Definitions from Case Law

They constitute contemporaneous construction by those charged with the administration of the act, are for that reason entitled to respectful consideration, and will not be overrule

the constitutional status of an allegedly obscene work must be determined on the basis of a national standard. It is, after all, a national Constitution we are expounding.

The dual function of contempt has long been recognized—(1) vindication of the public interest by punishment of contemptuous conduct; (2) coercion to compel the contemnor to do what

A publication likely to reach the eyes of a jury, declaring a witness in a pending cause a perjurer, would be none the less a contempt that it was true. It would tend to obstruct t

In contempt proceedings for its enforcement, a decree will not be expanded by implication or intendment beyond the meaning of its terms when read in the light of the issues and the

To preserve order in the courtroom for the proper conduct of business, the court must act instantly to suppress disturbance or violence or physical obstruction or disrespect to the

the wilful removal beyond the reach of the court of the subject-matter of the litigation, or its destruction pending an appeal from a decree praying, among other things, an injunct

No act is so punishable unless it is of a nature to obstruct the performance of the duties of the Legislature.

a contempt of court, or of the members thereof, committed in open court, or in immediate view and presence, tending to interrupt its proceedings, or to impair the respect due to it

The power to punish for contempts is inherent in all courts. It is essential to the administration of justice. The courts of the United States, when called into existence and veste

Contempt proceedings are sui generis because they are not hedged about with all the safeguards provided in the bill of rights for protecting one accused of ordinary crime from the

above all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content.

As applied to public land affairs the term 'contest' has been long employed to designate a proceeding by an adverse or intending claimant, conducted in his own interest, against th

what Congress intended by 'the contingency on which the claim is founded' was the contingency on which liability under the policy was bottomed, namely,—permanent disability or deat

Except as otherwise specifically provided by statute, a liability does not accrue as long as it remains contingent.

A contingent remainder is where the estate in remainder is limited either to a dubious and uncertain person, or upon the happening of a dubious and uncertain event.

What Congress has done by §24 is to create contingent renewal rights. Congress has provided that, when the author dies before the renewal period arrives, special rules in derogatio

It has been repeatedly decided in this court, that a motion for the continuance of the cause addresses itself to the sound judicial discretion of the court, and its decision, for o

The question is, whether a refusal to continue a cause can be assigned for error. The impression of the court is, that it cannot. Has the party, by law, a right to a continuance in

By the general rule of public law, recognized by the United States, whenever political jurisdiction and legislative power over territory are transferred from one nation to another,

that 'the absence shall have been continuous' for at least six months, 4 except when the department of welfare finds there are 'exceptional circumstances of need.

Though the result of a conspiracy may be continuing, the conspiracy does not thereby become a continuing one. The statute of limitations runs from the last overt act during the exi

The contempt of this case, although single, was of a continuing nature: each refusal on June 30 continued the witness' defiance of proper authority.

this being a continuing guarantee, in which the parties contemplated a series of transactions, and as soon as the defendants had received notice of the acceptance, they must necess

a continuing guaranty, if supported at the outset by a sufficient consideration, is a binding contract which is neither revocable by the guarantor nor terminable by his death, alth

The distinction is between restraints that give protection to rights fully accrued upon facts so nearly permanent as to be substantially impervious to change, and those that involv

a concept of continuing jeopardy that has application where criminal proceedings against an accused have not run their full course

The existence of wholly contingent obligations, whether contractual or otherwise, is adequate to support the results reached in Douglas v. Willcuts, supra. For in that case it was

A continuing offense is a continuous, unlawful act or series of acts set on foot by a single impulse and operated by an unintermittent force, however long a time it may occupy. Whe

when the Government chooses not to condemn land but to bring about a taking by a continuing process of physical events, the owner is not required to resort either to piecemeal or t

The bill shows a continuing trespass of such nature and of such character of injury that remedies at law by actions for damages would be inadequate, and would, besides, entail repe

the enforcement, as distinguished from the execution, of such an agreement as this constitutes a suable unfair labor practice only for six months following the making of the agreem

petitioner is not entitled to a carry-over since the income against which the offset is claimed was not produced by substantially the same businesses which incurred the losses

where, pursuant to a plan, the interest of the stockholders of a corporation continues to be definitely represented in substantial measure in a new or different one, then to the ex

The crucial question to be settled in determining whether personal property or merchandise moving in interstate commerce is subject to local taxation is that of its continuity of t

The amount and kind of activities which must be carried on by the foreign corporation in the state of the forum so as to make it reasonable and just to subject the corporation to t

if a party choose to withdraw his application for a patent, and pay the forfeit, intending at the time of such withdrawal to file a new petition, and he accordingly do so, the two

when the plot contemplates bringing to pass a continuous result that will not continue without the continuous co-operation of the conspirators to keep it up, and there is such cont

with reasonable regularity.

the voyage from London to the blockaded port was, as to cargo, both in law and in the intent of the parties, one voyage; and that the liability to condemnation, if captured during

So also of provisions, they are not, in general, contraband; but if the produce of an enemy's country, and not destined for the ordinary sustenance of human life, but for military

All the elements of a contract met in the transaction,—competent parties, proper subject-matter, sufficient consideration, and consent of minds.

any person, (other than a common carrier), who or which, under special and individual contracts or agreements, and whether directly or by a lease or any other arrangement, transpor

any person which, under individual contracts or agreements, engages in the transportation (other than transportation referred to in paragraph (d) and the exception therein) by wate

It was decided in this Court on solemn argument and much deliberation, that this provision of the constitution extends to contracts to which a state is a party, as well as to contr

This clause, as its terms disclose, is not directed against all impairment of contract obligations, but only against such as results from a subsequent exertion of the legislative p

It is too well settled to be open to further debate, that where this court is called upon in the exercise of its jurisdiction to decide whether state legislation impairs the obliga

Courts, in the construction of contracts, look to the language employed, the subject-matter, and the surrounding circumstances. They are never shut out from the same light which th

A contract that on its face requires an illegal act, either of the contractor or a third person, no more imposes a liability to damages for nonperformance than it creates an equity

These provisions of law, existing when the corporation applied for leave to enter the state, made the payment required, and received its permit, amounted to a contract that the for

An implied contract in order to give the Court of Claims or a district court under the Tucker Act jurisdiction to give judgment against the government must be one implied in fact a

The Tucker Act does not give a right of action against the United States in those cases where, if the transaction were between private parties, recovery could be had upon a contrac

a contract made in aid of the late rebellion, or in furtherance and support thereof, is void

The agreement to save the ship and cargo, under the semblance of a condemnation, was not, in itself, an immoral act; it was, as has been truly said, a stratagem which the laws of w

the type of 'contracting out' involved in this case—the replacement of employees in the existing bargaining unit with those of an independent contractor to do the same work under s

both the requesting state and the receiving state.

only such contracts as are in "unreasonable" restraint of trade; and when that term is used in the Federal statute it is not intended to include all contracts in restraint of trade

The statute applies to contracts not wholly to be performed within the year. The possibility of defeasance does not make it the less a contract not to be performed within the year.

The contract of affreightment, like every other contract, is the creature of the will of the contracting parties. It may be varied to infinity, and easily adapted to the exigencies

any agreement to perform work, Mr. Oliveira's agreement with New Prime falls within §1's exception.

A contract of insurance, although made with a corporation having its office in a state other than that in which the insured resides and in which the interest insured is located, is

The contract of insurance upon freight is, that the goods shall arrive at the port of delivery notwithstanding the perils insured against; and that, if they fail thus to arrive, an

where parties join together their money, goods, labor, or skill, for the purposes of trade or gain, and where there is a community of profits

when the terms of the sale are agreed on, and the bargain is struck, and everything the seller has to do with the property is complete, the contract of sale becomes absolute betwee

This is a contract of suretyship or guaranty. It is a promise of one person to answer for another person, in consideration of this latter obtaining some trust, confidence or credit

a subcontractor.

If what is agreed to be done is possible and lawful, it must be done. Difficulty or improbability of accomplishing the undertaking will not avail the defendant. It must be shown th

We all know that there are cases where a contract may be valid, notwithstanding it is remotely connected with an independent illegal transaction, which, however, it is not designed

Although the obligations of such a contract are protected by the Federal Constitution from impairment by the state, the contract itself is not property, which, as such, can be tran

The validity and interpretation of contracts are to be governed by the laws of the country where they are made; but the remedy must be according to the laws of the country where th

Contract in labor law is a term the implications of which must be determined from the connection in which it appears. It is enough that this is clearly an agreement between employe

contracts must be understood as made in reference to the possible exercise of the rightful authority of the government, and no obligation of a contract can extend to the defeat of

The constitutional inhibition upon any state law impairing the obligation of contracts is not a limitation upon the power of eminent domain. The obligation of a contract is not imp

Contracts for shipbuilding are held not to be maritime contracts

? If it refers only to contracts that reflect an employer-employee relationship, then §1's exception is irrelevant and a court is free to order arbitration, just as New Prime urges

When they seek, however, to impose price fixing on persons who have not contracted or agreed to the scheme, the situation is vastly different. That is not price fixing by contract

The admiralty jurisdiction does not extend to a contract for building a vessel, or to work done or materials furnished in its construction. ... In respect to such contracts it was

A contract to pay a certain number of dollars in gold or silver coins is, therefore, in legal import, nothing else than an agreement to deliver a certain weight of standard gold, t

A contract to pay a certain sum in gold and silver coin is, in substance and legal effect, a contract to deliver a certain weight of gold and silver of a certain fineness, to be as

His cause of action was not purely statutory. It did not arise upon the constitutional rule of law, but upon the contractual liability created in pursuance of the rule. Although th

Under ordinary conditions, a valid agreement can be made for purchase and sale without the fixing of a specific price. In such a case a reasonable price is presumed to have been in

The phraseology of contracts of insurance is that chosen by the insurer and the contract in fixed form is tendered to the prospective policyholder who is often without technical tr

The phrase 'contrary to law' as used in the later act is unqualified and taken in its natural meaning signifies 'contrary to any law

it is only where enforcement conflicts with dominant public interests that one who has had the benefit of performance by the other party to a contract will be permitted to avoid hi

a gift of money made by a written instrument which identifies the person making the contribution by full name and mailing address, but does not include a subscription, loan, advanc

any direct or indirect payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift, of money, or any services, or anything of value to any candidate, campaign committee, or political pa

The values which the taxpayer received were additions to 'capital' as that term has commonly been understood in both business and accounting practice; contributions to capital may

The case as stated concerns the liability of the defendant as a contributory infringer upon the assumption that, in the manner described, it assembles the various elements essentia

Contributory negligence, on the other hand, is the omission of the employee to use those precautions for his own safety which ordinary prudence requires.

By the 3d section of the employers' liability act a recovery is not prevented in a case of contributory negligence, since the statute substitutes for it a system of comparative neg

Congress has directed liability if the injury resulted 'in whole or in part' from defendant's negligence or its violation of the Safety Appliance Act; if the jury determines that t

the ownership of stock possessing at least 80 percent of the total combined voting power of all classes of stock entitled to vote and at least 80 percent of the total number of sha

To determine whether a given case falls within the one class or the other we must inquire whose is the work being performed, a question which is usually answered by ascertaining wh

The test is whether or not there is such close identity of interests between the claimant and the city that the claimant's assent to the plan may fairly be said to be more the prod

a "brother-sister controlled group," defined as "[t]wo or more corporations if 5 or fewer persons .

housing accommodations in any defense-rental area, except that it does not include — (1) those housing accommodations, in any establishment which is commonly known as a hotel in th

It is a settled principle that trustees having the power to exercise discretion will not be interfered with so long as they are acting bona fide. To do so would be to substitute th

whether or not King falls within the category of fiduciaries on whom such responsibility should be placed depends, not on the title of his position or the mode of his appointment,

Such controversies embrace litigation which arises after the adjudication in bankruptcy, sometimes by intervention, the parties claiming title to property in the hands of the trust

By cases and controversies are intended the claims of litigants brought before the courts for determination by such regular proceedings as are established by law or custom for the