Definitions from Case Law

in many circumstances to assure that the proper balance between secrecy and disclosure is struck.

jurisdiction, as distinguished from merits, is wanting where the claim set forth in the pleading is plainly unsubstantial. The federal question averred may be plainly unsubstantial

It is elementary that the meaning of a statute must, in the first instance, be sought in the language in which the act is framed, and if that is plain, and if the law is within the

for the redress of Griffin's constitutional claims, the District Court should not have granted injunctive relief.

where the Legislature makes a plain provision, without making any exception, the courts of justice can make none, as it would be legislating to do so

Looked at as a whole, the Iowa statutes provide a process by which railroads and others may acquire land for their purposes which the owner refuses to sell. ... The intent of the r

In condemnation proceedings the words 'plaintiff' and 'defendant' can be used only in an uncommon and liberal sense. The plaintiff complains of nothing. The defendant denies no pas

objects falling in the plain view of an officer who has a right to be in the position to have that view are subject to seizure and may be introduced in evidence.

the disclosures that constituted the summary plan descriptions.

a "confirmed plan" — meaning one that has been confirmed in the past.

certain waivers of sovereign immunity to which all States implicitly consented at the founding.

that courts need not, and should not, answer with "must" these questions that can more appropriately be answered with "may." The majority also asserts that "[t]he 'unremarkable' pr

The disposition of criminal charges by agreement between the prosecutor and the accused, sometimes loosely called 'plea bargaining,' is an essential component of the administration

Where any fact is necessary to be proved in order to sustain the plaintiff's right of recovery, the declaration must contain an averment substantially of such fact in order to let

Where, therefore, an action is upon a contract subject to a condition precedent, the performance of that condition must be averred and proved; but if the contract sued upon is subj

in order to found a cause of action on the alleged shortcomings of another, they must at least be so far plainly set up as to show actual damage and the wrongful act of the other p

However desirable it may be to admit in evidence, on the general issue in an action of covenant on a policy of insurance, every thing which may avoid the contract, or lessen the da

the rule is a reasonable and just one that the complainant in the first instance shall be confined to a statement of his cause of action, leaving to the defendant to set up in his

no admissions in an answer, can, under any circumstances, lay the foundation for relief, under any specific head of equity, unless it be substantially set forth in the bill.

The court is not of opinion that all those technical niceties which the astuteness of ancient judges and lawyers has introduced into criminal proceedings at common law, and which t

The party who makes such appeal should set forth in his bill specifically what were the impediments to an earlier prosecution of his claim; how he came to be so long ignorant of hi

The objection to jurisdiction upon the ground of citizenship, in actions at law, can only be made by a plea in abatement. After the general issue, it is too late. It cannot be rais

To have constituted it a plea in bar of the action the amount beyond the sum lost should have been tendered and brought into court, setting up the theft as to the balance.

if an administrator fails to sustain his plea of fully administered, he is not, on that account, liable to a judgment beyond the assets to be administered. The plea is not necessar

A plea of guilty differs in purpose and effect from a mere admission or an extrajudicial confession; it is itself a conviction. Like a verdict of a jury it is conclusive. More is n

A plea of nul tiel record to a supposed record of the court in which the plea is made is tried by the court, because it is an issue to be determined by the inspection of its own re

The form is to plead property in the defendant, or in a stranger, traversing property in the plaintiff, which traverse raises the material issue to be tried—the averment of propert

A plea of the statute of limitations is a plea to the merits, and however the issue was raised in the former case, after judgment upon it, it could not be reopened in a later prose

it is perfectly established, that the plea of usury, at least as far as to landed security, is personal and peculiar; and however a third person, having an interest in the land, ma

if after a plea in bar, the defendant pleads a plea puis darien continuance, this is a waiver of his bar; and no advantage shall be taken of any thing in the bar. And it is added,

If the rule of Courts of equity in England is to be applied, there can be no doubt. If a plea, in the apprehension of the complainant, be good in matter, but not true in fact, he m

Thus it has ever been received as a cannon of pleading, that matters which appertain solely to the jurisdiction of a court, or to the disabilities of the suitor, should never be bl

A defendant has no right to anticipate or undertake to control by his pleadings the nature or character of the proof upon which his adversary may think proper to rely in support of

The general law of pledge requires possession, and it cannot exist without it.

In the absence of fraud, the pledgee may buy at his own sale held without notice or demand or advertisement, when power so to do is expressly granted by the pledgeor.

The very plot is an act in itself. But an act, which, in itself, is merely a voluntary muscular contraction, derives all its character from the consequences which will follow it un

a chronic dust disease of the lung and its sequelae, including respiratory and pulmonary impairments, arising out of coal mine employment.

Pocket markets exist because reconsignment is possible only at high combination rates

any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance.

ditch[es]" and "channel[s]," as well as "any discernible, confned and discrete conveyance .

No higher police duty rests upon municipal authority than that of furnishing an ample supply of pure and wholesome water for public and domestic uses. The preservation of the healt

the time-tested conceptional limit of public encroachment upon private interests.

The private employer may likewise fix standards and tests, but, if his business is one in which the public health or safety is concerned, the state may legislate so as to exclude f

The railway company accepted its franchise from the state, subject necessarily to the condition that it would conform at its own expense to any regulations, not arbitrary in their

The 14th Amendment protects the citizen in his right to engage in any lawful business, but it does not prevent legislation intended to regulate useful occupations which, because of

a state or a territory, for the same reasons, in the exercise of the police power, may make rules and regulations not conflicting with the legislation of Congress upon the same sub

Liquor laws are enacted by virtue of the police power to protect the health, morals, and welfare of the public. Such laws may operate to depreciate the principal value of distiller

Laws designed to prevent persons from being misled in respect to the weight, measurement, quality, or ingredients of an article of general consumption are a common exercise of the

It is only its palpably arbitrary exercises which can be declared void under the 14th Amendment. The problems of government are practical ones and may justify, if they do not requi

The principle that a police regulation, valid when adopted, may become invalid because in its operation it has proved to be confiscatory, carries with it the recognition of the fac

A municipal ordinance or police regulations is peculiarly applicable to the inhabitants of a particular place; in other words, it is local in character.

an exception to this general principle is, the regulation of steamboats and other water-craft in the ports and harbors of the States, which is required for the accommodation and sa

In each case the risk assumed by the insurer is the loss of the insured's life, and the payment of the insurance money is contingent upon the loss of life. These insurance policies

Insurance is deemed to be taken out by the decedent in all cases where he pays all the premiums, either directly or indirectly, whether or not he makes the application. On the othe

a definite course or method of action selected (as by a government, institution, group, or individual) from among alternatives and in the light of given conditions to guide and usu

That a policy 'for whom it may concern,' will, in ordinary cases, cover belligerent property, has been fully conceded in argument. Nor is it contested, that previous representation

Until the maturity of a policy, the policyholder is simply a member of the corporation, with no present enforceable right against the assets. Upon the maturity of the policy he bec

Such advances being against the surrender value do not create a 'personal liability' or a 'debt' of the insured, but are merely a deduction from the sum that the company 'ultimatel

A State may not refuse to apply another State's law where there are " " no " sufficient policy considerations to warrant such refusal." " Ibid.

Policies of insurance are generally the most informal instruments which are brought into courts of justice; and there are no instruments which are more liberally construed, in orde

This policy of lenity means that the Court will not interpret a federal criminal statute so as to increase the penalty that it places on an individual when such an interpretation c

The patent law was designed for the public benefit, as well as for the benefit of inventors. For a valuable invention, the public, on the inventor's complying with certain conditio

electoral activities, independent expenditures, or expenditures made to any candidate, political party, political action committee or political issues committee or in support of or

it is not clear what is meant by a "Federal, State, County or Municipal .

any committee, association, or organization (whether or not incorporated) which accepts contributions or makes expenditures for the purpose of influencing, or attempting to influen

the practice of dividing a geographical area into electoral districts, often of highly irregular shape, to give one political party an unfair advantage by diluting the opposition's

The language of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes, is often vituperative, abusive, and inexact. We agree with petitioner that his only offense here was

Political offices are such as are not immediately connected with the administration of justice, or with the execution of the mandates of a superior, as the President or head of a d

any association, committee, or organization which nominates a candidate for election to any Federal office whose name appears on the election ballot as the candidate of such associ

for our recognition of new suspect classes.

any oral, visual, graphic, written, pictorial, or other communication or expression by any person (1) which is reasonably adapted to, or which the person disseminating the same bel

any oral, visual, graphic, written, pictorial, or other communication or expression by any person (1) which is reasonably adapted to, or which the person disseminating the same bel

The very nature of executive decisions as to foreign policy is political, not judicial. Such decisions are wholly confided by our Constitution to the political departments of the g

It is indeed a singular misconception of the nature and character of our constitutional system of government to suggest that the settled distinction which the doctrine just stated

the rights in danger, as we have seen, must be rights of persons or property, not merely political rights, which do not belong to the jurisdiction of a court, either in law or equi

particular geographic regions within a State, such as New York's Westchester County.

Political subdivisions of States—counties, cities or whatever—never were and never have been considered as sovereign entities. Rather, they have been traditionally regarded as subo

Poll taxes are laid upon persons without regard to their occupations or property to raise money for the support of government or some more specific end.

For federal elections, the poll tax is abolished absolutely as a prerequisite to voting, and no equivalent or milder substitute may be imposed. Any material requirement imposed upo

dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded

Where domination exists, a pooling of competing process patents, or an exchange of licenses for the purpose of curtailing the manufacture and supply of an unpatented product, is be

In instances in which words or phrases are novel or obscure, as in terms of art, where they are peculiar or exclusive in their signification, it may be proper to explain or elucida

total population," the districts in the city's 1997 plan had a less than 10% population variance.

the proper judicial approach is to ascertain whether, under the particular circumstances existing in the individual State whose legislative apportionment is at issue, there has bee

something less than the whole but does not have a fixed value.6 If the majority were correct in its reading of "to satisfy," however—that it requires the district court to endeavor

The specified limitations on the power of Congress were set to prevent preference as between states in respect of their ports or the entry and clearance of vessels. It does not for

in addition to the position taken by the United States in the civil action, the action or failure to act by the agency upon which the civil action is based; except that fees and ex

A clear and positive denial of an allegation of the bill can only be overcome by the testimony of two witnesses to the fact alleged, or by one witness and corroborative circumstanc

Where the party intentionally, or by design, misrepresents a material fact, or produces a false impression, in order to mislead another, or to entrap or cheat him, or to obtain an

It must be admitted that possession is presumptive evidence of property; because possession is a circumstance which generally accompanies property

the language of the act makes possession the principal matter, and personal residence the qualifying matter. Leaving out the word housekeeper, which is not in question, the qualifi

the unlawful possession for which Campbell was prosecuted, and of which he pleaded guilty, was not a separate possession antecedent to and independent of the transportation—which w

The possession which would do this must be an actual possession, and not that mere constructive possession which is very often implied by reason of ownership under circumstances fa

Guam, the Midway Islands, the Panama Canal Zone, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, and Wake Island.

the following: "(a) Possession of, claim to, or right to the possession of land or improvements, except when coupled with ownership of the land or improvements in the same person."

the only lien which the common law recognizes in such cases, independent of statutory regulations, is the possessory lien, which arises out of, and is dependent upon, the possessio

His death simply put an end to what, at best, was a mere possibility of a reverter by extinguishing it; that is to say, by converting what was merely possible into an utter impossi

the test is whether the mayor's situation is one 'which would offer a possible temptation to the average man as a judge to forget the burden of proof required to convict the defend

proof that a letter properly directed was placed in a post office creates a presumption that it reached its destination in usual time and was actually received by the person to who

The adjudication having been made by a Spanish tribunal, after the cession of the country to the United States, does not make it void; for we know, historically, that the actual po