courts and procedure

Definition

See knock-and-announce rule.

Definition

A Latin term meaning literally 'from [the] stronger'. Translated into English and used in the particular context of legal writing, the term often means 'from [the] stronger [argument]'. If a particular fact is true, then one can infer that a second fact is also true.

Definition

A calculation used to analyze a claim that a jury pool did not represent a fair cross-section of the community. Calculated by subtracting the percentage of a group in the jury pool from the percentage of that group in the general population.

Illustrative caselaw

See, e.g. Berghuis v. Smith, 130 S.Ct. 1382 (2010).

See also

• Jury of one's peers
• Venire

Definition

A Latin term meaning "from the beginning."  Used to indicate that some fact existed from the start of a relevant time period.

National Security Letters are administrative orders compel their recipients to provide information to federal investigators.  As authorized by the USA PATRIOT Act, the letters included gag orders that forebade recipients from discussing the letter's contents and instructions, the letters did not require a judge's authorization, and were subject to only limited judicial review. These letters were used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and possibly other federal agencies.

Some jurisdictions allow lenders to foreclose property without getting a court order first. This is called a non-judicial foreclosure.

Non-judicial foreclosure is only available for deeds of trust with power-of-sale clauses. They are not available for traditional mortgages.

When two or more parties are jointly and severally liable for a tortious act, each party is independently liable for the full extent of the injuries stemming from the tortious act. Thus, if a plaintiff wins a money judgment against the parties collectively, the plaintiff may collect the full value of the judgment from any one of them. That party may then seek contribution from the other wrong-doers.

Knock-and-announce rule: an overview

Under the common law knock-and-announce rule, a police officer executing a search warrant generally must not immediately force his or her way into a residence. Instead, he or she must first knock, identify himself or herself and his or her intent, and wait a reasonable amount of time for the occupants to let him or her into the residence.

Housing Courts are special courts used by many large cities to deal with disputes between landlords and tenants, cases involving housing code violations, and similar housing-related cases. Usually, these courts have special, abbreviated procedures. See Eviction.

Courts use mixed-motive jury instructions in many discrimination and improper retaliation cases. These instructions usually take the following form: "If the plaintiff shows that the defendant did something that hurt her, and the action was motivated by an impermissible reason, there is a presumption that the defendant's conduct was wrong. The defendant may rebut this presumption by showing that it would have taken the action regardless of its impermissible motive."