Definitions from Case Law

slaves, because free persons cannot be said to be imported.'

The laying of a duty on imports, although an exercise of the taxing power, is also an exercise of the power to regulate foreign commerce... The exemption of imports from the duty o

the settled law is that no one but the owner or consignee, or in case of his sickness or absence, his agent or factor, is authorized to discharge that obligation [of entering goods

Sales by the importer are held to be exempt from State taxation because the importer purchases, by the payment of the duty, a right to dispose of the merchandise as well as to brin

men as well as things cannot, it seems to me, be denied.

if a party by his contract charge himself with an obligation possible to be performed, he must make it good, unless its performance is rendered impossible by the act of God, the la

if a deed for land is to be made void, by the happening of a subsequent condition, the performance of which is impossible at the time the deed is made, the condition only is void,

Impost is a duty on imported goods and merchandise. In a larger sense, it is any tax or imposition.

all taxes makes superfluous several of the terms of Art. I, § 8, cl. 1 of the Constitution, which grants Congress the "Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises."

if a lessee covenanteth to leave a wood in as good plight as the wood was at the time of the lease, and afterwards the trees are overturned by tempest, he is discharged of his cove

Extraordinary and unforeseen occasions arise, however, beyond all doubt, in cases of extreme necessity in time of war or of immediate and impending public danger, in which private

Can it be doubted but the legislatures of the States, so far as relates to their own process, have a right to abolish imprisonment for debt altogether, and that such law might exte

imprisonment for life without possibility of parole.'

Entries made subsequent to the plaintiffs' grant, whatever might be the impression under which they were made, could not possibly affect the title, and were therefore clearly inadm

An improvement patent, like the basic patent to which it relates, is a legalized monopoly for a limited period.

all buildings, structures, fixtures, and fences erected upon or affixed to the land.

That form of insanity called impulsive insanity, by which the person is irresistibly impelled to the commission of an act, is recognized by writers on this subject. It is sometimes

The general rule which imputes an agent's knowledge to the principal is well established. The underlying reason for it is that an innocent third party may properly presume that the

The liability thus limited is an imputed liability; it is a liability imputed by law by reason of the ownership of the vessel. For his own fault, neglect, and contracts the owner r

Whether a passenger or guest in a public or private conveyance, having no control over its movement, may be denied a right of recovery for personal injury or death on the ground of

when the inaccessibility of employees makes ineffective the reasonable attempts by nonemployees to communicate with them through the usual channels, the right to exclude from prope

Again, it is ruled, that inadequacy of consideration is not of itself a distinct principle of equity. The common law knows no such principle. The consideration, be it more or less,

The inadequacy must be tested by the value of the property at the time of the sales, and not by its present value.

Sufficient time to allow the Defense a chance to prepare its defense.

the power to correct inadvertent ministerial errors may not be used as a guise for changing previous decisions because the wisdom of those decisions appears doubtful in the light o

something other than "in the State of Alaska." The subsistence-protection provisions of the statute must be viewed in the context of the Act as a whole.

The doctrine that a corporate charter is a contract which the Constitution of the United States protects against impairment by subsequent state legislation is ever limited in the a

in all other respects" than those provided for in-so much of the section as precedes the word ""Provided" "and does not qualify the clause which forms the proviso.

is also the most salient feature of the provision in which it occurs.

a continuous period that commences no earlier than twelve months before the commission of the offense or that ends no later than twelve months after the commission of the offense.

the act of Virginia of 1779, having allowed 400 acres of land to those who had made a settlement before the first of January 1778, and having founded that allowance on the charge a

The homestead law in terms subjects unsurveyed public lands, if agricultural and unappropriated, to settlement by persons having the requisite qualifications and intending to compl

the defendant's, if any, was but an inchoate and equitable title, which might avail in a court of chancery, but it could not avail the defendant in action of ejectment

The statute creates no estate in the wife during her husband's lifetime, but merely an inchoate and contingent interest, which depends upon her survivorship and is extinguished if

An inchoate lien is not enough to defeat the priority [of the United States]. Unless the law of Florida effected, at least as early as the date of insolvency, either a transfer of

By the common law a party entitled to a share of a thing forfeited, acquires by the seizure an inchoate right, which is consummated by a decree of condemnation, and when so consumm

inchoate rights such as those of Cerre were of imperfect obligation and affected only the conscience of the new sovereign. They were not of such a nature (until that sovereign gave

the right of the collector to forfeitures in rem, attached on the seizure, but that the right must be defined and consummated by the judgment or decree

The effect of these provisions was to invest the state in praesenti with an inchoate title to those lands falling within the description of the act, to be perfected as of the date

The right of property then is protected and secured by the treaty; and no principle is better settled in this country, than that an inchoate title to lands is property. Independent

the limits of the state's legislative jurisdiction to tax, prescribed by the Fourteenth Amendment, are to be ascertained by reference to the incidence of the tax upon its objects r

We use the word incident as a legal term, meaning something appertaining to and necessarily depending upon another, which is termed the principal.

Every state police statute necessarily will affect interstate commerce in some degree, but such a statute does not run counter to the grant of Congressional power merely because it

a state statute enacted for admissible state purposes and which affects interstate commerce only incidentally and remotely is not a prohibited state regulation in the sense of that

incidents of ownership possessed by the decedent at his death as manager of the community.

the Government is not liable under the Federal Tort Claims Act for injuries to servicemen where the injuries arise out of or are in the course of activity incident to service

One of the objects of the Act creating the Federal Trade Commission was to prevent potential injury by stopping unfair methods of competition in their incipiency.

the Federal Trade Commission Act was designed to supplement and bolster the Sherman Act and the Clayton Act... to stop in their incipiency acts and practices which, when full blown

the constitutional guarantees of free speech and free press do not permit a State to forbid or proscribe advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy

In definitive provisions of statutes and other writings, 'include' is frequently, if not generally, used as a word of extension or enlargement rather than as one of limitation or e

The natural distinction would be that where 'means' is employed, the term and its definition are to be interchangeable equivalents, and that the verb 'includes' imports a general c

To attribute to the participial phrase introduced by 'including' a function of limiting the general power granted would be to shrivel a versatile principle to an illustrative appli

accessions to wealth, clearly realized, and over which the taxpayers have complete dominion.

income derived from mere ownership of the bonds is clearly different from income derived from dealings or transactions in the bonds... an exemption of 'income derived' from a secur

income from oil and gas only; that, where the lessee turns over royalty oil in kind to the lessor, the amount retained by lessee is the basis for his computation of depletion and t

any tax levied on, with respect to, or measured by, net income, gross income, or gross receipts.

if the halt in the movement of the goods is a convenient intermediate step in the process of getting them to their final destinations, they remain 'in commerce' until they reach th

petitioner's 'deliberate and insubordinate refusal to answer the questions of his administrative superior in a vitally important matter pertaining to his fitness.' 386 Pa.

a person charged by a State with a criminal offense who is committed solely on account of his incapacity to proceed to trial cannot be held more than the reasonable period of time

Where the documentary evidences of title produced by the claimant contain no sufficient lines or boundaries to show that any definite and distinct parcel of land was severed from t

A transfer made subject to a power of revocation in the transferor, terminable at his death, is not complete until his death.

mutual agreement in a common plan or enterprise.

not what it says, but rather `a subset of any,' the Court distorts the plain meaning of the statute and departs from established principles of statutory construction.

a period of pretrial detention for which a defendant receives credit against the sentence ultimately imposed.

Section 10(b) must be read flexibly, not technically and restrictively. It is not limited to preserving the integrity of the securities markets. Congress meant to bar deceptive dev

The words 'in consideration of' do not import a technical consideration, such as is needed in a private bargain not under seal, but the inducement that led Congress to make the pro

Flat contradiction between the witness' testimony and the version of the events given in his reports is not the only test of inconsistency. The omission from the reports of facts r

the controlling question is with respect to the state of mind of the debtor and whether the thought of bankruptcy was the impelling cause of the transaction

The words 'in contemplation of death' mean that the thought of death is the impelling cause of the transfer, and while the belief in the imminence of death may afford convincing ev

A provision making a policy 'incontestable' except for certain clearly designated reasons is wholly meaningless and ineffective if, after proof of the loss insured against, the pol

not met by mere conclusory allegations of the pleadings—nor by mere relevance to the case—but require an affirmative showing by the movant that each condition as to which the exami

The first category had the potentialities of statehood like unto continental territories. The United States Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, fully applied to an 'incorpo

The adoption of an earlier statute by reference makes it as much a part of the later act as though it had been incorporated at full length. It brings into the later act 'all that i

When the importer sells the imported articles, or otherwise mixes them with the general property of the State by breaking up the packages, the state of things changes... the tax th

Neither the contract nor the reservation in his deed gave him a corporeal interest in the marble in situ. It was not a grant to him of the marble, or a grant of a right to quarry a

increased value means the value augmented since the original payment of the duties; and that the five per cent. is to be computed on the value of the materials when those duties we

Mere advance in value in no sense constitutes the gains, profits, or income specified by the statute. It constitutes and can be treated merely as increase of capital.

But it seems to accord with principle, that the increase or offspring should belong to the owner of the mother.

that buyers are "closer to most major retailers" than ever before— "regardless of how close or far the nearest storefront." Direct Marketing Assn.

The judgment as to whether a disclosure would be 'incriminatory' has never been made dependent on an assessment of the information possessed by the Government at the time of interr

To sustain the privilege, it need only be evident from the implications of the question, in the setting in which it is asked, that a responsive answer to the question or an explana

The word 'incurred' was used to mean interest accrued on that date, as well as interest paid.

all taxes "incurred postpetition," regardless of whether the estate is liable for the tax and regardless of the chapter under which a case is filed.

These latter terms, in currency, mean that the designated number of dollars is payable in an equal number of notes which are current in the community as dollars.

We therefore think, there was no default in him, that the goods were in custodia legis, subject to his lien, and were, consequently, wrongfully taken by the defendant, under the wr

a prisoner serving consecutive sentences is 'in custody' under any one of them for purposes of § 2241(c)(3)

if the other party has derived any benefit from the labor done, it would be unjust to allow him to retain that without paying anything. The law, therefore, implies a promise on his

indebtedness existing at the close of business December 31, 1937, and evidenced by bond, note, debenture, certificate of indebtedness, mortgage or deed of trust issued by the corpo

where there is a specific tract of land confirmed, according to ascertained boundaries, the confirmee takes a title on which he may sue in ejectment… But where the claim has no cer

the written contract of a permanent teacher 'shall be deemed to continue in effect for an indefinite period and shall be known as an indefinite contract.' Such an indefinite contra

It is said to be a rule of construction, that the words 'dying without issue,' will be construed to mean 'an indefinite failure of issue' as to real estate; but with regard to pers

It is not denied that if she be taken during the same voyage in which the offence was committed, though after it was committed, she is considered as being still in delicto, and sub

An indemnity grant, like the residuary clause in a will, contemplates the uncertain and looks to the future. What a railroad is to be indemnified for may be fixed as of the moment

gas companies not having any electric affiliations and gas companies not jointly operated with electric companies serving the same franchise area.

a judgment of a state court which is put upon a nonfederal ground, independent of the federal question involved and broad enough to sustain the judgment, cannot be reviewed by this

The railroad company did not retain the right to direct the manner in which the business should be done, as well as the results to be accomplished, or, in other words, did not reta

"an establishment in the executive branch," with exceptions not relevant here, "which is not an Executive department, military department, Government corporation, or part thereof,

only those expenditures that "expressly advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate." "Id.," at 80, 96 S.Ct., at 664.

The claim is not for rent reserved or upon the lease as such, but is founded upon an independent express contract, and hence within the very words of section 63(a)(4) of the act.

where the Supreme Court of a state decides a federal question in rendering a judgment, and also decides against the plaintiff in error upon an independent ground not involving a fe