courts and procedure

retrial

A retrial is a new trial of a case to re-examine some or all of the matters from the concluded trial. A party files a motion for a new trial, and a court may grant a retrial if there was a significant error of law, a verdict going against the...

retributivism

Retributivism is a theory of criminal punishment which states that wrongdoers should be punished for their wrongdoing proportionate to the severity of their crime rather than to deter future crime or to rehabilitate them. In other words,...

reversible error

A reversible error is an error in trial proceedings that affects a party’s rights so significantly that it is grounds for reversal if the affected party properly objected at trial. Contrast with harmless error. For example, in the criminal context, the...

review

Review is the judicial consideration of a lower court judgment by an appellate court, determining if the lower court’s opinion is based on legal errors, or in some cases serious factual errors, sufficient to require reversal. If not, the appellate...

revival

1) Revival is requesting a court to reinstate the force of a dormant judgment—i.e. a judgment that was issued and has since lapsed or expired. Also referred to as renewal of judgment in some jurisdictions. Many state statutes lay out how an...

right to confront witness

The right to confront a witness is one of the fundamental Constitutional rights that protects the citizens of the United States. The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution states that any criminal defendant suspected of committing...

right to privacy

Overview:

There is a long and evolving history regarding the right to privacy in the United States. In the context of American jurisprudence, the Supreme Court first recognized the “right to privacy” in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). Before...

riot

A riot is a public disturbance where three or more people behave in a violent and uncontrolled manner. A riot usually has the following characteristics:

made in furtherance of an express common purpose; through the use or threat of...

ripe

The doctrine of ripeness refers to the readiness of the current facts of a specific case. If the facts of a specific case have “ripened” - the judiciary may conduct adjudication of the substantial controversy of the case. Article III, Section...

rogatory letters

See letter of request and letters rogatory.

[Last updated in June of 2024 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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