Mayhem, or to maim, is a felony at common law. Mayhem usually requires a general intent to maim or cause bodily harm accompanied by an unlawful act of physical force that either permanently dismembered the victim or disabled the use of some...
criminal law
McNaghten Rule
McNaghten Rule (more commonly spelled M’Naghten rule) was the first, and is still one of the four main tests jurisdictions use to determine whether a criminal defendant can claim insanity as a defense to a crime.
The test...
Megan's Law
Megan’s Law (Public Law 104-145) is the federal law that “require(s) the release of relevant information to protect the public from sexually violent offenders.” Megan’s Law was originally enacted in 1996, and is now included in the more expanded sexual...
mens rea
Mens rea refers to criminal intent. The literal translation from Latin is "guilty mind." The plural of mens rea is mentes reae. Mens rea is the state of mind statutorily required in order to convict a particular defendant of a particular...
mental competence
Mental competency refers to a person’s ability to make rational decisions and express themselves. In the legal context, mental competency means a person’s capacity to understand the basic nature and purpose of court proceedings, his/her roles with...
mental health
Mental health and the law interact in numerous ways. The term "competence" signifies a legal conclusion that an individual is capable of entering into a binding contract, transferring assets, or participating in a legal proceeding. The...
mercy killing
Mercy killing is the active administration of euthanasia, with the intent of ending a patient’s life in a single act, as the Montana Supreme Court described in Baxter v. Montana. Mercy killing does not involve the consent of the patients; nor...
merger
In general, a merger is the act of uniting separate things. Specifically -
1. In corporate law, a merger is the absorption of one corporation into another. The surviving corporation acquires all the assets and liabilities of...
merger doctrine
In criminal law, if a defendant commits a single act that simultaneously fulfills the definition of two separate offenses, merger will occur. This means that the lesser of the two offenses will drop out, and the defendant will only be charged...
military law
Generally, in the United States, military law is a body of law that oversees the members of the armed forces. Essentially, the usage of military law on the members of the armed forces was a recognition that military individuals are subjected...