Definitions from Case Law

where there are two grounds, upon either of which an appellate court may rest its decision, and it adopts both, 'the ruling on neither is obiter, but each is the judgment of the co

the motive which controlled members of the state legislature when they enacted such legislation.

Objections relate to the working of the election mechanism and to the process of counting the ballots accurately and fairly.

The 'object,' as used in the rule and cases referred to by the corporation, is the object of the taxing provisions, i.e., the raising of the money.

[T]he questioned phrase ... includes, at least, a person who has the sole power to control disposition of the fund.

the act of obliging or binding; that which obligates; the binding power of a vow, promise, oath, or contract.

there is an obligation in solido on the part of the debtors, where they are all obliged to the same thing, so that each may be compelled for the whole... An obligation in solido is

The obligation of a contract, in the constitutional sense, is the means provided by law by which it can be enforced,—by which the parties can be obliged to perform it. Whatever leg

the obligation of the State arising out of such a grant is as much protected by Article I, § 10, as that of an agreement by an individual

It is elementary that the obligation of a contract is the law under which it was made

The legal remedies for the enforcement of a contract, which belong to it at the time and place where it is made, are a part of its obligation. A State may change them, provided the

[T]he provision of section 10, article 1, of the federal Constitution, protecting the obligation of contracts against state action, is directed only against impairment by legislati

the meaning of 'obligation' in section 148 is narrowed by the definition in section 147 to specifically enumerated written instruments, including checks or drafts for money, which

The obligations hit at by Congress were those 'payable in money of the United States.' All such obligations were declared dischargeable 'upon payment, dollar for dollar, in any coi

Under the rule of ejusdem generis, it is reasonable to construe the general words 'other obligations,' which allegedly cover open accounts, as referring only to obligations or secu

an obligation to contribute arising— (1) under one or more collective bargaining (or related) agreements, or (2) as a result of a duty under applicable labor-management relations l

The foundation of the obligation to pay taxes is not the privileges enjoyed or the protection given to a citizen by government, though the payment of taxes gives a right to protect

There is a broad distinction between laws impairing the obligation of contracts and those which simply undertake to give a more efficient remedy to enforce a contract already made.

(1) that the average person applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (2) that the work depicts or de

Whatever else may be necessary to give rise to the States' broader power to prohibit obscene expression, such expression must be, in some significant way, erotic.

The words 'obscene,' 'lewd' and 'lascivious,' as used in the statute, signify that form of immorality which has relation to sexual impurity, and have the same meaning as is given t

material which deals with sex in a manner appealing to prurient interest,' Roth v. United States, supra, 354 U.S., at 487, 77 S.Ct., at 1310, but the Roth definition does not refle

matter, taken as a whole, the predominant appeal of which to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, is to prurient interest, i. e., shameful or morbid inter

Material may be considered obscene when 'to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to prurient i

A seizure of allegedly obscene materials on the authority of a warrant 'issued on the strength of the conclusory assertions of a single police officer, without any scrutiny by the

the loss must be actual and present, not merely contemplated as more or less sure to occur in the future. If the taxpayer owns the property the loss actually has taken place.

All perjured relevant testimony is at war with justice, since it may produce a judgment not resting on truth. Therefore it cannot be denied that it tends to defeat the sole ultimat

to gain or attain possession," Webster's Third New International Dictionary 1559, and money or property is no less "obtained" simply because something else is given in return.

Petitioner gave its obligation, not for the premium alone, but also in consideration of respondent's promise to reimburse it. Having regard to the results that at the beginning the

-end fit, where the end was "clearly comprehended within any of the specified powers" of Congress).

known disadvantages in old devices which would naturally discourage the search for new inventions may be taken into account in determining obviousness

an event or episode—which may, in common usage, include temporally discrete offenses.

a standard which requires conditions, or the adoption or use of one or more practices, means, methods, operations, or processes, reasonably necessary or appropriate to provide safe

Congress has intended to occupy the field of sedition. Taken as a whole, they evince a congressional plan which makes it reasonable to determine that no room has been left for the

In order that the fee or tax shall be valid, it must appear that it is imposed solely on account of the intrastate business; that the amount exacted is not increased because of the

the state may exercise its police power until Congress has by affirmative legislation occupied the field by regulating interstate commerce and so necessarily has excluded state act

Congress may circumscribe its regulation and occupy a limited field, and that the intent to supersede the exercise by the state of its police power as to matters not covered by the

of counsel for a party in that cause and in that controversy,' and if either the cause or controversy is not identical the disqualification does not exist"); Wolfe v. Hines, 93 Ga.

offcers exercising the Stat. 693–694 (Philippines); Act of Aug.

all federal civil offcials who perform an ongoing, statutory duty." Lucia v. SEC, 585 U. S. 237, 254 (2018) (concurring opinion)

those acts only which have been denounced as, such and made punishable by statute.

the same as "offence against the laws of the United States." Since, there are no comnlon law crimes, those terms mean offences denounced as such by the statutes of the United State

a description in the first part of the section, viz. offences where no other punishment than whipping not exceeding thirty stripes, a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or a t

federal offense, and this view is confirmed by the fact that by virtue of the Rule a lesser included offense instruction is authorized with respect to 'an attempt' only where the a

the defendant's actual conduct, then "by its nature" also focuses on the defendant's actual conduct.

That which violates the dignity and authority of federal courts such as an intentional effort to defeat their decrees justifying punishment violates a law of the United States, and

When an accused is charged, as here, with transporting a kidnapping victim across state lines, he is charged and will be tried for an offense which may be punished by death. Althou

behavior which has a tendency to provoke others to acts of violence or to in turn disturb the peace,' and that the State had proved this element because, on the facts of this case,

An offer is nothing until it is communicated to the party to whom it is made.

It is an undeniable principle of the law of contracts, that an offer of a bargain by one person to another, imposes no obligation upon the former, until it is accepted by the latte

The offer of a state does not necessarily imply a contract. It may be of encouragement merely, holding out a hope, but not amounting to a covenant. No matter what the actual motive

An offer of proof cannot be denied as remote or speculative because it does not cover every fact necessary to prove the issue. If it be an appropriate link in the chain of proof, t

a person who makes or in any way participates in making a take-over offer, and includes all affiliates and associates of that person, and all persons acting jointly or in concert f

An office is a public station conferred by the appointment of government. The term embraces the idea of tenure, duration, emolument and duties fixed by law. Where an office is crea

A legislative act directing the possession and appropriation of the land is equivalent to office found. The sale was the public act, which is the equivalent of office found. What p

The office of a proviso, generally, is, either to except something from the enacting clause, or to qualify or restrain its generality, or to exclude some possible ground of misinte

The value is not the value of the minor's estate, but the value of the office of guardian. The present is a controversy merely between persons claiming adversely as guardians, havi

the true function of a certificate or statement of a state court, by way of amendment of, or addition to, the record, is to aid in the understanding of the record, to clarify it by

We therefore incline to a construction of the words 'under the government of a foreign state' to mean the relationship that public employees have with their government or with the

If an officer, upon his own responsibility, and without the authority of Congress, assumes to bind the government, by express or implied contract, to pay a sum in excess of that li

immunity from suit is a high attribute of sovereignty,—a prerogative of the state itself,—which cannot be availed of by public agents when sued for their own torts. The 11th Amendm

one with authority to execute or administer a state-wide policy.

We see no reason why the category of 'officers' subject to summary jurisdiction of a court under § 401(2) should be expanded beyond the group of persons who serve as conventional c

It has been decided in this court, that a justice of the peace is an officer; nor can it be conceived, that the affirmative of this proposition, was it now undecided, could be cont

Officers' normally means those who hold defined offices. It does not mean the boys in the back room or other agencies of invisible government, whether in politics or in the trade-u

MARSHALL, Ch. J. delivered the unanimous opinion of the court, that the power of the officer to collect the outstanding duties ceased upon his removal from office, and devolved upo

any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official,

Every action that is within the range of official duty comes within the purview of these sections. ... To constitute it official action, it was not necessary that it should be pres

The official bond of parties undoubtedly covers not merely duties imposed by existing law, but duties belonging to, and naturally connected with their office or business imposed by

conduct relevant to fitness for office,' and that the public-private issue is one of fact for the jury.

the restrictive conditions of his release on bail because the federal magistrate's bail order was "official" and significantly curtailed his liberty.

any "proceeding before a judge or court of the United States," § 1512(c)(1)prohibits tampering with evidence in federal litigation between private parties.

The official reports required by law are the reports of the bank, and not simply of those signing and attesting. As the reports of the bank, they are made under its authority and p

the drilling of 'offset wells' at the boundary of each surface tract, so that owners may protect themselves against the exercise of one another's capture rights

the extent to which the rear wheels of a truck deviate from the path of the front wheels while turning.

the party 'owing' the money stops paying it and justifies his conduct by arguing that the recipient is not legally entitled to payment.

all persons of the blood, whether of the whole or half blood.

By virtue of the lease, the lessee acquires the privilege of exploiting the land for the production of oil and gas for a prescribed period; he may explore, drill, and produce oil a

the right to a specified sum of money, payable out of a specified percentage of the oil, or the proceeds received from the sale of such oil, if, as and when produced

The right to oil payments—that is, the right to a specified sum of money, payable out of a specified percentage of the oil, or the proceeds received from the sale of such oil, if,

the "potent weapon" of civil con- tempt.

All substances heretofore known as oleomargarine, oleo, oleomargarine oil, butterine, lardine, suine, and neutral; all mixtures and compounds of oleomargarine, oleo, olemargarine o

Congress manifested no broader purpose than to give the Commissioner an additional two years to investigate tax returns in cases where, because of a taxpayer's omission to report s

No maxim is better settled in reason and law, than the maxim omnis ratihabitio retrotrahitur, et mandato priori equiparatur; at all events, where it does not prejudice the rights o

The prosecution to be removed under the section must have been instituted 'on account of' acts done by the defendant as a federal officer under color of his office or of the revenu

of course, on appeal in respect of the relief sought on appeal—to refund if refunding is what he is asked to do.

The principal engagement is contained in the note, which creates a debt as soon as earnings or dividends are received. The other instrument is secondary, and is intended as securit

), for both affected the capacity of dealers to buy milk for interstate sales.

an appropriate statement by the plaintiff, unaided by any anticipation or avoidance of defenses, discloses that it really and substantially involves a dispute or controversy respec

Return Program cartridges that Lexmark sold within the United States.

goods manufactured in this country; the other, of goods of like kind manufactured in Europe, and which came from Europe on a through bill of lading.

Since the choice of members of the county school board did not involve an election and since none was required for these nonlegislative offices, the principle of 'one man, one vote

statements which defame the plaintiff in connection with his business or occupation.

two wire frames, one within the other, and made to revolve in opposite directions; another consists of a propeller-blade inside of a wire frame, the frame and blades being made to

the same in the Act of 1875, is fallacious.

individuals, trusts or estates, partnerships and corporations'.

It is a well settled rule, though a very technical one, that one partner cannot bind his copartner by deed. And it is equally well settled, that one partner may dispose of the pers

The conception of political equality from the Declaration of Independence, to Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, to the Fifteenth, Seventeenth, and Nineteenth Amendments can mean only o

The purpose of the constitutional provision is 'to prevent the inclusion of incongruous and unrelated matters in the same measure and to guard against inadvertence, stealth, and fr

the accused is "denied the presence of counsel at a critical stage of the prosecution." "Id., "at 662 .