituted. …
A scientist examines the West Nile virus at a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lab in Fort Collins, Colorado. The CDC is the federal government's chief instrument for responding to public health emergencies; it also develops programs to prevent and control the spread of disease. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS The Public Health Service was first established by Act of July 16, 1798 (ch. 77, 1 S…
[Latin, Things done.] Secondhand statements considered trustworthy for the purpose of admission as evidence in a lawsuit when repeated by a witness because they were made spontaneously and concurrently with an event. In practice, cases involving res gestae were usually decided by applying some variation of these tests. In the 1959 case of Carroll v. Guffey, 20 Ill. App. 2d 470, 156 N.E.2d 267, an …
A variety of relief sought by a convicted criminal to have his or her sentence vacated, set aside, or corrected because such a sentence was based upon some violation of the U.S. Constitution. …
Anything affecting the rights, health, or finances of the public at large. Public interest is a common concern among citizens in the management and affairs of local, state, and national government. It does not mean mere curiosity but is a broad term that refers to the body politic and the public weal. A public utility is regulated in the public interest because private individuals rely on such a c…
To designate a written instrument, such as a check, with a time or date later than that at which it is really made. …
Land that is owned by the United States government. Public land refers to the public domain, unappropriated land belonging to the federal government that is subject to sale or other disposal under general laws and is not reserved for any particular governmental or public purpose. Much of this land was acquired early in the history of the United States as a result of purchases, wars, or treaties ma…
An infant who is born subsequent to the death of the father or, in certain cases, the mother. …
A general classification of law concerned with the political and sovereign capacity of a state. Public law refers to an act that applies to the public at large, as opposed to a private law that concerns private individual rights, duties, and liabilities. Public law is the citation given to the original form of federal and some state laws. For example, the citation for the Economic Recovery Tax Act…
A business can raise capital for its enterprise through the sale of securities, which include stocks, bonds, notes, debentures, or other documents that represent a share in the company or a debt owed by the company. When a company proceeds to issue the securities, it is called an offering. There are two types of offering: private and public. A private offering is made to a limited number of person…
A principle that no person or government official can legally perform an act that tends to injure the public. Public policy manifests the common sense and common conscience of the citizens as a whole that extends throughout the state and is applied to matters of public health, safety, and welfare. It is general, well-settled public opinion relating to the duties of citizens to their fellow citizen…
[Latin, A thing adjudged.] A rule that a final judgment on the merits by a court having jurisdiction is conclusive between the parties to a suit as to all matters that were litigated or that could have been litigated in that suit. The U.S. legal system places a high value on allowing a party to litigate a civil lawsuit for money damages only once. U.S. courts employ the rule of res judicata to pre…
Postmarital agreements, also called postnuptial agreements, are agreements made between spouses while they are married. Postmarital agreements concern the rights and responsibilities of each spouse in the event that the other spouse dies or the couple divorces. All states allow postmarital agreements, but courts must review these agreements for procedural and substantive fairness before they can b…
Businesses that provide the public with necessities, such as water, electricity, natural gas, and telephone and telegraph communication. A public utility is a business that furnishes an everyday necessity to the public at large. Public utilities provide water, electricity, natural gas, telephone service, and other essentials. Utilities may be publicly or privately owned, but most are operated as p…
To declare a contract void—of no legal force or binding effect—from its inception and thereby restore the parties to the positions they would have occupied had no contract ever been made. …
Making something known to the community at large, exhibiting, displaying, disclosing, or revealing. Publication is the act of offering something for the general public to inspect or scrutinize. It means to convey knowledge or give notice. Publication of a will refers to the testator's informing the witnesses to the document of his or her intent to have the instrument operate as a will. …
To circulate, distribute, or print information for the public at large. The meaning of the term publish differs according to the context in which it is used. In its broadest sense, the term publishing describes the act of making something known to the general public. A publication can be accomplished by speaking in a public place, printing information on paper and distributing it on the street, bu…
A clause in a will or trust that provides that, upon the death of the creator of the trust, his or her money or property will be transferred into some other existing trust. …
The abrogation of a contract, effective from its inception, thereby restoring the parties to the positions they would have occupied if no contract had ever been formed. Mere inadequacy of consideration is not a sufficient reason to justify rescission. When the consideration is so inadequate that it shocks the conscience of the court or is so closely connected with suspicious circumstances or misre…
The crime of forcibly and knowingly freeing another from arrest, imprisonment, or legal custody. The crime of rescue has four elements. First, the arrest of a prisoner must be lawful. Second, the prisoner must be in actual custody, that is, in the personal custody of an officer or in a prison or jail. Third, at common law and under some statutes, the rescue must be forcibly made. Fourth, the priso…
The body of law relating to the publication of books, magazines, newspapers, electronic materials, and other artistic works. Publishers may be held liable for omissions, mistakes, and transgressions of their authors, as well as their own omissions, mistakes, and transgressions. One of the first and foremost concerns of publishers is copyright and trademark issues. Publishers should conduct thoroug…
Funds set aside to cover future expenses, losses, or claims. To retain; to keep in store for future or special use; to postpone to a future time. A legal reserve is a monetary account required by law to be established by insurance companies and banks as protection against losses. A trial court reserves a point of law by setting it aside for future consideration and allowing the trial to proceed as…
Many of Butler's later views were shaped by his frontier childhood. Butler was born on St. Pierce Butler. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Patrick's Day, March 17, 1866, in a log cabin in Dakota County, Minnesota. His parents had emigrated from County Wicklow, Ireland, to escape the potato famine of 1848, and eventually established their farm only a few miles from Carleton College, in Nort…
The right, ability, or authority to perform an act. An ability to generate a change in a particular legal relationship by doing or not doing a certain act. …
Personal presence at some place of abode. Although the domicile and residence of a person are usually in the same place, and the two terms are frequently used as if they have the same meaning, they are not synonymous. A person can have two places of residence, such as one in the city and one in the country, but only one domicile. Residence means living in a particular locality, but domicile means …
A written document in which one person (the principal) appoints another person to act as an agent on his or her behalf, thus conferring authority on the agent to perform certain acts or functions on behalf of the principal. A sample document granting power of attorney Powers of attorney are routinely granted to allow the agent to take care of a variety of transactions for the principal…
A clause commonly inserted in a mortgage and deed of trust that grants the creditor or trustee the right and authority, upon default in the payment of the debt, to advertise and sell the property at public auction, without resorting to a court for authorization to do so. Once the creditor is paid out of the net proceeds, the property is transferred by deed to the purchaser, and the surplus, if any…
A future interest in real property whereby the grantor conveys an estate to another, called the grantee, subject to a particular condition, the breach of which forfeits the grantee's interest in the property. For example, A, owner of Blackacre, might convey the land "To B, but if liquor is sold on the premises, then A may reenter and repossess." A has the power to terminate th…
The legal relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States has been described in a number of ways, ranging from "colonial possession" to "dual sovereigns." Technically speaking, Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States, subject to the plenary power of Congress. At the same time, however, Puerto Rico is a commonwealth with its own constitution, bicameral leg…
A duration of stay required by state and local laws that entitles a person to the legal protection and benefits provided by applicable statutes. There are two types of residency requirements. A bona fide residency requirement asks a person to establish that she actually lives at a certain location and usually is demonstrated by the address listed on a driver's license, a voter registration …
Repeated or customary action; habitual performance; a succession of acts of similar kind; custom; usage. The exercise of any profession. …
An opinion or judgment that is not made as a representation of fact. Puffing is generally an expression or exaggeration made by a salesperson or found in an advertisement that concerns the quality of goods offered for sale. It presents opinions rather than facts and is usually not considered a legally binding promise. Such statements as "this car is in good shape" and "your wi…
A provision in a will that disposes of property not expressly disposed of by other provisions of the will. …
In 1859, 28-year-old George M. Pullman, an ambitious entrepreneur who had moved from New York to Chicago, found success as a building contractor. When a new sewage system was installed that necessitated the raising of downtown buildings by ten feet, he ran a business where he oversaw large teams of men working with huge jacks to raise the buildings. Pullman quickly became wealthy. Continuing his p…
That which remains after any process of separation or deduction; a balance; that which remains of a decedent's estate after debts have been paid and gifts deducted. …
The professional tasks performed by lawyers in their offices or in court on a day-to-day basis. With the growth of specialization, it has become difficult to generalize about the practice of law. Nevertheless, common elements can be identified in the disparate typical workday of, for example, a criminal defense attorney and a probate attorney. The practice of law depends on lawyers having clients.…
The official expression of the opinion or will of a legislative body. In all legislative bodies, the process leading to a resolution begins with a lawmaker making a formal proposal called a motion. The rules of the legislative body determine how much support must be given to the motion before it can be put to a general vote. The rules also specify what number of votes the resolution must attract t…
[Latin, Give an order.] An original writ, one of the forms of legal process used to commence an action. A praecipe was drawn up in the alternative and commanded the defendant to do what was ordered or to appear and show why he or she had not done it. An order that commands the clerk of a court to issue a formal writ of execution directing the enforcement of a judgment already rendered and commandi…
In addition, the term prayer is applied to that segment of the bill that contains this request. …
The imposition of hardship in response to misconduct. Until the nineteenth century, corporal punishment in England could consist of whipping, branding, or the cutting off of a body part. Noses, ears, hands, fingers, toes, and feet were all subject to removal for criminal acts. Often the body part sliced off was the part thought responsible for the act. A pickpocket, for example, might have a hand …
[Latin, Let the master answer.] A common-law doctrine that makes an employer liable for the actions of an employee when the actions take place within the scope of employment. The common-law doctrine of respondeat superior was established in seventeenth-century England to define the legal liability of an employer for the actions of an employee. The doctrine was adopted in the United States and has …
A clause at the beginning of a constitution or statute explaining the reasons for its enactment and the objectives it seeks to attain. Generally a preamble is a declaration by the legislature of the reasons for the passage of the statute, and it aids in the interpretation of any ambiguities within the statute to which it is prefixed. It has been held, however, that a preamble is not an essential p…
Words in a will or a trust used by the testator (the person making the will) or settlor (the person making a trust) to express a wish or desire to have his or her property disposed of in a certain way or to have some other task undertaken, which do not necessarily impose a mandatory obligation upon anyone to carry out the wish. Precatory language in a will or trust usually includes such terms as t…
A formal declaration by a party in reply to a prior declaration by an opponent. The distinguishing feature of a responsive pleading is that it replies to the merits of the allegations raised by an opposing party. By contrast, parties may choose to ignore the substance of an opponent's pleading and ask the court to dismiss the lawsuit on some other grounds, such as the court's lack of…
Reliance upon precedent also promotes the expectation that the law is just. The idea that like cases should be treated alike is anchored in the assumption that one person is the legal equal of any other. Thus, persons in similar situations should not be treated differently except for legally relevant and clearly justifiable reasons. Precedent promotes judicial restraint and limits a judge's…
Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, may be awarded by the trier of fact (a jury or a judge, if a jury trial was waived) in addition to actual damages, which compensate a plaintiff for the losses suffered due …
To cease motion, exertion, or labor. In a lawsuit, a party is said to "rest," or "rest her case," when that party indicates that she has produced all the evidence that she intends to offer at that stage and submits the case either finally, or subject to the right to offer rebutting evidence after her opponent has introduced her evidence. …
An order, writ, warrant, or process. An order or direction, emanating from authority, to an officer or body of officers, commanding that officer or those officers to do some act within the scope of their powers. Rule imposing a standard of conduct or action. In old French law, a kind of letters issued by the king in subversion of the laws, being orders to the judges to do or tolerate things contra…
A series of volumes regarded as an authoritative work of legal scholarship prepared by the authors, scholars, and members of the judiciary who comprise the American Law Institute (ALI), which presents a survey of a general area of the law and the changes that have occurred therein. The first series of restatements were produced from 1923 to 1944. In 1951, the ALI began working on a second series, …
A constable's or police district. A small geographical unit of government. An election district created for convenient localization of polling places. A county or municipal subdivision for casting and counting votes in elections. …
A security device entered into when the seller of property, as opposed to a bank or financial institution, advances a sum of money or credit to the purchaser in return for holding the mortgage on the property. The seller of the property, rather than a lending institution, is the mortgagee. These mortgages are given concurrently with the conveyance of the land or the transfer of the items sold. …
The general term restitution describes the act of restoration. The term is used in different areas of the law but carries the same meaning throughout. In criminal law restitution is a regular feature in the sentences of criminal defendants. Restitution in the criminal arena refers to an affirmative performance by the defendant that A group of juvenile offenders provide restitution by repaintin…
A court sanction that prevents a party who has not complied with a direction to supply information in the discovery stage of a lawsuit from later supporting or challenging designated claims or defenses related to the facts that he or she withheld. Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure governs the granting of preclusion orders in actions brought in federal courts. …
A document authorizing a seller to deliver goods, with payment to be made at a later date. A purchase order is a written authorization requesting a vendor to furnish goods to a purchaser. It is an offer from the purchaser to buy certain articles. The offer is accepted by the seller when she supplies the requested items. A contract is formed and the seller can expect payment in return for the deliv…
The U.S. criminal justice system historically has employed two models for dealing with crime and criminals. The retribution model emphasizes deterrence and punishment through the adversarial criminal justice process, and the rehabilitation model emphasizes the need for society to assist criminals in changing their attitudes and behavior. Since the 1970s, however, a third model, called restorative …
A doctrine of state law that holds that a state law displaces a local law or regulation that is in the same field and is in conflict or inconsistent with the state law. Article VI, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution provides that the "… Constitution, and the Laws of the United States … shall be the supreme Law of the Land." This Supremacy Clause has come to mean that t…
Dr. Harvey W. Wiley was instrumental in the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which was subsequently amended in 1912, 1913, and 1919. The act defined adulterated food as that which is combined or packaged with another substance that adversely affects the quality or strength of the food; is substituted in whole or part by another substance; has had any essential component removed in whole or p…
The privilege of a stockholder to maintain a proportionate share of the ownership of a corporation by purchasing a proportionate share of any new stock issues. …
A court submits a request for a restraining order to one of several tests. These tests vary slightly across different jurisdictions, but generally they involve the analysis of four separate factors: (1) whether the moving party will suffer irreparable injury if the relief is not granted; (2) whether the moving party is likely to succeed on the merits of the case; (3) whether the opposing party wil…
Nixon was born January 9, 1913, in Yorba Linda, California, the second of five sons of Francis A. Nixon and Hannah Milhous Nixon. His father had grown up on a farm in Ohio and arrived in California in 1907. He worked as a trolley car motorman in Whittier, where he met Hannah Milhous. They were married in 1908. In 1922 they bought the grocery store and gas station where Nixon grew up. Nixon was a d…
The act of an insolvent debtor who pays one or more creditors the full amount of their claims or a larger amount than they would be entitled to receive on a pro rata distribution. For example, a debtor owes three creditors $5,000 each. All three are equally entitled to payment, but the debtor has only $12,000 in assets. Instead of paying each creditor $4,000, the debtor pays two creditors in full …
To exonerate someone; to clear someone of guilt, charges, or accusations. …
Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. The earnings of a corporation are applied to this payment before common stockholders receive dividends. If corporate earnings are insu…
To convey, imply, or profess; to have an appearance or effect. The purport of an instrument generally refers to its facial appearance or import, as distinguished from the tenor of an instrument, which means an exact copy or duplicate. …
A forejudgment; bias; partiality; preconceived opinion. A leaning toward one side of a cause for some reason other than a conviction of its justice. A juror can be disqualified from a case for being prejudiced, if his or her views on a subject or attitude toward a party will unduly influence the final decision. A decision resulting in prejudicial error substantially affects an appellant's l…
According to a prescribed method or some authority. To follow after or follow out; to execute or carry out by reason of something. To do an act pursuant to the law is to conform to the requirements of a statute. …
A provision in a deed limiting the use of the property and prohibiting certain uses. A clause in contracts of partnership and employment prohibiting a contracting party from engaging in similar employment for a specified period of time within a certain geographical area. Land developers typically use restrictive covenants when they subdivide property for residential developments. A land developer,…
A particular major is not important to a law school admissions committee, but good grades are critical for acceptance. In addition, admissions committees seek a diverse first-year class and may look at volunteer and extracurricular activities as well as a college transcript and the results of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Law schools have no prerequisite courses for admission. However, col…
The part of a statute or a law that delineates its purpose and scope. Purview refers to the enacting part of a statute. It generally begins with the words be it enacted and continues as far as the repealing clause. The purview is distinguished from other parts of a statute, such as the title, preamble, and savings clauses. …
The act of a payee or other holder of an instrument, such as a check, that consists of signing his or her name upon the back of the instrument in order to transfer it to another and wording the signature in such a manner as to bar the further negotiability of the instrument. For example, the phrases Pay the contents to A only, or to A for my use, are restrictive indorsements and terminate the tran…
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Gerstein v. Pugh, 420 U.S. 103, 95 S. Ct. 854, 43 L. Ed. 2d 54 (1975), mandated that persons arrested without a warrant and held by the police must be given a preliminary hearing to determine if there is probable cause. Probable cause means that a reasonable ground exists for belief in the facts, and the hearing examines whether a prudent person would believe that the su…
An option—a right that operates as a continuing proposal—given in exchange for consideration—something of value—permitting its holder to sell a particular stock or commodity at a fixed price for a stated quantity and within a limited time period. A put is purchased for a fee paid to the person who agrees to accept the stock or goods if they are offered. The purchaser of…
An arrangement whereby one person holds property for the benefit of another, which is implied by a court in certain cases where a person transfers property to another and gives him or her legal title to it but does not intend him or her to have an equitable or beneficial interest in the property. Since this beneficial interest is not given to anyone else, it is said to "result" to th…
A temporary order made by a court at the request of one party that prevents the other party from pursuing a particular course of conduct until the conclusion of a trial on the merits. A sample motion for preliminary injunction …
Alleged; supposed; reputed. A putative father is the individual who is alleged to be the father of an illegitimate child. …
A contract between attorney and client specifying the nature of the services to be rendered and the cost of the services. Retainer also denotes the fee that the client pays when employing an attorney to act on her behalf. When a client retains an attorney to act for her, the client thereby prevents the attorney from acting for an adversary. A right to retainer refers to the authority by which the …
The act of a landlord in ejecting or attempting to eject a tenant from the rented premises, or in refusing to renew a lease, because of the tenant's complaints or participation in a tenant's union or in similar activities with which the landlord is not in accord. In some states, such retaliation will bar the landlord from enforcing normal eviction remedies against the tenant. …
A contract made in anticipation of marriage that specifies the rights and obligations of the parties. Such an agreement typically includes terms for property distribution in the event the marriage terminates. A premarital agreement, also known as a prenuptial or antenuptial agreement, is a contract between two persons who intend to marry. All states recognize premarital agreements through statutes…
[Latin, Considered as; in the character or capacity of.] For example, "the trustee qua trustee [that is, in his or her role as trustee] is not liable." …
The typical methods of retorsion are the use of comparably severe measures against citizens of the foreign nation found within the borders of the retaliating nation. …
To think of an act beforehand; to contrive and design; to plot or lay plans for the execution of a purpose. Premeditation refers to the decision to plan to commit a crime, generally murder. A premeditated murder is thought out beforehand, but no specific length of time is needed for premeditation. …
A particular attribute, quality, property, or possession that an individual must have in order to be eligible to fill an office or perform a public duty or function. For example, attaining the age of majority is a qualification that must be met before an individual has the capacity to enter into a contract. The term qualification also refers to a limitation or restriction that narrows the scope of…
A reward for an act done. A bounty or bonus; a consideration given to invite a loan or a bargain, as the consideration paid to the assignor by the assignee of a lease, or to the transferer by the transferee of shares of stock, etc. In granting a lease, part of the rent is sometimes capitalized and paid in a lump sum at the time the lease is granted. This is called a premium. The sum paid or agreed…
In contract law, an assent to an offer that is either conditional or partial and alters the offer by changing the time, amount, mode, or place of payment. In order for a contract to be valid, an acceptance of an offer must not be subject to any conditions; therefore, a qualified acceptance is tantamount to a counteroffer. …
[Latin, Back; backward; behind.] A prefix used to designate a prior condition or time. …
A standard of proof that must be met by a plaintiff if he or she is to win a civil action. The quantum of evidence that constitutes a preponderance cannot be reduced to a simple formula. A preponderance of evidence has been described as just enough evidence to make it more likely than not that the fact the claimant seeks to prove is true. It is difficult to translate this definition and apply it t…
Having reference to things that happened in the past, prior to the occurrence of the act in question. A retroactive or retrospective law is one that takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing laws, creates new obligations, imposes new duties, or attaches a new and different legal effect to transactions or considerations already past. Common-law principles do not favor the retroact…
The term prerogative is occasionally used by writers of law to refer to the object over which royal powers are exercised, such as fiscal prerogatives, which are the revenues of the king or queen. …
[Latin, As much as is deserved.] In the law of contracts, a doctrine by which the law infers a promise to pay a reasonable amount for labor and materials furnished, even in the absence of a specific legally enforceable agreement between the parties. A party who performs a valuable service for another party usually enters into a written contract or agreement before performing the service, particula…
The official report made by a court, body of magistrates, or other official board charged with counting votes cast in an election. The redelivery of a writ, notice, or other form of legal process to the court after its proper service on the defendant or after it cannot be served. For example, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure require a plaintiff to begin an action in federal court by preparing …
Formerly a court order issued under certain circumstances on the authority of the extraordinary powers of the monarch. …
The day on which votes are counted and the election results announced. The day named in a writ or other form of legal process as the date when the response to that paper must be made. The day on which an officer, such as a U.S. marshal, must file proof with the court that he or she has served legal process on a defendant or that he or she cannot serve the papers. The statement is made under oath a…
A method of acquiring a nonpossessory interest in land through the long, continuous use of the land. …
[Latin, Wherefore; for what reason; on what account.] The introductory term used in the Latin form of a number of common-law writs at the beginning of the statement of the reason for the dispute. Quare is more commonly used in its English form, query. …
Public revenues are the sources of income that a government collects and receives into its treasury and appropriates for the payment of its expenses. …
To submit for consideration or action. Immediate, not in the future. Present ability refers to a person's immediate capacity to do an act. A present conveyance is made with the intention that it take effect at once. …
To overthrow; to annul; to make void or declare invalid; e.g., "quash a subpoena." Unreasonable, obviously irregular, or oppressive subpoenas, injunctions, indictments, and orders can be quashed by a court. For example, if jurors have been selected improperly, the court can quash the proceedings. In criminal cases, if an indictment is defective to such a degree that no judgment could…
To overthrow, invalidate, repeal, or revoke. For example, an appeals court reverses the judgment, decree, or sentence of a lower court either by substituting its own decision or by returning the case to the lower court with instructions for a new trial. …
The presentence investigation generally consists of an interview with the defendant, a review of his or her criminal record, and a review of the specific facts of the crime. The probation or court services department prepares a report that contains all of this information and makes a recommendation to the court about the type and severity of the sentence. The court always makes the final decision …
[Latin, Almost as it were; as if; analogous to.] In the legal sense, the term denotes that one subject has certain characteristics in common with another subject but that intrinsic and material differences exist between them. …
Any future interest kept by a person who transfers property to another. A reversion occurs when a property owner makes an effective transfer of property to another but retains some future right to the property. For example, if Sara transfers a piece of property to Shane for life, Shane has the use of the property for the rest of his life. Upon his death, the property reverts, or goes back, to Sara…
A quasi contract is a contract that exists by order of a court, not by agreement of the parties. Courts create quasi contracts to avoid the unjust enrichment of a party in a dispute over payment for a good or service. In some cases a party who has suffered a loss in a business relationship may not be able to recover for the loss without evidence of a contract or some legally recognized agreement. …
A contingent future interest in real property that a grantor of a determinable fee possesses after he or she has conveyed property. The possibility of reverter arises when the grantor of real property has conveyed land subject to the possibility that the estate will return to her or to her heirs if a certain specified limitation occurs. For example, if A, owner of Black-acre in fee simple, makes t…
The present instrument. The phrase these presents is used in any legal document to designate the instrument in which the phrase itself occurs. …
Both in rem and quasi in rem jurisdiction are based on the presence of the party's property within the court's territorial authority. In each instance the court may exercise jurisdiction without the actual presence of the party in court. The distinction between the two types of jurisdiction involves the nature of the dispute to which each applies and the extent of the authority each …
To reexamine judicially or administratively; a judicial reconsideration for purposes of correction, for example, the examination of a case by an appellate court. …
The action taken and discretion exercised by public administrative agencies or bodies that are obliged to investigate or ascertain facts and draw conclusions from them as the foundation for official actions. Complaints against administrative agencies often arise when an agent denies benefits or places restrictions on an individual. For example, a homeowner who seeks to build another structure on h…
A body of statutes that have been revised, collected, arranged in order, and reenacted as a whole. The legal title of the collection of compiled laws of the United States, as well as some of the individual states. …
The capacity in which a public administrative agency or body acts when it makes rules and regulations. Administrative agency rules are made only with the permission of elected lawmakers, and elected lawmakers may strike down an administrative rule or even eliminate an agency. In this sense quasi-legislative activity occurs at the discretion of elected officials. Nevertheless, administrative agenci…
The official seal of the office of the president of the United States. ARCHIVE PHOTOS, INC. can end a war through a treaty or a presidential proclamation. The power to declare war, however, is vested exclusively in Congress and not the president. In a situation of an undeclared war, under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C.A. §§ 1541 et seq.) the president must consul…
To renew.…
An issue that involves the resolution of a factual dispute or controversy and is within the sphere of the decisions to be made by a jury. A question of fact is a factual dispute between litigants that must be resolved by the jury at trial. It is an issue that is material to the outcome of the case and requires an interpretation of conflicting views on the factual circumstances surrounding the case…
The recall of some power or authority that has been granted. A revocation by operation of law or constructive revocation occurs without regard to the intention of the parties. A power of attorney, therefore, is ordinarily revoked automatically by operation of law upon the death of the principal. …
An issue that is within the province of the judge, as opposed to the jury, because it involves the application or interpretation of legal principles or statutes. On appeal, the trial court's ruling on a question of law generally receives closer scrutiny than a jury's findings of fact. Being present at the trial, the fact finder is in a better position than the appeals court to evalua…
To annul or make void by recalling or taking back; to cancel, rescind, repeal, or reverse. …
A sudden, tumultuous, and radical transformation of an entire system of government, including its legal and political components. In many instances, revolutions encompass society as a whole, bringing fundamental change to a culture's economic, religious, and institutional framework. Fundamental change that is incrementally wrought over time is more properly considered evolutionary rather th…
Civil actions maintained by private persons on behalf of both themselves and the government to recover damages or to enforce penalties available under a statute prohibiting specified conduct. The term qui tam is short for the Latin qui tam pro domino rege quam pro se ipso in hac parte sequitur, which means "who brings the action for the king as well as for himself." Qui tam actions a…
A type of credit arrangement that permits a buyer or a borrower to purchase merchandise or obtain loans on a continuing basis as long as the outstanding balance of the account does not exceed a certain limit. Revolving charge agreements are usually made in connection with the use of a bank or a department store credit card. The term revolving charge is used interchangeably with the term revolving …
Personal property that is readily marketable. Quick assets are items, such as jewelry, that can be easily converted to cash for immediate use. …
[Latin, What for what or Something for something.] The mutual consideration that passes between two parties to a contractual agreement, thereby rendering the agreement valid and binding. In common usage, quid pro quo refers to the giving of one valuable thing for another. Quid pro quo has the same meaning in the law but with varying implications in different contexts. Quid pro quo, or the exchange…
A sum of money or other compensation offered to the public in general, or to a class of persons, for the performance of a special service. It is commonplace for the police to offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an offender or for a pet owner to post notices in a neighborhood offering a reward for the return of a lost dog or cat. In legal terms, the person promisi…
Quiet enjoyment is a right to the undisturbed use and enjoyment of real property by a tenant or landowner. The right to quiet enjoyment is contained in covenants concerning real estate. Generally a covenant is an agreement between two parties to do or refrain from doing something. Other rights related to quiet enjoyment may be tailored to specific situations. For example, at least one court has fo…
[Latin, The king.] The phrase used to designate the king as the party prosecuting an accused in a criminal action, such as an action entitled Rex v. Doe. …
A proceeding to establish an individual's right to ownership of real property against one or more adverse claimants. An action to quiet title is a lawsuit filed to establish ownership of real property (land and buildings affixed to land). The plaintiff in a quiet title action seeks a court order that prevents the respondent from making any subsequent claim to the property. Quiet title actio…
The executive authority given to the president of the United States by Article II of the Constitution to carry out the duties of the office. Article II gives the president authority to recommend measures for congressional consideration. Pursuant to this authority, presidents submit budgets, propose bills, and recommend other action to be taken by Congress. …
If certain facts are established, a judge or jury must assume another fact that the law recognizes as a logical conclusion from the proof that has been introduced. A presumption differs from an inference, which is a conclusion that a judge or jury may draw from the proof of certain facts if such facts would lead a reasonable person of average intelligence to reach the same conclusion. A conclusive…
A principle that requires the government to prove the guilt of a criminal defendant and relieves the defendant of any burden to prove his or her innocence. The Supreme Court has ruled that, under some circumstances, a court should issue jury instructions on the presumption of innocence in addition to instructions on the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt (Taylor v. Kentucky). A presump…
To vacate; remove from; surrender possession. When a tenant leaves premises that he or she has been renting, the tenant is said to quit such premises. A notice to quit is written notification given by a landlord to a tenant that indicates that the landlord wants to repossess the premises and that the tenant must vacate them at a certain designated time. …
A schedule or writing annexed to a document such as a legislative bill or insurance policy. A rider is an attachment, schedule, amendment, or other writing that is annexed (added) to a document in order to modify it. The changes may be small or large, but in either case the primary purpose of the rider is to avoid rewriting or redrafting the document entirely. The language of the rider is understo…
A child or other descendent omitted from the will of a testator. Modern laws concerning the inheritance of property attempt to protect the rightful heirs. A pretermitted heir is a child or descendant of the testator—the maker of a will—who has unintentionally been omitted from the will. States have enacted "pretermitted heir statutes" that protect these heirs. A preterm…
An instrument of conveyance of real property that passes any title, claim, or interest that the grantor has in the premises but does not make any representations as to the validity of such title. A quitclaim deed is a release by the grantor, or conveyor of the deed, of any interest the grantor may have in the property described in the deed. Generally a quitclaim deed relieves the grantor of liabil…
A meeting of the parties to an action and their attorneys held before the court prior to the commencement of actual courtroom proceedings. A pretrial conference is a meeting of the parties to a case conducted prior to trial. The conference is held before the trial judge or a magistrate, a judicial officer who possesses fewer judicial powers than a judge. A pretrial conference may be held prior to …
[Latin, With what intention or motive.] A term sometimes used instead of the word animus, which means design or motive. …
Each legal right that an individual possesses relates to a corresponding legal duty imposed on another. For example, when a person owns a home and property, he has the right to possess and enjoy it free from the interference of others, who are under a corresponding duty not to interfere with the owner's rights by trespassing on the property or breaking into the home. Political rights entail…
A legal proceeding during which an individual's right to hold an office or governmental privilege is challenged. In old English practice, the writ of quo warranto—an order issued by authority of the king—was one of the most ancient and important writs. It has not, however, been used for centuries, since the procedure and effect of the judgment were so impractical. Currently th…
The U.S. Supreme Court has grappled with the issue of pretrial publicity since the 1960s. In Irvin v. Dowd, 366 U.S. 717, 81 S. Ct. 1639, 6 L. Ed. 2d 751 (1961), the defendant, Leslie Irvin, was convicted of committing six murders in a rural area of Indiana. The crimes generated extensive media coverage. Irvin argued that the pretrial publicity prevented him from receiving a fair trial by an impar…
A majority of an entire body; e.g., a quorum of a legislative assembly. A quorum is the minimum number of people who must be present to pass a law, make a judgment, or conduct business. Quorum requirements typically are found in a court, legislative assembly, or corporation (where those attending might be directors or stockholders). In some cases, the law requires more people than a simple majorit…
The litigant who successfully brings or defends an action and, as a result, receives a favorable judgment or verdict. …
The prerogative of a surviving spouse to accept the provision the dead spouse made in the will or to disregard the will and claim the share specified by statute. At death spouses commonly leave money and property to their surviving husband or wife. This estate is granted in a formal legal document known as a will, established by the deceased person (the decedent). But a will is not the final word …
Acts of bias based on the race or ethnicity of the victim. …
A right, retained by the grantor at the time land is conveyed, to reenter and take possession of the land if a certain condition occurs or fails to occur. The right of reentry, also known as the power of termination, applies to a type of interest in land known as a fee simple subject to condition subsequent. The right of reentry means that the grantee must abide by the specified condition or the g…
The confinement in a secure facility of a person who has not been found guilty of a crime. Preventive detention is a special form of imprisonment. Most persons held in preventive detention are criminal defendants, but state and federal laws also authorize the preventive detention of persons who have not been accused of crimes, such as certain mentally ill persons. Preventive detention is a relativ…
In order for co-owners of property to realize the right of survivorship, the property must be owned in joint tenancy. Joint tenancy describes an ownership interest in property held by two or more people called tenants. The tenants acquire their ownership interest in the property in the same way and at the same time, and each holds an equal share. Joint tenancies are created by deed, will, or other…
Johnson's talents in constitutional law were demonstrated in the Dred Scott case. Dred Scott was an African–American slave from Missouri who had been transported to Minnesota, then a "free" (non-slaveholding) territory. Scott sued for his freedom, arguing that he was no longer a slave because he had resided in a free territory. Missouri law had established the principle…
Horizontal price-fixing involves agreements to set prices made among one particular class of sellers—such as producers, wholesalers, or retailers. Vertical price-fixing occurs between different categories of the sellers of products and services, such as between a manufacturer and wholesaler, wholesaler and distributor, or distributor and retailer. …
Railroads generally own the strip of land that their tracks cover, called a right of way. DAVID BUTOW/CORBIS SABA Right of way is also used to describe that strip of land upon which railroad companies construct their roadbed; in this context, the term refers to the land itself, not the right of passage over it. The term right of way also refers to a preference of one of two vehicles or vess…
A pre–Civil War case, Prigg v. Pennsylvania, 41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 539, 10 L. Ed. 1060 (1842), declared unconstitutional all fugitive slave laws enacted by the states on the ground that the federal law provided the exclusive remedy for the return of runaway slaves. Story claimed that the clause was a "fundamental article, without the adoption of which the Union could not have been formed…
The consideration of race, ethnicity, or national origin by an officer of the law in deciding when and how to intervene in an enforcement capacity. Police officers often profile certain types of individuals who are more likely to perpetrate crimes. Many of these suspects are profiled because of activities observed by police officers. For example, if someone who is obviously poor is frequently seen…
The Powell decision did not mandate the appointment of an attorney for all impoverished defendants. The Court in Powell merely held that due process requires the appointment of prepared counsel to indigent defendants in a case that involves the death penalty. Powell did, however, provide the basis for the requirement of free counsel for defendants faced with serious federal charges. In Gideon, def…
[Latin, On the first appearance.] A fact presumed to be true unless it is disproved. In common parlance the term prima facie is used to describe the apparent nature of something upon initial observation. In legal practice the term generally is used to describe two things: the presentation of sufficient evidence by a civil claimant to support the legal claim (a prima facie case), or a piece of evid…
Law, in various forms, that a court must follow in deciding a case. Primary authority mainly consists of statutes, decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, and all judicial decisions handed down by the same court or a higher court within the same judicial system. …
Right-to-work laws forbid unions and employers to enter into agreements requiring employees to join a union and pay dues and fees to it in order to get or keep a job. Twenty-one states, mostly in the South and West, have right-to-work laws. Although the act permits the union shop, section 14(b) allows the states to prohibit it. A union shop clause requires an employee to become a member of the uni…
An authentic document or item that is offered as proof in a lawsuit, as contrasted with a copy of, or substitute for, the original. Primary evidence, more commonly known as best evidence, is the best available substantiation of the existence of an object because it is the actual item. It differs from secondary evidence, which is a copy of, or substitute for, the original. If primary evidence is av…
Racketeering, as it is commonly understood, has always coexisted with business. In the United States, the term racketeer was synonymous with members of organized-crime operations. Organized crime continued to proliferate in the 1960s. After investigating and debating organized-crime legislation for approximately 20 years, beginning with Senate committee hearings conducted in 1951 by Tennessee Sena…
The lowest rate of interest that a financial institution, such as a bank, charges its best customers, usually large corporations, for short-term unsecured loans. The prime lending rate is an economic indicator and is often used as a measuring point for adjusting interest rates on other types of loans. The rate varies according to economic factors. …
A classification devised by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) in 1968 to designate certain films containing excessive violence or explicit sexuality. It was replaced in 1990 by the NC-17 rating (no one 17 and under admitted). The distinction between the R and the X rating was based on the overall sexual or violent content of a mo…
A principal in the first degree is the chief actor or perpetrator of a crime. A principal in the second degree must be present at the commission of the criminal act and aid, abet, or encourage the principal in his or her criminal activity. …
The idea of using rails for transportation was first conceived in the sixteenth century. The first railroads used wooden rails to guide horse-drawn wagons. In the eighteenth century, cast-iron wheels and rails were used in Europe and England, and by the nineteenth century, horses had been replaced by many steam-driven engines as the source of power. The first public railroad equipped for steam-pow…
A contractual relationship whereby one party—the surety—agrees to pay the principal's debt or perform his or her obligation in case of the principal's default. The principal is the debtor—the person who is obligated to a creditor. The surety is the accommodation party—a third person who becomes responsible for the payment of the obligation if the principal…
Congress first passed the Railroad Retirement Act in 1934 to reward the hard work done by railroad workers, recognize the national benefits conferred by railroad work, and encourage the retirement of older railroad workers. By offering the means for railroad workers "to enjoy the closing days of their lives with peace of mind and physical comfort," Congress intended to provide jobs t…
A principle provides a foundation for the development of other laws and regulations. …
A disturbance of the peace by several persons, assembled and acting with a common intent in executing a lawful or unlawful enterprise in a violent and turbulent manner. An unlawful assembly transpires when persons convene for a purpose that, if executed, would make them rioters, but who separate without performing any act in furtherance of their purpose. For example, when a restaurant owner refuse…
Statutes enacted in a number of states making it a misdemeanor to use representations that are untrue, deceptive, or misleading in advertisements. …
The rights, which belong to landowners through whose property a natural watercourse runs, to the benefit of such stream for all purposes to which it can be applied. Riparian water, as distinguished from flood water, is the water that is below the highest line of normal flow of the river or stream. …
Communications made by a witness before the time he or she takes the stand to testify in an action that contradict subsequent testimony given on the same exact facts. Prior inconsistent statements can be used in a lawsuit only to impeach (discredit) the trustworthiness of the witness' testimony. They cannot, however, be used to establish the truth of the matter they address. …
Government prohibition of speech in advance of publication. Though Hughes agreed that a rule against prior restraint was needed, he acknowledged that this restriction was not absolute. The rule would not, for example, prevent government in time of war from prohibiting publication of "the sailing dates of transports or the number and location of troops." Threats to national security i…
A public building used for the confinement of people convicted of serious crimes. Confinement in prison, also known as a penitentiary or correctional facility, is the punishment that courts most commonly impose for serious crimes, such as felonies. For lesser crimes, courts usually impose short-term incarceration in a jail, detention center, or similar facility. Confining criminals for long period…
A criminal offense defined in most states as forcible sexual relations with a person against that person's will. Rape is the commission of unlawful sexual intercourse or unlawful sexual intrusion. Rape laws in the United States have been revised over the years, and they vary from state to state. Historically, rape was defined as unlawful sexual intercourse with a woman against her will. The…
That which can be appraised, assessed, or adjusted through the application of a formula or percentage. Ratable property is that which is taxable or capable of being appraised or assessed. …
Value, measure, or degree; a charge, payment, or price determined through the application of a mathematical formula or based upon a scale or standard. For example, an interest rate is determined by the ratio between the principal and interest. Rate is also used synonymously with tax. …
The confirmation or adoption of an act that has already been performed. A principal can, for example, ratify something that has been done on his or her behalf by another individual who assumed the authority to act in the capacity of an agent. In addition, proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution must be ratified by three-quarters of the state legislatures or by conventions in three-quarters of…
[Latin, The ground or reason of decision.] The legal principle upon which the decision in a specific case is founded. The ratio decidendi is also known as the rationale for a decision. …
Courts employ various standards of review to assess whether legislative acts violate constitutionally protected interests. The U.S. Supreme Court has articulated the rational basis test for those cases where a plaintiff alleges that the legislature has made an arbitrary or irrational decision. When a court employs the rational basis test, it usually upholds the constitutionality of the law, becaus…
