Definitions from Case Law

Some conduct, however, is so 'inherently destructive of employee interests' that it may be deemed proscribed without need for proof of an underlying improper motive. That is, some

[C]lassifications based on alienage, like those based on nationality or race, are inherently suspect and subject to close judicial scrutiny.

The authority of a court to dismiss sua sponte for lack of prosecution has generally been considered an 'inherent power,' governed not by rule or statute but by the control necessa

any existing defects, diseases, decay or the inherent nature of the commodity which will cause it to deteriorate with a lapse of time

That an alien has no inheritable blood, and can neither take land himself by descent, nor transmit land from himself to others by descent, is common learning, and requires no reaso

Inheritance is governed by the lex rei sitae. It is not a natural or absolute right, but the creation of statute law. If one claim the right to succeed to the real property of anot

The distinction sought to be made between acquisition through such a judgment and acquisition by a compromise agreement in lieu of such a judgment is too formal to be sound, as it

An inheritance or estate tax is not levied on the property of which an estate is composed. Rather it is imposed upon the shifting of economic benefits and the privilege of transmit

liability for the usury penalty does not arise in contract but is laid in invitum as a disciplinary measure; the penalty is imposed by operation of law against the will of the part

The bill of lading required to be issued by the initial carrier upon an interstate shipment governs the entire transportation. The terms of the original bill of lading were not alt

while each connecting carrier is, of course, liable for damage occurring on its line, only the initial carrier is liable for damage on any of the connections

Under the Carmack amendment, as already construed in the Riverside Mills Case, wherever the carrier voluntarily accepts goods for shipment to a point on another line, in another st

the first exhibition of any film within the City of Dallas.

the payments received in cash or property other than evidences of indebtedness of the purchaser during the taxable period in which the sale or other disposition is made.

any payment, contribution, or loan required as a condition precedent to membership, whether or not any such payment, contribution, or loan is evidenced by a certificate of interest

There is no power, the exercise of which is more delicate, which requires greater caution, deliberation, and sound discretion, or more dangerous in a doubtful case, than the issuin

It may be stated as a general principle, with regard to injunctions after a judgment at law, that any fact which proves it to be against conscience to execute such judgment, and of

when at last deemed allowable, it was only where the community at large, or some individual, felt interested in having the supposed nuisance immediately prostrated on account of it

an injunction bill to restrain the collection of a tax, on the sole ground of the illegality of the tax, cannot be maintained. There must be an allegation of fraud; that it creates

An injunctive order is an extraordinary writ, enforceable by the power of contempt.

suffered an invasion of a business or property right"—that is, a business or property tort.4 The invasion of a personal right, they assert, never gives rise to a cause of action un

an injury resulting from some fortuitous event, as distinguished from the contraction of disease.

the first question is whether the plaintiff alleges that the challenged action has caused him injury in fact, economic or otherwise

A person whose property is diminished by a payment of money wrongfully induced is injured in his property. ... A man is injured in his property when his property is diminished. He

We believe that the Act reaches price discrimination that erodes competition as much as it does price discrimination that is intended to have immediate destructive impact.

a term applied to the passage of boats and vessels on canals and rivers within a country, to distinguish it from navigation, properly so called, by means of shipping on the open se

waters landward of the baseline of the territorial sea, which are now recognized as internal waters of the United States under the Convention on the Territorial Sea and the Contigu

the statute has been interpreted to vest in the trial court broad discretion to determine whether it is more just to allow a recovery based on calculation of actual damages and pro

An initial 'in-line' price 'establishes a firm price at which a producer may operate, pending determination of a just and reasonable rate, without any contingent obligation to make

Persons who stood in loco parentis to the insured for at least one year prior to his entry into active military service were included within the Act's definition of 'parent.' And t

An innkeeper is one who maintains a house for the entertainment of strangers, for a reasonable compensation. To secure this compensation he is given a lien upon the property of his

Whether the party thus misrepresenting a fact, knew it to be false, or made the assertion without knowing whether it were true or false, is wholly immaterial; for the affirmation o

The authority to contract must exist before any protection as an innocent purchaser can be claimed by the holder. This is the law even as respects commercial paper, alleged to have

a doctrine known by the Latin phrase in pari delicto, which literally means 'of equal fault'; the doctrine has been applied in a wide variety of situations in which a plaintiff see

A Court of Equity will not intervene to give relief to either party from the consequences of such an agreement. The maxim 'in pari delicto potior est conditio defendantis' must pre

The patent laws which give a 17-year monopoly on 'making, using, or selling the invention' are in pari materia with the antitrust laws and modify them pro tanto

where the judgment sought is strictly in personam, both the state court and the federal court, having concurrent jurisdiction, may proceed with the litigation at least until judgme

where the judgment sought is strictly in personam, both the state court and the federal court, having concurrent jurisdiction, may proceed with the litigation at least until judgme

The Nevada decree that is said to wipe out respondent's claim for alimony under the New York judgment is nothing less than an attempt by Nevada to restrain respondent from assertin

It is true that, in a strict sense, a proceeding in rem is one taken directly against property, and has for its object the disposition of the property, without reference to the tit

the company took a present title, as of the date of the act, to the lands embraced by the terms of the grant; the words 'that there be, and hereby is, granted' importing 'a transfe

the point where the facts would lead a reasonably diligent plaintiff to investi gate further, that point is not necessarily the point at which the plaintiff would already have disc

The question is not, whether the defendant in fact saw any of the muniments of title, but whether he was not bound to see them. It will not do for a purchaser to close his eyes to

with reference to or as regards.

It has been said that the Court of Admiralty acts in rem, that is, only to make the objects of dispute responsible.

Such a power reposes in any court charged with custody of property. It is an in rem jurisdiction springing from possession of the property which is necessary in order that the cour

It is the opinion of the Court, that the libel is too imperfectly drawn, to found a sentence of condemnation thereon. . . . An information in rem ought to be as precise and formal

if two suits pending, one in a state and the other in a federal court, are in rem or quasi in rem, so that the court or its officer must have possession or control of the property

on a proceeding to sell the real estate of an indebted intestate, there are no adversary parties, the proceeding is in rem, the administrator represents the land; they are analogou

An exception has been made in cases where a court has custody of property, that is, proceedings in rem or quasi in rem. In such cases this Court has said that the state or federal

either the lack of substantial capacity to conform one's conduct to the requirements of the law or the lack of substantial capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of one's acts.

It declares that the inscription preserves such evidence for ten years, and that its effect ceases if not renewed before the expiration of that period. It is the effect of the insc

The term insolvency is not always used in the same sense. It is sometimes used to denote the insufficiency of the entire property and assets of an individual to pay his debts. This

The bankruptcy act contemplates that by remaining in business and at work, an insolvent may become able to pay off his debts. It does not prevent him from continuing in trade, depo

A sovereign state, and one of the states of the Union, if the latter were not restrained by constitutional prohibitions, might, in virtue of sovereignty, act upon the contracts of

A trust so created, to arise upon insolvency, is a preference under another name.

It applies only to liens obtained in legal proceedings against a person who was 'insolvent' when the lien was acquired. If the debtor was then solvent the lien is not invalidated a

The law undoubtedly permits an insolvent to prefer one creditor over another, and allows such creditor to retain such preferential payment against all persons, except the trustee i

Insolvent laws of one State cannot discharge the contracts of citizens of other States; because such laws have no extra territorial operation, and consequently the tribunal sitting

According to the law of Louisiana, on a surrender by the insolvent of his property for the benefit of creditors, the estate vests in the latter sub modo, and is disposed of by them

the terms, in specie, are merely descriptive of the kind of dollars in which the note is payable, there being different kinds in circulation, recognized by law. They mean that the

only the right to "examine or view and nothing- more, is further shown by the fact that in the first proviso in 257 (a), giving certain .

permits a taxpayer to return as taxable income for a given year only 'that proportion of the installment payments actually received in that year which the gross profit realized or

the taxpayer may return in any taxable year that proportion of the installment payments actually received in that year which the gross profit realized or to be realized when paymen

used in the specialized, technical sense in which it is generally employed in the insurance field—namely, to indicate a guaranty that a designated number of monthly payments shall

Where the seizure is made on navigable waters, within the ninth section of the Judiciary Act, the case belongs to the instance side of the District Court; but where the seizure was

Instant action may be necessary where the misbehavior is in the presence of the judge and is known to him, and where immediate corrective steps are needed to restore order and main

inaugurate or commence; as to institute an action.

an institution which is primarily engaged in providing diagnosis, treatment or care of persons with mental diseases, including medical attention, nursing care and related services.

instructional equipment, other than fixtures annexed to and forming part of the real estate, which is suitable for and to be used by children and/or teachers.

books, periodicals, documents, pamphlets, photographs, reproductions, pictorial or graphic works, musical scores, maps, charts, globes, sound recordings, including but not limited

not only written instruments and writings, but also engraved or printed instruments, being or purporting to be the act of another; indeed, all and every kind of instrument by the f

Vehicular roads and bridges are as indispensable to the interstate movement of persons and goods as railroad tracks and bridges are to interstate transportation by rail. If they ar

The mere fact that a private corporation conducts its business under a contract with the United States does not make it an instrumentality of the latter. That control, being wholly

It is not, properly speaking, a rule, but a convenient way of designating the application, in particular circumstances, of the broader equitable principle that the doctrine of corp

this writing is something more than an admission, and stands in a different light from an ordinary receipt. The writing must be treated as the contract of dissolution, between the

Generally, all instruments of suretyship are construed strictly, as mere matters of legal right; the rule is otherwise, where they are founded on a valuable consideration.

It is only necessary to inspect a few cases on this doctrine, to be satisfied, that the term interest, as used in application to the right to insure, does not necessarily imply pro

life insurance of every description, including death benefits paid by fraternal beneficial societies, operating under the lodge system.

This is no more than the application of the general principle, that insurance is a contract of good faith, and is void, whenever imposition is practised.

if this fact of the payment of the premium had been made out, the Court would have been disposed to award Mr. Lindsay payment out of the proceeds of the policy, for although he had

every company, corporation, association, or partnership organized for the purpose of transacting an insurance business.

the contract of insurance entered into between the applicant and the Corporation by virtue of the application for insurance and these regulations and any amendments thereto.

Contracts of insurance, like other contracts, must be construed according to the terms which the parties have used, to be taken and understood, in the absence of ambiguity, in thei

insurance on the granite, or insurance on the cost of the labor, tools and materials used in cutting and boxing it, or only insurance on the materials so used; because, it being fo

Issuing a policy of insurance is not a transaction of commerce. The policies are simple contracts of indemnity against loss by fire, entered into between the corporations and the a

Historically and commonly insurance involves risk-shifting and risk-distributing. That these elements of risk-shifting and risk-distributing are essential to a life insurance contr

every person engaged in the business of making contracts of insurance.

whenever the thing insured becomes by law directly chargeable with any expense, contribution, or loss, in consequence of a particular peril, the law treats that peril, for all prac

intangibles, that is, rights which are not related to physical things. Such rights are but relationships between persons, natural or corporate, which the law recognizes by attachin

In determining whether a state tax imposes an impermissible burden on interstate commerce, the issue is whether the local activity which is made the nominal subject of the tax is '

if the bus carrier has volunteered to make terminal and restaurant facilities and services available to its interstate passengers as a regular part of their transportation, and the

When persons or goods move from a point of origin in one state to a point of destination in another, the fact that a part of that journey consists of transportation by an independe

that which is confidential or clandestine, and the answer is far from obvious.

a defendant's plea of guilty based on reasonably competent advice is an intelligent plea not open to attack on the ground that counsel may have misjudged the admissibility of the d

A rejection of federal constitutional rights motivated by fear cannot, in the circumstances of this case, constitute an intelligent waiver.

If Congress shall lay down by legislative act an intelligible principle to which the person or body authorized to fix such rates is directed to conform, such legislative action is

intended for sale" than to invent the concept of "a relatively particularized objective intent.

Intent may make an otherwise innocent act criminal, if it is a step in a plot.

when the intention with which an act is done, becomes a subject of inquiry, it belongs exclusively to the jury to decide.