Law, Crime & Punishment, EQU-GAG
This general category includes a selection of more specific topics.
Law, Crime & Punishment Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), landmark U.S. legislation mandating equal pay for equal work, in a measure to end......
Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would invalidate many state and......
equity, in Anglo-American law, the custom of courts outside the common law or coded law. Equity provided remedies......
escheat, in feudal English land law, the return or forfeiture to the lord of land held by his tenant. There were......
escrow, in Anglo-American law, an agreement, usually a written instrument, concerning an obligation between two......
Esmeralda Affair, incident in Ecuador in 1895 involving the nominal transfer of ownership of the Chilean warship......
Essex Decision, decision rendered by the British High Court of Admiralty in 1804 and confirmed the following year,......
ETA, Basque separatist organization in Spain that used terrorism in its campaign for an independent Basque state.......
ethnic cleansing, the attempt to create ethnically homogeneous geographic areas through the deportation or forcible......
euergetism, in Greco-Roman antiquity, the phenomenon of elite benefaction to towns and communities through voluntary......
European Central Bank (ECB), central banking authority of the euro zone, which consists of the 19 European Union......
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), judicial organ established in 1959 that is charged with supervising the......
European law, laws and legal traditions that are either shared by or characteristic of the countries of Europe.......
euthanasia, act or practice of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from painful and incurable disease......
eviction, the process of dispossessing a person of land, be it lawful or unlawful. Subject to any statutory provisions,......
evidence, in law, any of the material items or assertions of fact that may be submitted to a competent tribunal......
ex post facto law, law that retroactively makes criminal conduct that was not criminal when performed, increases......
examination, in law, the interrogation of a witness by attorneys or by a judge. In Anglo-American proceedings an......
exclusionary rule, in U.S. law, the principle that evidence seized by police in violation of the Fourth Amendment......
exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as defined under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),......
executive privilege, principle in the United States, derived from common law, that provides immunity from subpoena......
executor, in law, person designated by a testator—i.e., a person making a will—to direct the distribution of his......
exile and banishment, prolonged absence from one’s country imposed by vested authority as a punitive measure. It......
expropriation, the taking away or depriving of property or proprietary rights. The term formerly applied to any......
extenuating circumstance, circumstance that diminishes the culpability of one who has committed a criminal offense......
extortion, the unlawful exaction of money or property through intimidation. Extortion was originally the complement......
extradition, in international law, the process by which one state, upon the request of another, effects the return......
extraordinary rendition, extrajudicial practice, carried out by U.S. government agencies, of transferring a prisoner......
eye for an eye, in law and custom, the principle of retaliation for injuries or damages. In ancient Babylonian,......
Factory Act, (1833), U.K. legislation enacted to regulate the employment of children in British textile factories.......
Fair Housing Act, U.S. federal legislation that protects individuals and families from discrimination in the sale,......
Before 1938, workers could be paid any amount and be required to work any number of hours. Children were regularly......
fair use, in copyright law, a legal doctrine allowing portions of copyrighted material to be reproduced in certain......
fake news, false or deceptive stories presented as legitimate news content. Although exact definitions vary because......
Falloux Law, (1850) act granting legal status to independent secondary schools in France. It was sponsored by Count......
FALN, separatist organization in Puerto Rico that has used violence in its campaign for Puerto Rican independence......
family court, special court designed to deal with legal problems arising out of family relations. The family court......
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), U.S. legislation (1974) that governs the content of and access......
family law, body of law regulating family relationships, including marriage and divorce, the treatment of children,......
Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 26, 1998, ruled (7–2) that—under Title......
FARC, Marxist guerrilla organization in Colombia. Formed in 1964 as the military wing of the Colombian Communist......
Farmer’s Law, Byzantine legal code drawn up in the 8th century ad, probably during the reign of Emperor Leo III......
Fatah, political and military organization of Arab Palestinians, founded in the late 1950s by Yassir Arafat and......
One of the most iconic lists in U.S. history started with a phone call from a reporter. In 1949 William Kinsey......
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), principal investigative agency of the federal government of the United States.......
Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation (1978) is a legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court......
Federal Constitutional Court, in Germany, special court for the review of judicial and administrative decisions......
Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), legislation adopted in the United States in 1971 to regulate the raising......
Federal Reserve System, central banking authority of the United States. It acts as a fiscal agent for the U.S.......
Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA), federal legislation that was adopted in the United States in 1914 to create......
Federalist Society, American organization of strongly conservative and libertarian lawyers, judges, politicians,......
fee, in modern common law, an estate of inheritance (land or other realty) over which a person has absolute ownership.......
fehmic court, medieval law tribunal properly belonging to Westphalia, though extending jurisdiction throughout......
felony and misdemeanour, in Anglo-American law, classification of criminal offenses according to the seriousness......
feme sole, in Anglo-American common law, a woman in the unmarried state or in the legally established equivalent......
fence, barrier erected to confine or exclude people or animals, to define boundaries, or to decorate. Timber, soil,......
feoffment, in English law, the granting of a free inheritance of land (fee simple) to a man and his heirs. The......
fetal personhood, aspect of legal personhood that designates human fetuses as entities that have rights and protections......
feudal land tenure, system by which land was held by tenants from lords. As developed in medieval England and France,......
fidei commissum, in Roman law and civil-law systems, a gift of property to a person (usually by will), imposing......
fiduciary, in law, a person who occupies a position of such power and confidence with regard to the property of......
fief, in European feudal society, a vassal’s source of income, held from his lord in exchange for services. The......
Fifteenth Amendment, amendment (1870) to the Constitution of the United States that guaranteed that the right to......
Fifth Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, that articulates......
fifth column, clandestine group or faction of subversive agents who attempt to undermine a nation’s solidarity......
filibuster, in legislative practice, the parliamentary tactic used in the U.S. Senate by a minority of the senators—sometimes......
fingerprint, impression made by the papillary ridges on the ends of the fingers and thumbs. Fingerprints afford......
First Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States that is part of the Bill of Rights and......
Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, legal case, decided on June 23, 2016, in which the U.S. Supreme Court......
Five Families, moniker given to the five major Italian American Mafia families in New York City: Bonanno, Colombo,......
Five-Power Constitution, system of government proposed by the Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen in 1906......
flogging, a beating administered with a whip or rod, with blows commonly directed to the person’s back. It was......
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), agency of the U.S. federal government authorized by Congress to inspect, test,......
Foraker Act, (April 12, 1900), measure enacted by the U.S. Congress to institute a civilian government in Puerto......
Force Acts, in U.S. history, series of four acts passed by Republican Reconstruction supporters in the Congress......
Force Bill, law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1833 that gave the president the power to use the military to enforce......
force majeure, in commercial and international law, an extraordinary and unforeseen event whose occurrence would......
forensic anthropology, application of physical anthropology to legal cases, usually with a focus on the human skeleton.......
forensic medicine, the science that deals with the application of medical knowledge to legal questions. The use......
forensic psychology, Application of psychology to legal issues, often for the purpose of offering expert testimony......
forensic science, the application of the methods of the natural and physical sciences to matters of criminal and......
forgery, in art, a work of literature, painting, sculpture, or objet d’art that purports to be the work of someone......
forgery, in law, making of a false writing with an intent to defraud. Writing, to be forgery, must either have......
Fourteenth Amendment, amendment (1868) to the Constitution of the United States that granted citizenship and equal......
Fourth Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, that forbids......
Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on February 26, 1992, ruled (9–0)......
frankpledge, system in medieval England under which all but the greatest men and their households were bound together......
fraud, in law, the deliberate misrepresentation of fact for the purpose of depriving someone of a valuable possession.......
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), federal act signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966,......
Freedom of the Press Act of 1766, Swedish legislation regarded as the world’s first law supporting the freedom......
freehold, in English law, ownership of a substantial interest in land held for an indefinite period of time. The......
Freikorps, any of several private paramilitary groups that first appeared in December 1918 in the wake of Germany’s......
The island of Lésbos, in the Aegean Sea, is now part of Greece, but between 1462 and 1912, it lay under Turkish......
fuero, (from Latin forum, “marketplace”), in medieval Spain, a municipal franchise conferred on a community by......
Fugitive Slave Acts, in U.S. history, statutes passed by Congress in 1793 and 1850 (and repealed in 1864) that......
Fundamental Laws, (1906), laws promulgated by the Russian emperor Nicholas II, ostensibly to carry out the governmental......
Furman v. Georgia, legal case in which, on June 29, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that the death penalty......
G.I. Bill, U.S. legislation adopted in 1944 that provided various benefits to veterans of World War II. Through......
gacaca court, traditional system of justice in Rwanda. It was revived and modified in the aftermath of the country’s......
gag rule, in U.S. history, any of a series of congressional resolutions that tabled, without discussion, petitions......