government

abortion

Abortion is the voluntary termination of a pregnancy. In 2022, nearly 50 years after Roe v. Wade changed the legal status of abortion by striking down a Texas law that criminalized abortion except as a means of saving the life of the pregnant...

abrogate

To abrogate is to formally annul or repeal a law through an act of legislation, constitutional authority, or custom. For example, the Supreme Court of Michigan explained in Ferency v. Secretary of State that “an existing constitutional...

absentee ballot

An absentee ballot is a paper ballot submitted, before an election day and often by mail, by a voter who is unable to attend the official polling station on election day. It is also referred to as an absentee vote. Generally, such a vote is...

abstention

The abstention doctrine is an authority that precludes federal courts from hearing cases within its jurisdictions, instead, giving state courts authority over the case. The policy behind this doctrine is rooted in federalism, and the interest...

abstention doctrine

The abstention doctrine is an authority that precludes federal courts from hearing cases within its jurisdictions, instead, giving state courts authority over the case. The policy behind this doctrine is rooted in federalism, and the interest...

accord

Accord has three major definitions:

A harmonious agreement, especially between countries. An offer to substitute a different obligation for one that was previously owed, plus the acceptance of that offer. Either of the parties...

act

An act in the legal sense refers to either a voluntary bodily movement or a term for a body of law/proposed law.

In the criminal law context, an act is part of the concept of actus reus and, therefore, is a prerequisite to...

ad hoc

This phrases mean “for this purpose only.” Its literal translation from the Latin is “to this.”

Common examples are an ad hoc committee or an ad hoc commission created for a specific or one-time purpose to address issues that fall outside...

administrative agency

A government body authorized to implement legislative directives by developing more precise and technical rules than possible in a legislative setting. Many administrative agencies also have law enforcement responsibilities.

See...

administrative forfeiture

Administrative forfeiture is an in rem (against the property) action that allows the property to be forfeited to the United States without filing a case in federal court. The administrative forfeiture process occurs before the agency seizes...

Pages