Abet refers to criminally assisting another person in the commission of a crime including planning a crime, escaping from a crime, or in the actual commission of the crime.
A party that abets commission of a crime can be...
statutory interpretation
act of God
An act of God refers to a severe, unanticipated natural event for which no human is responsible. Despite its facial religious connections, the usefulness of the term means “act of God” is frequently used in otherwise secular statutory and...
Administrative Procedure Act
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) is a federal act that governs the procedures of administrative law. The APA is codified in 5 U.S.C. §§ 551–559.
The core pieces of the act establish how federal administrative agencies...
adverse possession
Adverse possession is a doctrine under which a trespasser, in physical possession of land owned by someone else may acquire valid title to the property. The adverse possessor to meet state specific requirements and listed below are met, and...
aggravated
An aggravated crime or tort is one that is committed under circumstances that allow for increased punishments over what the crime/tort would usually receive. Circumstances necessary to raise a standard crime to the aggravated variant of that...
bill of attainder
A bill of attainder is a piece of legislation that declares a party is guilty of a crime. Bills of attainder allow the government to punish a party for a perceived crime without first going through the trial process.
In the...
blue law
Blue law is a colloquial term for state statute or ordinance that forbids or regulates entertainment and commercial activities (ex. sale of liquor) on Sundays or religious holidays. Blue laws can also be referred to as Sunday closing laws,...
Bush v. Gore (2000)
Bush v. Gore (2000) is the Supreme Court case regarding Florida’s recount of the presidential election ballots in the year 2000.
Petitioner, George W. Bush, won the 25 electoral votes in Florida (and thus the presidential...
case law
Case law is law that is based on judicial decisions rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law concerns unique disputes resolved by courts using the concrete facts of a case. By contrast, statutes and regulations are...
case of first impression
A case of first impression is a case that presents a legal issue that has never been decided by the governing jurisdiction. An example is the 1978 Supreme Court case Monell v. Department of Soc. Svcs. which decided whether local governments were...