law
Definitions from Case Law · United States Supreme Court
Definitions from Case Law
From 213 U.S. 347 - American Banana Company v. United Fruit Company · 1909Most cited · 857 citing opinions
Law is a statement of the circumstances, in which the public force will be brought to bear upon men through the courts. But the word commonly is confined to such prophecies or threats when addressed to persons living within the power of the courts.
How often courts cite the cases defining “law”
Court decisions citing the 2 opinions that defined “law” — 1,005 in all, by decade. Counts are citations to the defining cases as a whole, not verified uses of the term. The dip in the most recent years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the latest years.
All 2 definitions, chronological · 1909–1930
the term 'law' is used in a generic sense, as meaning the rules of action or conduct duly prescribed by controlling authority, and having binding legal force; including valid municipal ordinance as well as statutes.