Definitions from Case Law

although the judge need not make formal findings of fact or write an opinion, his conclusion that the confession is voluntary must appear from the record with unmistakable clarity

the consignees agree that, if the shipowner has used due diligence to make the ship seaworthy, the cargo is to be liable in general average when the sacrifice or expense results fr

the field in which a state may not validly provide for compensation must be taken, for the purposes of the Act, as the same field which the Jensen line of decision excluded from st

literal' jeopardy is particularly difficult to understand, given the Senator's own unambiguous explanation that as author of the bill, what he meant was 'constitutional' jeopardy

a defendant is placed in jeopardy in a criminal proceeding once the defendant is put to trial before the trier of the facts, whether the trier be a jury or a judge

What Congress has commanded is that any tests used must measure the person for the job and not the person in the abstract.

If the plaintiff alleges that the concurrent negligence of the railroad company and its employee... was the cause of his injury, he has a right to join them in one action. If he el

The general rule certainly is, that if two or more persons are sued in a joint action, the Plaintiff cannot proceed to obtain a judgment against one alone, but must wait until the

The liability which arises from a joint and several contract contains distinct engagements, that of each contractor individually, and that of all jointly, and different remedies ma

The principle is, that a contract, made by copartners, is several, as well as joint, and the assumpsit is made by all, and by each. It is obligatory on all, and on each of the part

persons engaged in committing the same trespass are joint and several trespassers, and not joint trespassers exclusively. Like persons liable on a joint and several contract, they

We hold it a sound rule of law, that a joint contract can never be defeated by the mere private contract of an individual of the concern, to whom the other parties have confided no

a covenant may be construed to be joint or several, according to the interests of the parties appearing upon the face of the obligation, if the words are capable of such a construc

in case of a joint contract, strictly speaking, the plaintiff must sue all or one, yet if he does sue any intermediate number, and the defendants do not avail themselves of this, b

those applicable only when the lines embraced in the route are not under common ownership or control.

a third person who put his name on the back of a note at the time it was made, as surety for the maker, and for his accommodation, to give him credit with the payee, or if he parti

it is not a principle of equity that every joint covenant shall be treated as if it were joint and several. The court will not vary the legal effect of the instrument by making it

The State has so far insinuated itself into a position of interdependence with Eagle that it must be recognized as a joint participant in the challenged activity, which, on that ac

The essential feature of a joint rate is that connecting roads have agreed or mutually consented to carry traffic from points on one road to points on another road for an aggregate

The establishment of joint rates is an act separate and distinct under the statute from the establishment of through routes. The financial-needs prohibition of Section 15(4) does n

In making a joint return the husband and wife should report their aggregate gross income and could combine their deductions in reporting their aggregate net income upon which the t

There is no privity between joint wrongdoers, because all are jointly and severally liable. ... There is no right of contribution between joint wrongdoers, where they are in pari d

where two or more persons are jointly charged in the same indictment, with a capital offence, such persons have not a right, by the laws of the country, to be tried severally, sepa

The joint venture, like the 'merger' and the 'conglomeration,' often creates anticompetitive dangers. It is the chosen competitive instrument of two or more corporations previously

The Jones Act has the effect of bringing into the maritime law, for the benefit of seamen, all appropriate statutes relating to employers' liability for the personal injury or deat

the admiralty jurisdiction over the suit depends not on the place where the injury is inflicted but on the nature of the service and its relationship to the operation of the vessel

any entity doing business in Florida that: (1) has published more than 100,000 words online and has at least 50,000 paid subscribers or 100,000 monthly users; (2) has published at

It cannot be doubted that if there had been a combination between the surety of the insolvent and the magistrate to grant the discharge, such surety could never plead that discharg

The judgment of a court is the judicial determination or sentence of the court upon a matter within its jurisdiction. No form of words and no peculiar formal act is necessary to ev

It is understood to be settled in Virginia, that no judgment against the executors can bind the heirs, or in any manner affect them. It could not be given in evidence against them.

A judgment, in its nature, concludes the subject on which it is rendered, and pronounces the law of the case. The judgment of a court of record whose jurisdiction is final, is as c

A judgment being entered, it is only necessary to issue an execution from term to term, which may remain in the clerk's office, to create and continue a lien on the personal proper

A judgment or decree in enforcement of an otherwise valid preexisting lien is not the judgment denounced by the statute, which is plainly confined to judgments creating liens.

Congress used the words 'judgment creditor' in § 3672 in the usual, conventional sense of a judgment of a court of record, since all states have such courts.

A court of equity exercises its jurisdiction in favor of a judgment creditor only when the remedy afforded him at law is ineffectual to reach the property of the debtor, or the enf

A judgment gives to the judgment creditor a lien on the debtor's lands, and a preference over all subsequent judgment creditors. But the act of congress defeats this preference in

The rule of law is accurately stated by Vice-Chancellor Wigram, who says: 'That a creditor, under his judgment, might take in execution all that belongs to his debtor, and nothing

It is one thing to judge of a situation in cold abstraction; another thing to form a judgment on the spot. The movement of trains requires prompt action, and we cannot hold that, a

A judgment in personam imposes a personal liability or obligation on one person in favor of another.

A judgment in rem binds all the world, but the facts on which it necessarily proceeds are not established against all the world

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

That the judgment must be responsive to the writ, and must, therefore, either be given for the whole sum demanded, or exhibit the cause why it is given for a less sum. Otherwise no

The motion for judgment cannot be granted unless, as matter of law, the opponent of the movant failed to make a case and, therefore, a verdict in movant's favor should have been di

the judgment of a court of concurrent jurisdiction directly upon the point is, as a plea, a bar, or, as evidence, conclusive between the same parties on the same matter directly in

the judgment of a court of exclusive jurisdiction directly upon the point is, in like manner, conclusive upon the same matter between the same parties, coming incidentally in quest

at common law, a trial by a jury of twelve men.

It is well established that a judgment on demurrer is as conclusive as one rendered upon proof. ... The general rule of the extent of the bar is not only what was pleaded or litiga

A decree of that kind, unless made because of some defect in the pleadings, or for want of jurisdiction, or because the complainant has an adequate remedy at law, or upon some othe

A judgment quasi in rem affects the interests of particular persons in designated property.

It is perfectly clear that as to them a judgment cannot be rendered beyond the penalty, to be discharged on payment of what is actually due; which of course can only be where it is

judgments at law or decrees in chancery, affecting rights of parties to property. They bind only the parties before the court and those who stand in privity with them.

They certainly are not foreign judgments under the Constitution and laws of Congress in any proper sense, because they 'shall have such faith and credit given to them in every othe

But the appearance of an infant to a suit brought against him, is not a judicial act. The appointment of a guardian to defend the suit; and the taking his examination when a fine i

His discretion is not arbitrary and uncontrolled, but judicial, to be exercised in conformity with the standards governing the judicial office. He may analyze and dissect the evide

The primary purpose of the prohibition against diminution was not to benefit the judges, but, like the clause in respect of tenure, to attract good and competent men to the bench a

In construing these laws, it has been truly stated to be the duty of the court to effect the intention of the legislature; but this intention is to be searched for in the words whi

The discharge of an insolvent under our statute is a judicial act, of a record character, and is in its nature, as it must be in contemplation of law, the most satisfactory evidenc

That exercise implies conscientious judgment, not arbitrary action. It takes account of the law and the particular circumstances of the case and is 'directed by the reason and cons

It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret th

where the statutory language and legislative history are unclear, the propriety of judicial enforcement turns on the importance of the duty in the scheme of the Act, the capacity o

it is a general principle applicable to all judicial officers, that they are not liable to a civil action for any judicial act done within their jurisdiction. In reference to judge

A judicial inquiry investigates, declares and enforces liabilities as they stand on present or past facts and under laws supposed already to exist. That is its purpose and end.

A judicial inquiry investigates, declares, and enforces liabilities as they stand on present or past facts and under laws supposed already to exist. That is its purpose and end. Le

To say that a court will take judicial notice of a fact, whether it be an event or a custom or a law of some other government, is merely another way of saying that the usual forms

It cannot certainly be laid down as a universal, or even as a general, proposition, that the court can judicially notice matters of fact. Yet it cannot be doubted, that there are m

wherever a law of a State is held to be a public one, to be judicially taken notice of by the State courts, it must be regarded in like manner by a court of the United States, when

Judicial offices are those which relate to the administration of justice, and which must be exercised by the persons appointed for that purpose and not by deputies.

This Court can have no jurisdiction other than of cases and controversies falling within the classes enumerated in the judiciary article. It cannot give decisions which are merely

No judicial process, whatever form it may assume, can have any lawful authority outside of the limits of the jurisdiction of the court or judge by whom it is issued; and an attempt

By retiring pursuant to the statute a judge does not relinquish his office. The language is that he may retire from regular active service on the bench, not from office.

A proceeding under section 316 of the Packers and Stockyards Act is a judicial review, not a trial de novo. The validity of an order of the Secretary, like that of an order of the

The courts may determine whether his action is within his statutory authority...whether there was any evidence before him to support his determination...and whether the procedure w

The function of the reviewing court is much more restricted. It is limited to ascertaining whether there is warrant in the law and the facts for what the Commission has done. Unles

The courts in reviewing the action of the Commission have no authority to substitute their judgment as to what is reasonable in a given case for that of the Commission, but are lim

the function of review placed upon the courts by Section 6(b) is fully performed when they determine that there has been a fair hearing, with notice and an opportunity to present t

The judicial function is exhausted when there is found to be a rational basis for the conclusions approved by the administrative body.

The grounds upon which an administrative order must be judged are those upon which the record discloses that its action was based.

The Commission has wide discretion in its choice of a remedy deemed adequate to cope with the unlawful practices in this area of trade and commerce. It has wide latitude for judgme

if it does not affirmatively appear that the executive officers have acted in some unlawful or improper way and abused their discretion, their finding upon the question of citizens

like the authority previously exercised by the federal Circuit Courts, is confined to determining whether the Commission's order violates the Constitution, or exceeds the power del

the adjudication of [a debtor] as a bankrupt, when followed by the appointment of the trustee in bankruptcy, operated as a 'judicial sale' of his real estate within the meaning of

when the object is to sell the real estate of an insolvent or embarrassed succession, the settled doctrine is, there are no adversary parties—the proceeding is in rem—the administr

the federal judiciary is supreme in the exposition of the law of the Constitution, and that principle has ever since been respected by this Court and the Country as a permanent and

The distinction between the judicial function of declaring a rate unreasonable and the legislative one of establishing a rate as reasonable.

The declaration, plea, and finding must be taken together; and from these, we are bound, by the 32d section, above cited, to ascertain whether, according to the right of the cause

In the law of its creation, the sociedad is consistently regarded as a juridical person. It may contract, own property, and transact business, sue and be sued in its own name and r

This proceeding involved an ascertainment and settlement of the boundaries of the lands granted by the appropriate officers of the government, specially designated for that purpose

the courts' statutory or constitutional power to adjudicate the case.

The rule applicable generally to suits for injunction to restrain a nuisance, a continuing trespass, or the like, viz., that the jurisdictional amount is to be tested by the value

When two or more plaintiffs having separate and distinct demands unite in a single suit, it is essential that the demand of each be of the requisite jurisdictional amount; but when

A court that renders judgment against a defendant thereby tacitly asserts, if it does not do so expressly, that it has jurisdiction over that defendant. But it must be taken to be

The defect is not jurisdictional in the sense that it deprives the court of power to allow the appeal. The court has discretion, where the scope of review is not affected, to disre

a dispute between two or more groups of employees over which is entitled to do certain work for an employer

a jurisdictional dispute under § 8(b)(4)(D) ... is a dispute between two or more groups of employees over which is entitled to do certain work for an employer

wherever a judgment is given by a court having jurisdiction of the parties and of the subject-matter, the exercise of jurisdiction warrants the presumption, in favor of a purchaser

a judgment is entitled to full faith and credit—even as to questions of jurisdiction—when the second court's inquiry discloses that those questions have been fully and fairly litig

[A] question [of jurisdiction] is in issue only when the District Court's power to hear and determine the cause as defined and limited by the Constitution or statutes of the United

In a civil suit in personam, jurisdiction over the defendant, as distinguished from venue, implies, among other things, either voluntary appearance by him or service of process upo

while the general rule in regard to jurisdiction in rem requires the actual seizure and possession of the res by the officer of the court, such jurisdiction may be acquired by acts

the controlling factor being, not where the property is situated, but did it pass to the trustee, and is it a part of the estate subject to administration under the direction of th