judgment lien
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 79 U.S. 150 - Baker v. Morton · 1870Most cited · 54 citing opinions
Such a lien confers a right to levy on the land to the exclusion of other adverse interests acquired subsequently to the judgment, but the lien constitutes no property or right in the land itself, as it is merely a general lien securing a preference over subsequently acquired interests in the property.
How the Supreme Court has restated “judgment lien”
Each Supreme Court definition of “judgment lien,” 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 “judgment lien”
Court decisions citing the 3 opinions that defined “judgment lien” — 97 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 · 1830–1870
- ORIGINAL
There is no statute in Virginia which, in express terms, makes a judgment a lien upon the lands of the debtor. As in England, the lien is the consequence of a right to take out an elegit. During the existence of this right, the lien is universally acknowledged. Different opinions seem at different times to have been entertained of the effect of any suspension of the right.
right to elegit
The first point made by the plaintiff in error is, that by the law of Maryland; which, it is admitted is the rule by which this point is to be determined; a judgment is no lien on real estate before execution issued and levied.
Maryland: not before execution