1. The highest court in a jurisdiction (e.g., Supreme Court of the United States or Supreme Court of California).
2. A lower court in a jurisdiction, whose name is a product of history and not indicative of any higher appellate power. (e.g...
THE LEGAL PROCESS
surplusage
Surplusage is language contained in a pleading that is unnecessary or irrelevant. For example, in an indictment, surplusage is the allegation of any fact or circumstances that is not a necessary element to the offense. Surplusage may be...
surrebuttal
Surrebuttal is the response to a rebuttal that the responding party may be allowed to make in rare circumstances. Usually, a court will only allow the moving party to have a rebuttal to the evidence and arguments of the responding party....
surrogate court
Surrogate court is a subject-matter jurisdiction court dealing with administration of wills, guardianship, administration of assets, etc. The court also deals with unclaimed property of the deceased, who died without a will. The officer of...
surveillance
Surveillance is the act of observing another in order to gather evidence. Surveillance is one of the most common methods law enforcement officials use to investigate suspects and gather evidence. It can be accomplished with the knowledge of...
suspect
A suspect is a person who is believed to have committed a crime, but has not yet been found guilty. If a suspect received an arrest warrant, they might then be identified as a defendant; and after the suspect was convicted or found guilty,...
suspect classification
Suspect classification refers to a class of individuals that have been historically subject to discrimination.
OverviewUnder Equal Protection, when a statute discriminates against an individual based on a suspect classification, that statute...
suspended sentence
In criminal law, a suspended sentence is an alternative to imprisonment where a judge may partially or entirely suspend the convicted individual's prison or jail sentence so long as they fulfill certain conditions. If the conditions are...
suspension of deportation
Suspension of deportation is a relief rule for aliens in deportation proceedings under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952, which authorizes an immigration judge the discretion to relieve aliens of deportations. This rule was...
sustain
To sustain means to support or maintain, especially over a long period of time; to endure or undergo. In legal contexts, to sustain may also mean to uphold a ruling (e.g., “objection sustained”).
[Last updated in August of...