Law, Crime & Punishment, UNI-WRI
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Law, Crime & Punishment Encyclopedia Articles By Title
United States Court of Federal Claims, court established by act of Congress of October 1, 1982, to handle cases......
United States District Court, in the United States, any of the basic trial-level courts of the federal judicial......
United States v. American Library Association, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 23, 2003, ruled (6–3)......
United States v. E.C. Knight Company, (1895), legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court first interpreted the......
United States v. Lopez, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on April 26, 1995, ruled (5–4) that the federal......
United States v. Stevens, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, 2010, ruled (8–1) that a federal law......
United States v. Thomas, U.S. legal case that was one of the first prosecutions involving the distribution of “obscene”......
United States v. Windsor, legal case, decided on June 26, 2013, in which the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Section......
Great Seal of the United States, official seal of the United States of America. The design of the obverse is the......
unlawful assembly, gathering of persons for the purpose of committing either a crime involving force or a noncriminal......
USA PATRIOT Act, U.S. legislation, passed by Congress in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks......
use, in medieval English property law, the right of one person to take the profits of land belonging to another.......
USS Cole attack, attack by Muslim militants associated with the organization al-Qaeda against a U.S. naval destroyer,......
Ustaša, Croatian fascist movement that nominally ruled the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. In......
usufruct, in Roman-based legal systems, the temporary right to the use and enjoyment of the property of another,......
vagrancy, state or action of one who has no established home and drifts from place to place without visible or......
veche, popular assembly that was a characteristic institution in Russia from the 10th to the 15th century. The......
Vellore Mutiny, outbreak against the British on July 10, 1806, by sepoys (Indian troops employed by the British)......
Ventôse Decrees, during the French Revolution, laws providing for the confiscation of the property of enemies of......
venue, in law, locality in which a criminal offense or civil litigation is to be conducted. The concept of venue......
Vernacular Press Act, in British India, law enacted in 1878 to curtail the freedom of the Indian-language (i.e.,......
Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 1995, ruled (6–3)......
victimology, branch of criminology that scientifically studies the relationship between an injured party and an......
Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp., case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on......
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), U.S. federal legislation that expanded the juridical tools to combat violence......
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, (1798), in U.S. history, measures passed by the legislatures of Virginia and......
voice identification, police technique for identifying individuals by the time, frequency, and intensity of their......
voir dire, in law, process of questioning by which members of a jury are selected from a large panel, or venire,......
Volstead Act, U.S. law enacted in 1919 (and taking effect in 1920) to provide enforcement for the Eighteenth Amendment,......
vote of confidence, procedure used by members of a legislative body (generally the lower house in a bicameral system)......
voter ID law, any U.S. state law by which would-be voters are required or requested to present proof of their identities......
Voting Rights Act, U.S. legislation (August 6, 1965) that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local......
Wade-Davis Bill, (1864), unsuccessful attempt by Radical Republicans and others in the U.S. Congress to set Reconstruction......
Wagner Act, the most important piece of labour legislation enacted in the United States in the 20th century. Its......
wait, an English town watchman or public musician who sounded the hours of the night. In the later Middle Ages......
wakō, any of the groups of marauders who raided the Korean and Chinese coasts between the 13th and 16th centuries.......
Waldheim affair, controversy concerning the military record of former Austrian diplomat and statesman Kurt Waldheim......
prince of Wales, title reserved exclusively for the heir apparent to the British throne. It dates from 1301, when......
Walker Law, (1920), first significant U.S. legislation concerning the sport of boxing, enacted in the state of......
Wallace v. Jaffree, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 4, 1985, ruled (6–3) that an Alabama statute that......
war crime, in international law, serious violation of the laws or customs of war as defined by international customary......
War on Drugs, the effort in the United States since the 1970s to combat illegal drug use by greatly increasing......
War on Poverty, expansive social welfare legislation introduced in the 1960s by the administration of U.S. Pres.......
War Powers Act, law passed by the U.S. Congress on November 7, 1973, over the veto of Pres. Richard Nixon. The......
law of war, that part of international law dealing with the inception, conduct, and termination of warfare. Its......
wardship and marriage, in feudal law, rights belonging to the lord of a fief with respect to the personal lives......
warrant, in law, authorization in writing empowering the bearer or bearers to perform an act or to execute an office.......
warranty, a promise or guarantee made by a seller or lessor about the characteristics or quality of property, goods,......
While two men were convicted of the crimes associated with the serial killer known as the Monster of Florence,......
waterboarding, method of torture in which water is poured into the nose and mouth of a victim who lies on his back......
Watergate scandal, interlocking political scandals of the administration of U.S. Pres. Richard M. Nixon that were......
Watts Riots of 1965, series of violent confrontations between Los Angeles police and residents of Watts and other......
Welsh law, the native law of Wales. Although increasingly superseded by English law after the 13th century, Welsh......
wergild, (Old English: “man payment”), in ancient Germanic law, the amount of compensation paid by a person committing......
West Memphis Three, three American men who in 1994, while teenagers, were found guilty of murdering three young......
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 14, 1943,......
Statute of Westminster, (1931), statute of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that effected the equality of Britain......
Statutes of Westminster, (1275, 1285, 1290), three statutes important in medieval English history, issued in “parliaments”......
In 19th-century Australia, squatters were people who occupied grazing land that was owned by the crown and beyond......
Murder is the act of causing the death of another person without legal justification or excuse. The U.S. federal......
The “Epstein files” is how the world has come to know the thousands of pages of documents related to two criminal......
Gunshots rang out on the afternoon of September 2, 1885, in Rock Springs, Wyoming Territory. Home to hundreds of......
On August 28, 1955, Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam, both of whom were white, kidnapped and killed Emmett Till, an African......
Impeachment proceedings begin when the president is accused of “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”......
In 2002, Americans were rocked by a news investigation that exposed widespread sexual abuse of children in one......
In law, an injunction is an order by a court to one or more of the parties in a civil trial to refrain from doing,......
In the United States, there are two bodies of law whose purpose is to deter or punish serious wrongdoing or to......
The emoluments clause, also called the foreign emoluments clause, is a provision of the U.S. Constitution (Article......
Human history has few tragedies that rival the magnitude and moral bankruptcy of the Holocaust, the systematic......
From the late 1870s until the triumphs of the civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s, regimented racial segregation......
The word Mafia refers to an organized criminal association and often evokes images of mobsters, secret crime families,......
Soon after the Louvre in Paris unlocked its doors to visitors on Sunday, October 19, 2025, a team of thieves brazenly......
From 1915 to 1916 hundreds of thousands of Armenians were deported from their homeland in the eastern Ottoman Empire......
The September 11 attacks were a series of airplane hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 terrorists......
Libel and slander are forms of defamation, which is an untrue statement presented as fact and intended to damage......
It is a strange thing to grow up in a town marked by killers and killing, a town in flight from its own infamy.......
The short answer is: Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump (twice). But to truly understand what happened......
white-collar crime, crime committed by persons who, often by virtue of their occupations, exploit social, economic,......
Tupac Shakur died on September 13, 1996, six days after a gunman in a white Cadillac shot him four times in the......
The ocean, understood as the body of saltwater that covers nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface, is not......
In 1167 CE Benjamin of Tudela, a Spanish rabbi, visited Syria on a 13-year journey through the Middle East and......
Delaware is home to more than half of all Fortune 500 companies, but it is not because of tax breaks or proximity......
In the early morning hours of June 17, 1972, five burglars broke into Democratic National Committee offices at......
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) was established by Congress in 1789 and acts as the head of the......
On the night of August 8–9, 1969, followers of Charles Manson brutally murdered Sharon Tate and four others at......
Since the late 20th century, there has been a growing movement in the United States to legalize marijuana. In 1996......
Wild Bunch, a collection of cowboy-outlaws who flourished in the 1880s and ’90s in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and......
Wilderness Act, U.S. environmental protection legislation (1964) that created the National Wilderness Preservation......
will, legal means by which an owner of property disposes of his assets in the event of his death. The term is also......
Wilmington Ten, 10 civil rights activists who were falsely convicted and incarcerated for nearly a decade following......
Wisconsin v. Yoder, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on May 15, 1972, ruled (7–0) that Wisconsin’s compulsory......
witness protection program, a government service designed to protect persons whose lives are endangered as a result......
Wolfenden Report, a study containing recommendations for laws governing sexual behaviour, published in 1957 by......
Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, law enacted in 1948 that permitted women to serve as full members of the......
Worcester v. Georgia, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 3, 1832, held (5–1) that the states did......
World Trade Center, complex of several buildings around a central plaza in New York City that in 2001 was the site......
World Trade Center bombing of 1993, terrorist attack in New York City on February 26, 1993, in which a truck bomb......
writ, in common law, order issued by a court in the name of a sovereign authority requiring the performance of......
A writ of habeas corpus (Latin: “you should have the body”) is a common law order issued by a judge or court requiring......
Wyandotte Constitution, in the period immediately preceding the American Civil War, document under which Kansas......