wex definitions

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.

The common law distinguished between lost property and mislaid property. Lost property is personal property that was unintentionally left by its true owner. Mislaid property is personal property that was intentionally set down by its owner and then forgotten. For example, a wallet that falls out of someone's pocket is lost. A wallet accidentally left on a table in a restaurant is mislaid.

Abandoned property: an overview

Personal property left by an owner who intentionally relinquishes all rights to its control.  Real property may not be abandoned. See Adverse Possession.

At common law, a person who finds abandoned property may claim it.  To do so, the finder must take definite steps to show their claim.  For example, a finder might claim an abandoned piece of furniture by taking it to her house, or putting a sign on it indicating her ownership.

Piracy is when non-state actors commit war-like acts against ships. In the United States, piracy is governed by admiralty law. Piracy is prohibited by both United States and international law.

At present, prosecuting pirates presents several international law problems. For example, it is unclear whether and to what extent pirates should be treated differently from normal criminals.

See also Piracy (Intellectual Property).

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.

The Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the government from forcing witnesses to give self-incriminating testimony in criminal cases. Courts may evade this prohibition and force reluctant witnesses to testify by granting them immunity from prosecution. Once witnesses cannot be prosecuted for their testimony, courts may punish them if they refuse to testify.

Federal grants of immunity from prosecution do not bind the states.

A crime or tort is aggravated if the circumstances make it worse or more serious than it would otherwise be.  For example, assault may become "aggravated assault" if the defendant uses or brandishes a deadly weapon.  

An anticipatory search warrant is a warrant that is based on an affidavit that shows probable cause that evidence of a particular crime (such as forged checks) will be at a specified location at some time in the future.

See Search Warrants, Fourth Amendment.

A no-knock warrant is a search warrant authorizing police officers to enter certain premises without first knocking and announcing their presence or purpose prior to entering the premises. Such warrants are issued where an entry pursuant to the knock-and-announce rule (ie. an announcement prior to entry) would lead to the destruction of the objects for which the police are searching or would compromise the safety of the police or another individual.