appropriation
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 301 U.S. 308 - Cincinnati Soap Co. v. United States · 1937Most cited · 255 citing opinions
The provision of the Constitution (clause 7, § 9, art. 1) that, 'No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law,' was intended as a restriction upon the disbursing authority of the Executive department, and is without significance here. It means simply that no money can be paid out of the Treasury unless it has been appropriated by an act of Congress.
How the Supreme Court has restated “appropriation”
Each Supreme Court definition of “appropriation,” sized by how often later courts cited it. “Change” is measured by wording overlap with earlier definitions — a rough signal, not a semantic judgment.
How often courts cite the cases defining “appropriation”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “appropriation” — 352 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 3 definitions, chronological · 1867–1937
- ORIGINAL
the return of the survey to the office of the recorder of land titles; until this was done the claimant acquired no vested right to the land; no title, legal or equitable
New Madrid Act
The term appropriation is of the broadest import: it includes all taking and use of property by the army or navy, in the course of the war, not authorized by contract with the government. The use may be permanent or temporary, and it may result in the destruction of or mere injury to the property. If the right to the property, or to its use, is not obtained by valid contract with the government, the taking or use of it is an appropriation within the meaning of the act of Congress.