Definitions from Case Law

The statute does not ratify all actions or all collections of taxes, as it easily might have done, but only actions in accordance with the order. If the order, properly construed,

The power of Congress, in its regulation of interstate commerce, and of commerce in the District of Columbia and in the territories, to impose this liability, was not fettered by t

The power to construct, or to authorize individuals or corporations to construct, national highways and bridges from state to state, is essential to the complete control and regula

The 8th section of the 1st article gives to Congress the 'power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,' for the purposes thereinafter mentioned. This grant is gener

that is a conjunct expedition which is directed by competent authority, combining together the actions of two different species of force, for the attainment of some common specific

a common carrier furnishing a necessary link in the transportation under the through bill of lading; that it was not named in the bill of lading is unimportant

each in the discharge of its duties to the public, owed to shippers of freight in its possession destined to points on or routed over the railway of the other the duty to deliver t

To qualify as a 'connecting line' under § 3(4) of the Interstate Commerce Act, 'in the absence of physical connection, a carrier need only show that it participates in an establish

There is no warrant for limiting the meaning of 'connecting lines' to those having a direct physical connection with the Clinchfield. The term is commonly used as referring to all

that state of affairs wherein an applicant, or an officer of, principal stockholder of, person having a substantial interest in or management responsibility for, a corporation or o

The local government being destroyed, the conqueror may set up its own authority, and make rules and regulations for the conduct of temporary government, and to that end may collec

By this substitution of a new supremacy, although the former political relations of the inhabitants were dissolved, their private relations, their rights vested under the Governmen

The conscientious objector is relieved from the obligation to bear arms in obedience to no constitutional provision, express or implied; but because, and only because, it has accor

A consequential consecutive disability, that reflects to an alien from one that must derive by or through him, though he perchance be a natural born subject (doth impede)... and th

Communities are of two sorts,—consensual and legal. A consensual community arises out of contract. It does not significantly differ in origin or nature from such a status as was in

reliance upon the "margins" by which state legislatures have enacted bans on execution of the retarded.

Nothing less than a clear showing of grievous wrong evoked by new and unforeseen conditions should lead us to change what was decreed after years of litigation with the consent of

the test to be applied in answering this question is whether the change served to effectuate or to thwart the basic purpose of the original consent decree

It is a judicial function and an exercise of the judicial power to render judgment on consent. A judgment upon consent is 'a judicial act.

We are of opinion that he did [abandon his extra-territorial immunity]; and was bound by the decision of the state court to the same extent to which the citizens of that state were

When a prosecutor seeks to rely upon consent to justify the lawfulness of a search, he has the burden of proving that the consent was, in fact, freely and voluntarily given; this b

The defendant had executed a power of attorney that made service on the superintendent the equivalent of personal service. If by a corporate vote it had accepted service in this sp

consent to sue the United States is a privilege accorded, not the grant of a property right protected by the Fifth Amendment. The consent may be withdrawn, although given after muc

if an insurance corporation of another state transacts business in Pennsylvania without complying with its provisions, it will be deemed to have assented to any valid terms prescri

Consent to proceed summarily may be formally expressed, or the right to litigate the disputed claim by the ordinary procedure in a plenary suit, like the right to a jury trial, may

When a law enforcement officer claims authority to search a home under a warrant, he announces in effect that the occupant has no right to resist the search; the situation is insti

The settled rules of law precluded his considering in that determination consequential damages for losses to their business, or for its destruction.

When there is an entire taking of a condemnee's property, whether that property represents the interest in a leasehold or a fee, the expenses of removal or of relocation are not to

in context 'conservation of property' seems to refer to operations performed with respect to the property itself, such as safeguarding or upkeep, rather than to a taxpayer's retent

that portion of the capacity of reservoirs available for the storage of water for subsequent release for domestic, municipal, irrigation and industrial uses, or any of them, and it

a payment, distribution, gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit of money, or anything of value, or a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, to

There is no necessity of looking for the consideration for a legislative contract outside of the objects for which the corporation was created. These objects were deemed by the leg

He cannot set up the want of a consideration received by himself; he is not permitted to say that the promise is made without consideration; because money paid by the promissee to

taken into account, or included in the accounting.

Consignment is a mercantile phrase, adopted to distinguish the person, to whose care a ship is addressed, and, when applied to the owners, it is merely in conformity to forms. It i

When, however, a 'consignment' device is used to cover a vast gasoline distribution system, fixing prices through many retail outlets, the antitrust laws prevent calling the 'consi

The purpose of requiring consolidated returns by affiliated corporations was, as the government contends, to impose the war profits tax, according to true net income and invested c

The purpose of the section was to provide a method of computing the tax upon the true net income of what is in practical effect a single business enterprise, with substantially com

Its use is in the restricted sense of the formation of a 'single system for ownership' as well as for 'operation.' This distinction between control where separate ownership continu

The joining of several owners of cargo conveyed in the same ship in a libel in rem for damages done to the goods in the course of shipment, and the consolidation of libels filed se

A conspiracy to accomplish what an individual is free to do may be a crime; and even more plainly a person may conspire for the commission of a crime by a third person. We will ass

in an indictment for conspiring to commit an offense—in which the conspiracy is the gist of the crime—it is not necessary to allege with technical precision all the elements essent

The Sherman Act denounces every conspiracy in restraint of trade including those that are to be carried on by acts constituting intrastate transactions.

it is not essential that such a conspiracy shall contemplate a financial loss or that one shall result. The statute is broad enough in its terms to include any conspiracy for the p

those items of expense which are incurred by a business regardless of the scale of its operations — essentially the equivalent of what is commonly called overhead expenses

Minerals and standing timber are constituent elements of the land itself.

A constitution, from its nature, deals in generals, not in detail. Its framers cannot perceive minute distinctions which arise in the progress of the nation, and therefore confine

They were not designed as limits upon the State governments in reference to their own citizens, but exclusively as restrictions upon Federal power.

It is a general and fundamental rule that if a statute be reasonably susceptible of two interpretations, one of which would render it unconstitutional and the other valid, it is th

if the section admits of two interpretations, each of which is within the constitutional authority of congress, that ought to be adopted, which best conforms to the terms and the o

If there is one doctrine more deeply rooted than any other in the process of constitutional adjudication, it is that we ought not to pass on questions of constitutionality—here the

The Constitution was written to be understood by the voters; its words and phrases were used in their normal and ordinary as distinguished from technical meaning; where the intenti

Those established under the specific power given in section 2 of article 3 are called constitutional courts. They share in the exercise of the judicial power defined in that sectio

the constitutional equality of the states is essential to the harmonious operation of the scheme upon which the Republic was organized. When that equality disappears we may remain

the doctrine that one who utilizes an Act to gain advantages of corporate existence is estopped from questioning the validity of its vital conditions

by virtue of the Bill of Rights enacted by Congress for the Philippine Islands ... guaranties equivalent to the due process and equal protection of the law clause of the 14th Amend

The Constitution immunizes the United States and its property from taxation by the States, but it does not forbid a tax whose legal incidence is upon a contractor doing business wi

Constitutional insubstantiality' for this purpose has been equated with such concepts as 'essentially fictitious,' 'wholly insubstantial,' 'obviously frivolous,' and 'obviously wit

An accused is entitled to have charges against him considered by a jury in the selection of which there has been neither inclusion nor exclusion because of race.

the classification scheme is invidious or if the challenged provision significantly impairs interests protected by the First Amendment.

complete" control over all exercises of the judicial power—or, as the plurality opinion said in "Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co.," 458 U.S. 50 , 58-59,

Inherent Fourth Amendment rights are not inevitably measurable in terms of ancient niceties of tort or real property law. Decision does not turn upon the technicality of a trespass

When the Constitution requires a hearing, it requires a fair one, one before a tribunal which meets at least currently prevailing standards of impartiality.

Classifications based solely upon race must be scrutinized with particular care, since they are contrary to our traditions and hence constitutionally suspect.

a constitutionally unfair trial takes place only where the barriers and safeguards are so relaxed or forgotten, as in Moore v. Dempsey, supra, that the proceeding is more a spectac

a question having sufficient substance to deserve serious consideration, and not one which is so devoid of merit as to be fanciful or frivolous, or which is not open to discussion

The constitutional requirement of definiteness is violated by a criminal statute that fails to give a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice that his contemplated conduct is f

The Constitution of the United States is not intended as a facility for crime. it is intended to prevent oppression; and its letter and its spirit are satisfied if, where a crimina

Construction is the drawing of conclusions respecting subjects that lie beyond the direct expression of the text, from elements known from and given in the text,—conclusions which

Expenditures necessary to construct an irrigation system and put it in condition to furnish and properly to distribute a supply of water are chargeable to construction

The rules established in England before the revolution, respecting the construction of awards, have been more liberal and favorable than formerly; that many of the nice distinction

should the word children, as used in these statutes, be more restricted than when used in a will? In the construction of wills, unless there is something to control a different mea

a man's covenant shall not be strained so as to be unreasonable, or that it was improbable to be so intended, without necessary words to make it such; for it is unreasonable to sup

A written contract, a bond, note, &c. whatever is the act of the party, is a subject for the construction of the court; but this is not the act of the party, but a mere deposition.

Whatever the legislative power may be, its acts ought never to be so construed as to subvert the rights of property, unless its intention so to do shall be expressed in such terms

all rights which are asserted against the State must be clearly defined, and not raised by inference or presumption; and if the charter is silent about a power, it does not exist.

those rules for construing statutes, which are dictated by good sense, and sanctioned by immemorial usage, which require that the intent of the Legislature shall have effect, which

It is undoubtedly the duty of the Court to ascertain the meaning of the legislature, from the words used in the statute, and the subject matter to which it relates; and to restrain

The general words used in the clause of the patent laws granting the exclusive right to the patentee to use the improvement, taken by themselves, and literally construed, without r

In seeking its true construction, little assistance can be had from technical rules. The guiding principle must be, to seek the intention of the settlor. We mean, of course, his in

It is the proper province of testimony to show the notoriety and names of places, but not to explain a written instrument. That is the proper province of the Court. The Judges must

But in this case the question arises upon, a written instrument, and no principle is more clearly settled, than that the construction of a written evidence is exclusively with the

The argument that the statute should not be construed as applying to the use of a yacht wholly beyond the territorial limits of the United States, since if so interpreted it would

an offered abandonment may be accepted, even when the assured has no right to abandon, and, if accepted, it must be with its consequences. And an acceptance need not be expressly m

Upon the issuing of the patent to John Craig, in November 1784, the possession then being vacant, he became, by operation of law, vested with a constructive actual seisin of the wh

And here it may be proper to premise, that in the examination of the case made by the bill, it cannot be considered as one of constructive fraud, arising out of some peculiar relat

in its nature no more than evidence of notice, the presumption of which is so violent that the court will not even allow of its being controverted.

indirect notice is usually efficient notice when the proceedings affect real estate. Of what concerns or may concern their real estate men usually keep informed, and on that probab

Before one may be punished, it must appear that his case is plainly within the statute; there are no constructive offenses.

a person, though lacking such physical custody, still has the power and intent to exercise control over the object.

the court which first obtains jurisdiction and constructive possession of property by filing the bill is entitled to retain it without interference and cannot be deprived of its ri

There was no constructive receipt of the profits by the company in that year, because at no time during the year was there a right in the company to demand that the receiver pay ov

There are cases in which there is a constructive seizin in deed, which is sufficient for all the purposes of action in legal intendment. . . . They are founded upon this plain reas

equity will fasten a constructive trust upon property in order to frustrate a violation of fiduciary duty. But the mere failure to pay a debt does not belong in that category. At n

We hold that Dunn and Gillam were constructive trustees of whatever interest they acquired in the Thomas lease, and of the proceeds derived from the transfer thereof to the Bull He

A consul, though a public agent, is supposed to be clothed with authority only for commercial purposes. He has an undoubted right to interpose claims for the restitution of propert

a Vice Consul duly recognised by our Government, is a competent party to assert or defend the rights of property of the individuals of his nation, in any Court having jurisdiction

any person which, for monetary fees, dues, or on a cooperative nonprofit basis, regularly engages in whole or in part in the practice of assembling or evaluating consumer credit in

diversions from the stream less such return flow thereto as is available for consumptive use in the United States or in satisfaction of the Mexican Treaty obligation.

Death must be 'contemplated,' that is, the motive which induces the transfer must be of the sort which leads to testamentary disposition. ... The question, necessarily, is as to th