Definitions from Case Law

The plea is, that the sum distrained for of the rent aforesaid... was not in arrear and unpaid... This plea avers the single proposition that the rent was not in arrear when the di

a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of the explosive in a fi

In common parlance a right accrues when it comes into existence

Knowledge of right and wrong is the exclusive test of criminal responsibility in a majority of American jurisdictions.

the 'rightful subjects of legislation' within the meaning of § 18 of that Act was as broad as the police power of a state so as to include a law prohibiting discriminations against

the person— "(A) who, with respect to a sound recording, first fixes a sound recording with authorization, or "(B) who has acquired rights from the person described in subparagraph

the right to file a civil action in the courts against the United States." Id., at 511.

The right of aliens to acquire citizenship is purely statutory; and the petitioner's child, having been born and remained abroad, clearly does not come within the terms of the stat

the right of appeal is not essential to due process, provided that due process has already been accorded in the tribunal of first instance

The right of appeal is not essential to due process. It was, therefore, competent for the state to prescribe the procedure and conditions.

There cannot be wrung from a constitutional right of workers to assemble to discuss improvement of their own working standards, a further constitutional right to drive from remuner

the Sixth Amendment's right of an accused to confront the witnesses against him is likewise a fundamental right and is made obligatory on the States by the Fourteenth Amendment,' t

the right of confrontation secured by the Philippine civil government act is in the nature of a privilege extended to the accused, rather than a restriction upon him, and that he i

the right of cross-examination is included in the right of an accused in a criminal case to confront the witnesses against him'; 'a major reason underlying the constitutional confr

property to which there is under the state law a present right of exemption—one which withdraws the property from levy and sale under judicial process

a right closely allied to freedom of speech and a right which, like free speech, lies at the foundation of a free society

The Regulation is merely declaratory of a surety's customary right of indemnity for amounts paid pursuant to an obligation of the guarantor assumed with the consent of the principa

Although the United States retained the fee, and the tribe's right of occupancy was incapable of alienation or of being held otherwise than in common, that right is as sacred and a

The right of peaceable assembly is a right cognate to those of free speech and free press and is equally fundamental. As this Court said in United States v. Cruikshank: 'The very i

The right of petition extends to all departments of the Government. The right of access to the courts is indeed but one aspect of the right of petition.

this is only a privilege conferred on the settler to purchase land in preference to others. . . . His settlement protects him from intrusion or purchase by others, but confers no r

Water is diverted to propel machinery in flour mills and saw mills, and to irrigate land for cultivation, as well as to enable miners to work their mining claims; and in all such c

The right of priority forms no part of the contract itself. It (the right of priority) is intrinsic, and rather a personal privilege dependent on the law of the place where the pro

It marks the right of privacy as one of the unique values of our civilization and, with few exceptions, stays the hands of the police unless they have a search warrant issued by a

It is a settled rule at the common law, that where a right of re-entry is claimed on the ground of forfeiture for the non-payment of rent, there must be proof of a demand of the pr

It is clear, by the common law, that a right of re-entry always supposes an estate in the party, and cannot be reserved to a mere stranger... 'therefore, I have always thought, tha

It is a part of every man's civil rights that he be left at liberty to refuse business relations with any person whomsoever, whether the refusal rests upon reason, or is the result

The right, unrestrained and unpenalized by state action, on compliance with the forms required by the law of the United States, to ask the removal of a cause pending in a state to

probably there are few doctrines better established than that a surety who pays the debt of another is entitled to all the rights of the person he paid to enforce his right to be r

The aim of the amendment, as this Court has held, is to preserve the substance of the common-law right of trial by jury, as distinguished from mere matters of form or procedure, an

there is no principle of constitutional law which entitles one to be tried in the place of his residence. The right secured by article 3, § 2, and the 6th Amendment of the Constitu

The ordinary signification of the term 'right of way,' when used to describe land which a railroad corporation owns or is entitled to use for railroad purposes, is the entire strip

relevant constitutional restraints limit state power to terminate an entitlement whether the entitlement is denominated a 'right' or a 'privilege.

All rights tend to declare themselves absolute to their logical extreme. Yet all in fact are limited by the neighborhood of principles of policy which are other than those on which

a great deal more than the mere use and possession of the evidence of title.

Rights of succession to the property of a deceased, whether by will or by intestacy, are of statutory creation, and the dead hand rules succession only by sufferance. Nothing in th

The rights of war can only take place among enemies, and therefore a capture can give no right, unless the property captured be the property of an enemy.

The rights of way there in view are those that involve an investment of the moneys of the carrier, and result in the possession of the land itself, the roadbed on which the tracks

Section 241 applies only to interference with rights which arise from the relation of the victim and the Federal Government, and not to interference by State officers with rights w

The mere issue of rights to subscribe and their receipt by stockholders is not a dividend. No distribution of corporate assets or diminution of the net worth of the corporation res

The right to a hearing embraces not only the right to present evidence, but also a reasonable opportunity to know the claims of the opposing party and to meet them. The right to su

The right to a patent once vested is treated by the government, when dealing with the public lands, as equivalent to a patent issued. When, in fact, the patent does issue, it relat

The right to a reasonable rate is the right to the rate which the Commission files or fixes, and, except for review of the Commission's orders, the courts can assume no right to a

We hold here that the right to a speedy trial is as fundamental as any of the rights secured by the Sixth Amendment. That right has its roots at the very foundation of our English

The right to be heard must necessarily embody a right to file motions and pleadings essential to present claims and raise relevant issues.

Regardless of whether petitioner would have been entitled to the appointment of counsel, his right to be heard through his own counsel was unqualified.

in a capital case, where the defendant is unable to employ counsel, and is incapable adequately of making his own defense because of ignorance, feeble-mindedness, illiteracy, or th

appointment of counsel for an indigent is required at every stage of a criminal proceeding where substantial rights of a criminal accused may be affected

a person's Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment right to counsel attaches only at or after the time that adversary judicial proceedings have been initiated against him

where the investigation is no longer a general inquiry into an unsolved crime but has begun to focus on a particular suspect, the suspect has been taken into police custody, the po

where the assistance of counsel is a constitutional requisite, the right to be furnished counsel does not depend on a request.

To detain for examination is a right which a belligerant may exercise over every vessel, not a national vessel, that he meets with on the ocean.

The general rule is settled for the federal tribunals that a plaintiff possesses the unqualified right to dismiss his complaint at law or his bill in equity unless some plain legal

Such an opportunity, where the state has undertaken to provide it, is a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.

To carry on interstate commerce is not a franchise or a privilege granted by the state; it is a right which every citizen of the United States is entitled to exercise under the Con

The right to evidence to be obtained from an existing object does not depend upon having an interest in it, or, in a case like this, upon having an interest in the original cause,

We have no doubt that the correct doctrine of the English law is, that the right to inherit depends upon the existing state of allegiance at the time of the descent cast. And that

A statute, therefore, which imposes heavy penalties for violation of commands of an unascertained quality is, in its nature, somewhat akin to an ex post facto law, since it punishe

the right to jury trial guarantees to the criminally accused a fair trial by a panel of impartial, 'indifferent' jurors

the constitutional right to trial by jury cannot be made to depend upon the choice of words used in the pleadings.

restitution orders is supported by the fact that such an interpretation would produce a result " 'demonstrably at odds with the intention of its drafters.' " "Ron Pair," 489 U.S.,

The practice of law is not a matter of grace, but of right for one who is qualified by his learning and his moral character.

It is now well established that the Constitution protects the right to receive information and ideas. This right to receive information and ideas, regardless of their social worth,

the Sherman Act 'does not restrict the long recognized right of trader or manufacturer engaged in an entirely private business, freely to exercise his own independent discretion as

The right of a speedy trial is necessarily relative. It is consistent with delays and depends upon circumstances. It secures rights to a defendant. It does not preclude the rights

this recognition of 'the right to strike' plainly contemplates a lawful strike,—the exercise of the unquestioned right to quit work.

the claim for relief Congress afforded consumers in § 1679g.

It is a rule of commercial law, too familiarly known to require the citation of authorities, or to admit of question, that the payee or indorsee of a bill upon its presentment and

The right to travel is a part of the 'liberty' of which the citizen cannot be deprived without the due process of law under the Fifth Amendment.

The right to trial by jury is 'a basic and fundamental feature of our system of federal jurisprudence' and it is 'part and parcel of the remedy afforded railroad workers under the

the owner of the machine, whether he built it or purchased it, if he has also acquired the right to use and operate it during the lifetime of the patent, may continue to use it unt

not a capital asset, but is simply an incident of the underlying physical property, the recompense for which is commonly regarded as rent

The next subject of inquiry is, the right to visit and to detain for search. This is a belligerant right, which cannot be drawn into question. As little can it be questioned that t

It requires no argument to show that the right to work for a living in the common occupations of the community is of the very essence of the personal freedom and opportunity that i

abutting a river or stream and "littoral" means abutting an ocean, sea, or lake.

that New Jersey may control the riparian rights ordinarily and usually enjoyed by landowners on New Jersey's shore.

if it extended to the river at that time it is clear that the owners thereof were riparian owners; and if so, it is equally clear that they were entitled, as such to all the accret

It was a principle of [the common] law 'that he who owns the bank, owns to the middle of the river, subject to the easement of navigation.' ... 'There is therefore no inconsistency

That riparian owners upon public navigable rivers have in addition to the rights common to the public, certain rights to the use and enjoyment of the stream, which are incident to

This riparian right is property, and is valuable, and, though it must be enjoyed in due subjection to the rights of the public, it cannot be arbitrarily or capriciously destroyed o

He has, in addition to the rights common to the public a property right, incident to his ownership of the bank, of access from the front of his land to the navigable part of the st

among those rights are access to the navigable part of the river from the front of his lot, the right to make a landing, wharf or pier for his own use or for the use of the public,

Such differences of opinion or conflicts of interest must be 'ripe for determination' as controversies over legal rights. The disagreement must not be nebulous or contingent but mu

In determining whether a challenge to an administrative regulation is ripe for review a twofold inquiry must be made: first to determine whether the issues tendered are appropriate

Its basic rationale is to prevent the courts, through avoidance of premature adjudication, from entangling themselves in abstract disagreements over administrative policies, and al

When a great river is the boundary between two nations or states, if the original property is in neither, and there be no convention respecting it, each holds to the middle of the

Wherever the river is a boundary between States, it is the main, the permanent river, which constitutes that boundary; and the mind will find itself embarrassed with insurmountable

Unless restrained by some constitutional limitation, a state has inherent power to require every able-bodied man within its jurisdiction to labor for a reasonable time on public ro

the unlawful taking or obtaining of personal property from the person or in the presence of another, against his will, by means of actual or threatened force, or violence, or fear

Robbery on the seas is considered as an offence within the criminal jurisdiction of all nations. It is against all, and punished by all; and there can be no doubt that the plea of

steel plates, shapes, sheets, bars, and other unfinished steel products and are in turn made from ingots by means of rolling mills.

rolling a marihuana cigarette.

proceeds for the use of patents, 26 U.S.C.

a right attached and incident to his ownership or reversionary interest in the land

a state 'will not lend the aid of its courts to enforce a contract founded upon a foreign law where to do so would be repugnant to good morals, would lead to disturbance and disorg

The right to a fair and open hearing is one of the rudiments of fair play assured to every litigant by the Federal Constitution as a minimal requirement. There must be due notice a

agency statements not only of general applicability but also those of particular applicability applying either to a class or to a single person.

a motion under Rule 52(b) such as the instant one which seeks to amend or supplement the findings of fact in more than purely formal or mechanical aspects tolls the appeals statute

There must be an end to litigation someday, and free, calculated, deliberate choices are not to be relieved from.

It is a general rule of the prize law, not to admit claims which stand in entire opposition to the ship's papers, and to the preparatory examinations, where the voyages have origin