Definitions from Case Law

all labels and other written, printed, or graphic matter (1) upon any article or any of its containers or wrappers, or (2) accompanying such article.

a union forfeits its exemption from the antitrust laws when it is clearly shown that it has agreed with one set of employers to impose a certain wage scale on other bargaining unit

When the unions participated with a combination of business men who had complete power to eliminate all competition among themselves and to prevent all competition from others, a s

It is not a violation of the Sherman Act for laborers in combination to refuse to work. They can sell or not sell their labor as they please, and upon such terms and conditions as

any controversy concerning terms or conditions of employment, or concerning the association or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking t

The crucial determinant is not the form of the agreement—e.g., prices or wages—but its relative impact on the product market and the interests of union members

the presence of a job or wage competition or some other economic inter-relationship affecting legitimate union interests between the union members and the independent contractors.

To bind the United States when it is not formally a party, it must have a laboring oar in a controversy. This is not to be inferred merely because the Secretary of the Interior ena

any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of d

an employee representation committee or plan which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay

The business of appellant, in so far as it consists of supplying longshoremen to shipowners or masters without directing or controlling the work of loading or unloading, is not int

courts of equity act upon their own inherent doctrine of discouraging, for the peace of society, antiquated demands, refuse to interfere where there has been gross laches in prosec

Courts of equity are not in the habit of entertaining bills for a specific performance, after a considerable lapse of time, unless upon very special circumstances. Even where time

The writ may well be refused when the relator has slept upon his rights for an unreasonable time, and especially if the delay has been prejudicial to the defendant, or to the right

The mere laches of the public officers, constitutes no grounds of discharge in the present case... The utmost vigilance would not save the public from the most serious losses, if t

the proper rule of pleading would seem to be, that, when the case stated by the bill appears to be one in which a court of equity will refuse its aid, the defendant should be permi

A laical or mercenary chaplaincy is one instituted without the intervention of ecclesiastical authority, does not require a title in order to be ordained, and is not subject to ecc

lands, waters, and interests therein.

persons who are members of the armed services and not to their civilian wives, children and other dependents.

where ... the legal title to all these tracts of land is still in the government [and] no patents or conveyances of any kind have been executed ... it is not a province of the cour

The original finding respecting the character of the tract was not in itself final or conclusive, but essentially interlocutory. It was only a step in the proceedings looking to a

Generally speaking, the Land Department has jurisdiction until the legal title has passed... The question of title was in process of administration, and until the patent issued not

The voyage is understood to be terminated when the vessel arrives at her port of destination, and has been moored there in safety for twenty-four hours. But it will be conceded tha

A location usually consists of some general description which designates the place in which the particular object is to be found, and of a description of the particular object itse

an owner, lessor, sublessor, or other person entitled to receive rent for the use or occupancy of any housing accommodations.

an implied or tacit lien, created by law to secure the performance of another contract

not only land itself, but everything connected therewith in the way of buildings, structures, and improvements, and all rights and privileges appertaining thereto.

Lands are to be considered as chattels in Pennsylvania, for the payment of debts. In some counties of this State, and throughout the State of Delaware, the writs of Fi. Fa. always

— '(2) all lands permanently or periodically covered by tidal waters up to but not above the line of mean high tide and seaward to a line three geographical miles distant from the

To justify the annulment of a homestead patent as wrongfully covered mineral land, it must appear that at the time of the proceedings which resulted in the patent the land was know

A warrant for land under the Virginia system may strictly be termed a chose in action. It is the mere evidence of executory contract between the State and a citizen. Bounties in la

persons who are American Indian, Asian American, Alaskan Natives or of Spanish heritage.

It may well be that ordinarily a foster relationship does not begin until natural parental ties, realistically viewed, are severed; if so, the foster parent bears the parental rela

a negligent defendant will be held liable to a negligent plaintiff if the defendant, aware of the plaintiff's peril or unaware of it only through carelessness, had in fact a later

This is not a case of ambiguity. It is not an ambiguity patent, for the face of the letter can excite no doubt. It is not a latent ambiguity, for there are not two firms of the nam

an allowance for transportation services rendered by a shipper.

The most obvious examples of such lines are those that are dependent upon and incident to the main line,—feeders, such as may be built from mines or forests to bring coal, ore, or

The Latitat and Clausum fregit are both writs of Trespass; yet, by the course of the Courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, the Plaintiff may ground upon them declarations in any

Law is a statement of the circumstances, in which the public force will be brought to bear upon men through the courts. But the word commonly is confined to such prophecies or thre

one "whose duty it is to preserve the peace," Black's Law Dictionary 796 (5th ed. 1979), and fulfilling that duty involves a range of activities.

The law existing when a contract is made, and affecting its performance, becomes a part of it.

and prevents them from being considered, merely because organized, to be illegal combinations or conspiracies in restraint of trade.

Capture is deemed lawful when made by a declared enemy, lawfully commissioned, and according to the laws of war, and unlawful when made otherwise; but, whether lawful or unlawful,

Lawful combatants are subject to capture and detention as prisoners of war by opposing military forces.

By 'lawful heirs of their own,' he evidently meant lineal descendants or 'issue.

heirs of the body lawfully begotten.

the status of having been lawfully accorded the privilege of residing permanently in the United States as an immigrant.

if the defendant in this case, although he may have been the holder of the mortgage and the debt secured by it, obtained the possession of the block in controversy, by an arrangeme

copies manufactured abroad, we unavoidably diminish § 602(a)(l)'s scope—indeed, limit it to a fairly esoteric set of applications.

The stipulation of the charter-party to take a cargo of lawful merchandise necessarily implied that the articles composing the cargo should be in such condition, and be put up in s

an order which the commission has "jurisdiction "to make.

if an alien is a lawful permanent resident of the United States and remains physically present there, he is a person within the protection of the Fifth Amendment. He may not be dep

the legal rate was not made by the statute a lawful rate-it was lawful only if it was reasonable

If an initial carrier accepts traffic for transportation and issues its bill of lading over a route made up of connecting roads for which no joint through rate has been published a

It is a principle firmly established that to the law of the state in which the land is situated we must look for the rules which govern its descent, alienation, and transfer, and f

As this court often has held, the laws in force at the time and place of the making of a contract, and which affect its validity, performance, and enforcement, enter into and form

The law merchant accords such protection to a holder of a bill of exchange taken in the course of business for value, and without notice. When the instrument is one which by law is

Foreign municipal laws must indeed by proved as facts, but it is not so with the law of nations.

The law respecting negotiable instruments may be truly declared in the languages of Cicero, adopted by Lord MANSFIELD in Luke v. Lyde, 2 Burr. 883, 887, to be in a great measure, n

The law of prize is a part of the law of nations. In it, a hostile character is attached to trade, independently of the character of the trader who pursues or directs it. Condemnat

With regard to the modification under which the right of devising may be exercised, there is no question that the power of the State is unlimited; and wills of realty, wherever exe

It is said that the decree established the law of the case, but that phrase expresses only the practice of courts generally to refuse to reopen what has been decided, not a limit t

The personal estate of the deceased is to be regarded, for the purposes of succession and distribution, wherever situated, as having no other locality than that of his domicile; an

Perhaps the most venerable and universal rule of maritime law relevant to our problem is that which gives cardinal importance to the law of the flag. Each state under international

federal as well as state law." "Id.," at 157, n. 12, 102 S.Ct., at 3024, n. 12.

-"due process of law;" and this implies that there shall .be some form of lega] process, sufficient allegations or charge, due notice to t'he party proceeded against, the opportuni

As to the words from Magna Charta, incorporated into the constitution of Maryland, after volumes spoken and written with a view to their exposition, the good sense of mankind has a

law of the State—the source of substantive liability under the FTCA.

[A] reading of the statute as a whole, with due regard to its purpose, requires application of the whole law of the State where the act or omission occurred.

Like all the laws of nations, it rests upon the common consent of civilized communities. It is of force, not because it was prescribed by any superior power, but because it has bee

The common law so far as it is enforced in a State, whether called common law or not, is not the common law generally but the law of that State existing by the authority of that St

The phrase 'a law of the United States,' as used in the perjury statute, is not limited to statutes, but includes as well Rules and Regulations which have been lawfully authorized

The 'law of war' in that connection includes at least that part of the law of nations which defines the powers and duties of belligerent powers occupying enemy territory pending th

the phrase 'any law providing for * * * equal civil rights' must be construed to mean any law providing for specific civil rights stated in terms of racial equality. Thus, the defe

The rules of decision established by judicial decisions of state courts are 'laws' as well as those prescribed by statute.

These laws giving these rights were as perfectly binding on the defendant, and as much a part of the contract, as if they had been set forth in its stipulations in the very words o

The laws which subsist at the time and place of the making of a contract, and where it is to be performed, enter into and form a part of it, as if they were expressly referred to o

the laws which subsist at the time and place of the making of a contract, and where it is to be performed, enter into and form a part of it, as if they were expressly referred to o

§ 1331 jurisdiction will support claims founded upon federal common law as well as those of a statutory origin

The laws of a state are more usually understood to mean the rules and enactments promulgated by the legislative authority thereof, or long-established local customs having the forc

Laws made for the preservation of public order, and for the regulation of business transactions between man and man, and not to aid or promote the rebellion, though made by a mere

patents cannot issue for the discovery of the phenomena of nature. The qualities of these bacteria, like the heat of the sun, electricity, or the qualities of metals, are part of t

both federal statutes themselves and federal regulations that are properly adopted in accordance with statutory authorization.

A reading of the sections violated in connection with others in the same subdivision makes it plain that they are directed to the protection of the revenue; and therefore they come

A period during which a workman is temporarily dismissed or allowed to leave his work; that part or season of the year during which activity in a particular business or game is par

three classes, " wrappers," " fillers," and "binders." "Wrappers" are leaves suitable for the outside finish of a cigar.

The right to 'lease' is protected by § 1982 against the actions of third parties, as well as against the actions of the immediate lessor.

it is obvious that in principle the right of a lessee is the same as that of a purchaser in fee, and it would be a great misfortune, especially to mining interests, if a man taking

The cancellation of the lease involved nothing more than relinquishment of the right to future rental payments in return for a present substitute payment and possession of the leas

The legal understanding of a lease for years is, a contract for the possession and profits of land for a determinate period, with the recompense of rent.

even though the governmental purpose be legitimate and substantial, that purpose cannot be pursued by means that broadly stifle fundamental personal liberties when the end can be m

In the absence of any apparent or declared reason—such as undue delay, bad faith or dilatory motive on the part of the movant, repeated failure to cure deficiencies by amendments p

The term leaving, used in this connection, is the synonym of owning.

the same thing as if the testator had said, 'I intend to give by this will every thing I have in the world.'

the ship is bound to the merchandise and the merchandise to the ship for the performance on the part of the shipper and shipowner of their respective contracts

The rule in such a case is, that where a testator gives several legacies, and then, without creating an express trust to pay them, makes a general residuary disposition of the whol

acts which are in themselves legal lose that character when they become constituent elements of an unlawful scheme.

the standard governing dismissal for want of jurisdictional amount: it must appear to a legal certainty that the claim is really for less than the jurisdictional amount to justify

In Poe v. Seaborn, supra, the court was not dealing with a consensual community but one made an incident of marriage by the inveterate policy of the State.

Legal compensation refers solely to the injury done to the property taken, and not to any collateral or consequential damages, resulting to the owner, by the trespass.