Law, Crime & Punishment, AME-BID
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Law, Crime & Punishment Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Cryptic codes. Threatening notes. Romantic rendezvous gone wrong. Not every murder gets solved. For all the amateur......
amicus curiae, (Latin: “friend of the court”), one who assists the court by furnishing information or advice regarding......
Amistad mutiny, (July 2, 1839), slave rebellion that took place on the slave ship Amistad near the coast of Cuba......
amnesty, in criminal law, sovereign act of oblivion or forgetfulness (from Greek amnēsia) for past acts, granted......
ancient lights, in English property law, the right of a building or house owner to the light received from and......
Andersonville, village in Sumter county, southwest-central Georgia, U.S., that was the site of a Confederate military......
angary, in international law, the right of belligerents to requisition for their use neutral merchant vessels,......
Anglo-Saxon law, the body of legal principles that prevailed in England from the 6th century until the Norman Conquest......
Annapolis Convention, in U.S. history, regional meeting at Annapolis, Maryland, in September 1786 that was an important......
annulment, legal invalidation of a marriage. Annulment announces the invalidity of a marriage that was void from......
Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on November 17, 1986, ruled......
Antiquities Act of 1906, U.S. law passed to protect important cultural, scientific, and natural resources on federal......
antitrust law, any law restricting business practices considered unfair or monopolistic. The United States has......
Anwar Sadat was the president of Egypt from 1970 until his assassination by Muslim extremists in 1981. In the year......
apella, ancient Spartan assembly, corresponding to the ekklēsia of other Greek states. Its monthly meetings, probably......
appanage, in France, primarily before the Revolution, the provision of lands within the royal domain, or in some......
appeal, the resort to a higher court to review the decision of a lower court, or to a court to review the order......
Court of Appeal, in England and Wales, part of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and the highest court below......
Arab Legion, police force raised in 1923 by British Lieut. Col. Frederick Gerard Peake (who had served with T.E.......
arbitration, nonjudicial legal technique for resolving disputes by referring them to a neutral party for a binding......
archon, in ancient Greece, the chief magistrate or magistrates in many city-states. The office became prominent......
All governments manage their territories with laws. This is easy enough to understand with respect to solid ground:......
Arlington Central School District Board of Education v. Murphy, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June......
armed robbery, in criminal law, aggravated form of theft that involves the use of a lethal weapon to perpetrate......
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), terrorist group formed in 1975 to force Turkey to admit......
arraignment, in Anglo-American law, first encounter of an accused person with the court prior to trial, wherein......
arrest, placing of a person in custody or under restraint, usually for the purpose of compelling obedience to the......
arson, crime commonly defined by statute as the willful or malicious damage or destruction of property by means......
There are times when something makes us so angry that we cannot prevent a visceral reaction, sometimes a physical......
art fraud, the deliberately false representation of the artist, age, origins, or ownership of a work of art in......
art theft, criminal activity involving the theft of art or cultural property, including paintings, sculptures,......
Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act), European Union (EU) legislation that seeks to improve EU citizens’ experience,......
Aryan Brotherhood, notoriously violent white supremacist group and organized crime syndicate. It is the oldest,......
Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, case in which, on April 16, 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s......
assassination, the murder of a public figure. The term typically refers to the killing of government leaders and......
The president of the United States is one of the most powerful people in the world, and with power comes the potential......
assault and battery, related but distinct crimes, battery being the unlawful application of physical force to another......
assembly, deliberative council, usually legislative or juridical in purpose and power. The name has been given......
assessor, in law, a person called upon by the courts to give legal advice and assistance and in many instances......
assigned counsel, a lawyer or lawyers appointed by the state to provide representation for indigent persons. Assigned......
writ of assistance, in English and American colonial history, a general search warrant issued by superior provincial......
assize, in law, a session, or sitting, of a court of justice. It originally signified the method of trial by jury.......
assumpsit, (Latin: “he has undertaken”), in common law, an action to recover damages for breach of contract. Originating......
asylum, in international law, the protection granted by a state to a foreign citizen against his own state. The......
Atlanta race riot of 1906, major outbreak of violence in Atlanta, Georgia, that killed at least 12 and possibly......
Atomic Energy Commission, U.S. federal civilian agency established by the Atomic Energy Act, which was signed into......
attachment, in U.S. law, a writ issuing from a court of law to seize the person or property of a defendant. In......
On January 6, 1994, American figure skater and reigning national champion Nancy Kerrigan was attacked in an incident......
attainder, in English law, the extinction of civil and political rights resulting from a sentence of death or outlawry......
Attica Correctional Facility, prison in Attica, New York, one of the last so-called big house prisons built in......
Attica prison revolt, prison insurrection in 1971, lasting from September 9 to September 13, during which inmates......
attorney general, the chief law officer of a state or nation and the legal adviser to the chief executive. The......
power of attorney, authorization to act as agent or attorney for another. Common-law and civil-law systems differ......
Auburn State Prison, prison located in Auburn, New York. Opened in 1816, it established a disciplinary and administrative......
Auburn system, penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day and were kept in solitary......
audiencia, in the kingdoms of late medieval Spain, a court established to administer royal justice; also, one of......
Court of Augmentations, in Reformation England, the most important of a group of financial courts organized during......
Australian Colonies Government Act, legislation of the British House of Commons that separated the southeastern......
autopsy, dissection and examination of a dead body and its organs and structures. An autopsy may be performed to......
average, in maritime law, loss or damage, less than total, to maritime property (a ship or its cargo), caused by......
bail, procedure by which a judge or magistrate sets at liberty one who has been arrested or imprisoned, upon receipt......
bailiff, a minor court official with police authority to protect the court while in session and with power to serve......
bailment, in Anglo-American property law, delivery of specific goods by one person, called the bailor, to another......
bait and switch, fraudulent advertising committed by retailers to lure potential customers into their place of......
Baker v. Carr, (1962), U.S. Supreme Court case that forced the Tennessee legislature to reapportion itself on the......
Baker v. Owen, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on October 20, 1975, summarily (without written briefs......
Bakke decision, ruling in which, on June 28, 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court declared affirmative action constitutional......
Ballot Act, (1872) British law that introduced the secret ballot for all parliamentary and municipal elections.......
Bank of the United States, central bank chartered in 1791 by the U.S. Congress at the urging of Alexander Hamilton......
Bank Secrecy Act, U.S. legislation, signed into law in 1970 by Pres. Richard Nixon, that requires banks and other......
bankruptcy, the status of a debtor who has been declared by judicial process to be unable to pay his debts. Although......
bankruptcy fraud, the act of falsifying information when filing for bankruptcy. It may also take the form of filing......
banning, in South Africa, an administrative action by which publications, organizations, or assemblies could be......
Bantu Education Act, South African law, enacted in 1953 and in effect from January 1, 1954, that governed the education......
bar association, group of attorneys, whether local, national, or international, that is organized primarily to......
Barabbas, in the New Testament, a prisoner mentioned in all four Gospels who was chosen by the crowd, over Jesus......
Barbary pirate, any of the Muslim pirates operating from the coast of North Africa, at their most powerful during......
bankruptcy of Barings Bank, collapse of Barings Bank, Britain’s oldest merchant bank, on February 27, 1995, when......
Barrackpore Mutiny, (Nov. 2, 1824), incident during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), generally regarded as......
barrister, one of the two types of practicing lawyers in England and Wales, the other being the solicitor. In general,......
basic law, in Israel, any of several laws intended to serve as a guiding principle of government. As a concept,......
Basilica, (from Greek basilikos, “imperial”), 9th-century Byzantine code of law initiated by the emperor Basil......
Bastille, medieval fortress on the east side of Paris that became, in the 17th and 18th centuries, a French state......
battered woman syndrome, Psychological and behavioral pattern displayed by female victims of domestic violence.......
Baumes Laws, several statutes of the criminal code of New York state, U.S., enacted on July 1, 1926—most notably,......
beheading, a mode of executing capital punishment by which the head is severed from the body. The ancient Greeks......
Beilan v. Board of Public Education, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 30, 1958, ruled (5–4) that a......
Bell Trade Act, an act passed by the U.S. Congress specifying the economic conditions governing the emergence of......
belligerency, the condition of being in fact engaged in war. A nation is deemed a belligerent even when resorting......
Beltway sniper attacks, shooting spree in the Washington, D.C., area that killed 10 people and injured 3 over a......
benefice, a particular kind of land tenure that came into use in the 8th century in the kingdom of the Franks.......
beneficiary, in Anglo-American law, one for whose benefit a trust is created. Beneficiaries of private trusts must......
Berea College v. Kentucky, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on November 9, 1908, upheld (7–2) a Kentucky......
Beretta SpA, Italian-based manufacturer of sporting, military, and personal firearms, one of the world’s oldest......
Bernstein v. the U.S. Department of State, landmark legal decision (1996) that set two important precedents in......
Beslan school attack, violent takeover of a school in Beslan, a city in the North Caucasus republic of North Ossetia,......
Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on July 7, 1986, ruled (7–2)......
betyár, a highwayman in 19th-century Hungary. The word is Iranian in origin and entered the Hungarian language......
bicameral system, a system of government in which the legislature comprises two houses. The modern bicameral system......
bid rigging, illegal practice in which businesses conspire to allow one another to secure contracts at raised prices,......