In 1973, Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, changed the legal status of abortion by striking down a Texas law that criminalized abortion except as a means of saving the mother’s life. The case pitted individual privacy rights against...
constitutional law
abortion
Abortion: an overview
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 (method of casting a vote) that is submitted before an election day, often by mail, by a voter who is unable to attend the official polling station on election day. It is also sometimes called an absentee...
absolute disparity
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...
absolute privilege
Definition
Absolute privilege, in defamation law, refers to the fact that in certain circumstances, an individual is immune from liability for defamatory statements..
OverviewAbsolute privilege applies to statements made in certain contexts...
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...
accused
"Accused" is a person who has been arrested for or formally charged with a crime. It is a generic name for the defendant in a criminal case.
This case from Tennessee, explains that a person becomes "accused" for purposes of...
acquittal
An acquittal is a resolution of some or all of the factual elements of the offense charged. The trier of fact, whether the jury or the court, must render a verdict of finding not guilty of the charged offense. A not guilty finding is an...
administrative hearing
Administrative hearings are the proceedings conducted by administrative law judges (ALJ) for disputes involving the regulatory jurisdiction of an executive agency. Administrative hearings resemble judicial proceedings in many ways with there...
admit
Admit or admitting refers to a statement made by an individual to confirm the truthfulness of a claim. In criminal law, admitting to a fact also serves as a confession of guilt. Following Alexander v. State, an admission is an...