Definitions from Case Law

Conceding that Marchie Tiger, by the act conferring citizenship, obtained a status which gave him certain civil and political rights ... he was still a ward of the nation so far as

An alien friend is offered, under certain conditions, the privilege of citizenship. He may accept the offer and become a citizen upon compliance with the prescribed conditions, but

But it is now held, and has been so held for many years, that if the defendant disputes the allegation of citizenship in the declaration, he must plead the fact in abatement of the

Filipinos then residing in the United States; that by virtue of this provision the respondent was assimilated to the status of an alien for purposes of 'immigration, exclusion, or

Citizens, voters, and taxpayers, merely as such, of either state, without a showing of any further and proper interest, have no separate individual right to contest in such a suit

remand proceedings before the Social Security Administration because a formal complaint remains pending in court and depends on the outcome of the administrative proceeding for its

For civil contempts, the punishment is remedial and for the benefit of the complainant, and a pardon cannot stop it.

It is not the fact of punishment, but rather its character and purpose, that often serve to distinguish civil from criminal contempt. The test may be stated as: what does the court

It has been uniformly considered, that banishment, or abjuration, is a civil death of the husband.

proceedings instituted for the purpose of declaring the forfeiture of a man's property by reason of offences committed by him, though they may be civil in form, are in their nature

the limitation provision of §4B is tolled by Commission proceedings to the same extent and in the same circumstances as it is by Justice Department actions

An action such as this is civil, and is attended with the usual incidents of a civil action.

every right that pertains to the citizen under the Constitution, laws, the Government of this country.

to provide a remedy in the federal courts supplementary to any remedy any State might have — relief under the Civil Rights Act may not be defeated because relief was not first soug

Since his tax liability does not in effect rest on criminal conduct, the tax can be properly called a civil rather than a criminal sanction. The fact Congress provided civil proced

Many persons not employed as clerks or messengers of a department, are in the public service by virtue of an employment by the head of the department or by the head of some bureau

a suit within the category of "all suits of a civil nature at common law or in equity," with which the section deals at the outset.

destined for use by civilian agencies in agricultural projects and not for use by the armed services to satisfy any of their needs or wants or by any civilian agency which acted as

Contempts are neither wholly civil nor altogether criminal. ... It is not the fact of punishment, but rather its character and purpose, that often serve to distinguish between the

when a civil war rages in a foreign nation, one part of which separates itself from the old established government, and erects itself into a distinct government, the courts of the

any right to payment that is "unliquidated," "contingent," "unmatured," or "disputed," 11 U.S.C.

claim against property of the debtor." A fair reading of § 102(2) is that a creditor who, like the Bank in this case, has a claim enforceable only against the debtor's property non

the party had not lost all right to justice, or claim, upon principles of international law, to remuneration; that he had a right both to the justice of his own and the foreign sov

the prisoner is held by an officer of the United States under what, in truth, purports to be the authority of the United States; that is, an authority, the validity of which is to

only the claimant of the vessel involved and not to those making claims against the vessel.

In such suits, the claimant is an actor, and is entitled to come before the Court in that character only, in virtue of his proprietary interest in the thing in controversy; this al

a claim for refund of, or credit against, any tax imposed by subtitle A"), but it is apparent from the language of § 6512(b)(3)(B) and the statute as a whole that a claim for refun

Setting up a title in the United States, by way of defence, is not claiming a personal interest affecting the subject in litigation. This is the established construction of the 25t

If the privilege claimed by the witness be allowed, the matter is at an end. The claim of privilege and its allowance is properly no part of the evidence submitted to the jury, and

If a taxpayer receives earnings under a claim of right and without restriction as to its disposition, he has received income which he is required to return, even though it may stil

If a taxpayer receives earnings under a claim of right and without restriction as to its disposition, he has received income which he is required to return, even though it may stil

The governing principle is that a claim of unconstitutionality will not be heard to excuse a voluntary, deliberate and calculated course of fraud and deceit. One who elects such a

The law was, however, never intended to operate upon persons who had taken possession under a bona fide claim or color of title... It is a sufficient defense to such a proceeding t

debts, securities, other than stock, liens, or other interests of whatever character.

The claims referred to by the statute are those 'claims against' the property of the deceased which are allowed by and enforceable under the laws of the administering State and not

claims are to be construed in the light of the specifications and both are to be read with a view to ascertaining the invention

Claims for unliquidated damages require for their settlement the application of the qualities of judgment and discretion. They are frequently, perhaps generally, sustained by extra

the provision relating to the payment or approval of a 'claim upon or against' the Government relates solely to the payment or approval of a claim for money or property to which a

On the Continent, clandestine marriages, although they subjected the parties to the censures of the Church, were not only held valid by the civil and canon law, but were pronounced

Debts, for which an action of debt may be brought at Common Law, may be classed under four general heads: 1st. Judgments obtained in a Court of record on a suit. 2nd. Specialties a

follows in Official Order No. 20—28: 'IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT: '1.

Classification is not different in law than in other departments of knowledge. It is the grouping of things in speculation or practice because they agree with one another in certai

a state may classify persons and objects for the purpose of legislation. ... As the standard established can be proved in the hands of a producing vender, he is exempt from the pen

in taxation there is a broader power of classification than in some other exercises of legislation... Granting the power of classification, we must grant government the right to se

The rule of equality, in respect to the subject, only requires the same means and methods to be applied impartially to all the constituents of each class, so that the law shall ope

any written determination by a majority of the Board classifying a film, or granting or refusing an application for change of classification.

just what it sounds like-the stuff involved in playing class III games.

It is established by repeated decisions that a statute aimed at what is deemed an evil, and hitting it presumably where experience shows it to be most felt, is not to be upset by t

persons (named or unnamed) who fall within the definition of the " proposed " or certified class." § 1332(d)(1)(D) (emphasis added).

rates applied to traffic through two separate tariffs. One tariff, the 'classification,' assigns each of the many thousand commodities carried by rail to one of presently some 30 c

In such a suit the association represents all its members and stands in judgment for them, and even though the suit had a different object than the instant one it is conclusive upo

A clean bill of lading, in general, imports, unless the contrary appear on its face, that the goods are to be safely and properly secured under deck.

whenever a party who, as actor, seeks to set the judicial machinery in motion and obtain some remedy, has violated conscience, or good faith, or other equitable principle, in his p

in the phrase of early times, the complainant must come into equity with clean hands. If any deception was practised whereby the appellants were drawn into a losing bargain, and a

whosoever would seek admission into a court of equity must come with clean hands; that such a court will never interfere in opposition to conscience or good faith; and again, and i

Clearance is an agreement by distributor not to exhibit a film nor to license others to do so within a given area and for a stated period after the last date of the showing of the

a time lag established between the showing by the defendant exhibitors and a subsequent showing by others

to justify the setting aside of a solemn instrument of conveyance, deliberately made by parties sui juris, and the giving to it of an effect different from its plain purport, the e

Clear and necessary intendment that the question was raised and must have been decided as claimed, in order to have induced the judgment, is sufficient, but it is not sufficient to

the general statement in the Schenck Case that the 'question in every case is whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear an

Abridgment of the liberty of such discussion can be justified only where the clear danger of substantive evils arises under circumstances affording no opportunity to test the merit

Such a choice between two permissible views of the weight of evidence is not 'clearly erroneous.

in this context depends largely "upon the level of generality at which the relevant 'legal rule' is to be established." 483 U.S., at 639.

determined by the Supreme Court of the United States," to encompass "the holdings .

the holdings, as opposed to the dicta, of this Court's decisions." "Williams "v.

For to justify reversal in such cases, the error must be clear or manifest; the interpretation must be inescapably wrong; the decision must be patently erroneous.

Congress meant at least to signify a meaning like that commonly accorded such similar phrases as 'clear, unequivocal, and convincing proof.' Under this standard, the plaintiff in a

when choice has to be made between two readings of what conduct Congress has made a crime, it is appropriate, before we choose the harsher alternative, to require that Congress sho

Where citizenship is at stake the Government carries the heavy burden of proving its case by 'clear, unequivocal, and convincing' evidence which does not leave 'the issue in doubt.

A clerical error, as its designation imports, is an error of a clerk or a subordinate officer in transcribing or entering an official proceeding ordered by another.

Although activities may be intrastate in character when separately considered, if they have such a close and substantial relation to interstate commerce that their control is essen

solitary confinement;' and "Re Medley", 134 U. S. 160 , 33 L. ed. 835, 10 Sup.

It is enough to justify the deduction here that the transaction causing the loss was completed when the seizure was made. It was none the less a deductible loss then, although late

One of the oldest techniques in the art of collective bargaining is the closed shop. It protects the integrity of the union and provides stability to labor relations.

in the custom of the trade the term 'clothing wool' applies to the short staple wool which is suitable for carding, and which goes into what is known as the woolen or felting proce

the capacity of Internet-connected devices to display data stored on remote servers rather than on the device itself." Riley, 573 U. S., at 397.

Equity will not allow a title to real estate, otherwise clear, to be clouded by a claim which cannot be enforced either at law or in equity, and consequently will interfere in beha

The alleged doubt as to plaintiff's right under the leases arises on the face of the instruments by which the plaintiff derives title. Because of that fact, the doubt is not in leg

gas found within the coal formation, commonly referred to as coalbed methane gas (CBM gas).

the line of the shore plus the line where inland waters meet the open sea.

the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland waters.

the line of ordinary low water along that portion of the coast which is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland waters.

all forms of cocaine base, including but not limited to crack cocaine.'" " Id., "at 30-31

If, knowing the fraud contrived, he aided in its execution, and shared its proceeds, he was chargeable with all its consequences, and could be treated and pursued as an original pa

such declarations are admissible over the objection of an alleged co-conspirator, who was not present when they were made, only if there is proof aliunde that he is connected with

where a substantive offense is committed by one conspirator in furtherance of the unlawful project, it is attributable to all co-conspirators for the purpose of holding them respon

a declaration made by one conspirator, in furtherance of a conspiracy and prior to its termination, may be used against the other conspirators. However, when such a declaration is

Codification contemplates, implies and produces continuity of existing law in clarified form rather than its interruption.

A coerced confession is offensive to basic standards of justice, not because the victim has a legal grievance against the police, but because declarations procured by torture are n

a conviction on a plea of guilty coerced by a federal law enforcement officer is no more consistent with due process than a conviction supported by a coerced confession

conduct, though evidenced in part by speech, may amount in connection with other circumstances to coercion within the meaning of the Act. If the total activities of an employer res

If a defendant should refuse to pay alimony, or to surrender property ordered to be turned over to a receiver, or to make a conveyance required by a decree for specific performance

One executor having received funds cannot exonerate himself, and shift the trust to his co-executor, by paying over to him the sums received. Each executor has a right to receive t

the moving party must satisfy the court that relief is needed. The necessary determination is that there exists some cognizable danger of recurrent violation, something more than t

The cognovit is the ancient legal device by which the debtor consents in advance to the holder's obtaining a judgment without notice or hearing, and possibly even with the appearan

The coined dollar was... a piece of gold or silver of a prescribed degree of purity, weighing a prescribed number of grains.

(1) any amusement or music machine operated by means of the insertion of a coin, token, or similar object, and (2) so-called 'slot' machines which operate by means of insertion of

coin or currency of the United States, including Federal Reserve notes and circulating notes of Federal Reserve banks and national banking associations.

a killer who kills without feeling or sympathy.

Bausch & Lomb and Beech-Nut plainly fashioned its dimensions as meaning no more than that a simple refusal to sell to customers who will not resell at prices suggested by the selle