Desertion
Desertion. In Criminal Law. An Offence Which Consists In The Abandonment Of The Public Service; In The Army Or Navy, Without Leave. The Act Of March 16, 1802, E. 19, Enacts That If Any Non-commissioned Officer,. Musician, Or Private, Shall Desert The Service Of The United States, He 'shall, In ...
Detainer
Detainer. Detention. The Act Of Keeping A Person Against His Will, Or Of With Holding The Possession Of Goods Or Other Per Sonal Or Real Property From The Owner. Detainer And Detention Are Pretty Much Synony Mous. If There Be Any Distinction, It Is Perhaps That Detention Applies Rather To ...
Detinue
Detinue (lat. Detinere,—de, And Ten Ere. —to Hold From ; To Withhold). In Practice. A Form Of Action Which Lies For The Recovery, In Specie, Of Personal Chat Tels From One Who Acquired Possession Of Them Lawfully But Retains It Without Right, Together With Damages For The Detention. 3 Blackstone, ...
Devastavit
Devastavit. A Mismanagement And Waste By An Executor, Administrator, Or Other Trustee, Of The And Effects Trusted To Him As Such, By Which A Loss Occurs. 2. Devastavit By Direct Abuse Takes Place When The Executor, Administrator, Or Trustee Sells, Embezzles, Or Converts To His Own Use The Goods Intrusted ...
Deviation
Deviation. In Insurance. Varying' From The Risks Insured Against, As Described In The Policy, Without Necessity Or Just Cause, After The Risk Has Begun. Ins. 977 Et Seg, 2. The Mere Intention To Deviate Is Not A Deviation. Usage, In Like Cases, Has A Great Weight In Deteimining The Manner ...
Devise
Devise. A Gift Of Real Property By A Person's Last Will And Testament. The Term Devise, Properly And Technically, Applies Only To Real Estate ; The Object Of The Devise Must, Therefore, Be That Kind Of Property. 1 Hill, Abr. O. Nino. 62-74. But It Is Also Sometimes Improperly Applied ...
Diction
Diction. Pleas In Discharge Admit The Demand Of The Plaintiff, And Show That It Has Been Discharged By Some Matter Of Fact. Such Are Pleas Of Judgment, Release, And The Like. 10. Pleas In Excuse Achnit The Demand Or Complaint Stated In The Declare+ion, But Ex Cuse The Non-compliance With ...
Dictum
Dictum (also, Obiter Dictum). An Opinion Expressed By A Court, But Which, Not Being' Necessarily Involved In The Case, Lacks The Force Of An Adjudication. It Frequently Happens That, In Assigning Its Opi Nion Upon A Question Before It, The Court Discusses Collateral Questions And Expresses A Decided Opi Nion ...
Digest
Digest. A Compilation Arranged In An Orderly Manner. The Name Is Given To A Great Variety Of Topical Compilations, Abridgments, And Analytical Indices Of Reports, Statutes, Etc. When Reference Is Made To The Digest, The Pandects Of Justinian Are Intended, They Being The Authoritative Compilation Of The Civil Law. As ...
Diligence
Diligence. In Scotch Law. Pro Cess. Execution. Diligence Against The Heritage. A Writ Of Execution By Which The Creditor Proceeds Against The Real Estate Of The Debtor. Diligence Incident. A Writ Or Process For Citing Witnesses And Examining Havers. It Is Equivalent To The English Subpoena For Wit Nesses And ...
Director Of The Mint
Director Of The Mint. An Officer Appointed By The President Of The United :states, By And With The Advice And Consent Of The Senate, Who Has The Control And Of The The Superin Teadence.of The Officers And Persons Employed Thereiti, And The General Regulation And Su Perintendence Of The Business ...
Directors
Directors. Persons Appointed Or Elected According To Law, Authorized To Man Age And Direct The Affairs Of A Corporation Or Company. The Whole Of The Directors Collect Ively Form The Board Of Directors. 2. They Are Generally Invested With Cer Tain Powers By The Acts Of The Legislature To Which ...
Discharge Op A Jury
Discharge Op A Jury. The Re Moval Of A Case From The Consideration Of A Jury. 2. In Criminal Cases This Can Only Take Place By Consent Of The Prisoner, Foster, Cr. Law, 16 ; 6 Carr. & P. 151 ; 1 Carr. & K. 201; 5 Cox, Cr. Cas. ...
Discharge Of Obligation 26
Discharge Of Obligation. 26. The Obligation May Be Discharged By Acts Of The Principal, Or By Acts Of The Cre Ditor. Payment, Or Tender Of Payment, By The One, And Any Act Which Would Deprive The Creditor Of Remedies Which In Case Of Default Would Enure To The Benefit Of ...
Disclaimer
Disclaimer. A Disavowal; A Renun Ciation : As, For Example, The Act By Which A Patentee Renounces Part Of His Title Of In Vention. Of Estates. The Act By Which A Party Refuses To Accept An Estate Which Has Been Conveyed To Him. Thus, A Trustee Is Said To Disclaim ...
Discontinuance Of Estates
Discontinuance Of Estates. An Alienation Made Or Suffered By The Tenant In Tail, Or Other Tenant Seised In Autre Droit, By Which The Issue In Tail, Or Heir Or Suc Cessor, Or Those In Reversion Or Remainder, Are Driven To Their Action, And Cannot Enter. The Term Discontinuance Is Used ...
Discovery
Discovery (fr. Decouvrir, To Uncover, To Discover). The Act Of Finding An Unknown Country. The Nations Of Europe Adopted The Principle That The Discovery Of Any Part Of America Gave Title To The Government By Whose Subjects Or By Whose Au Thority It Was Made, As Against All European Govern ...
Discretion
Discretion. In Practice. The Equi Table Decision Of What Is Just And Proper Under The Circumstances. The Discretion Of A Judge Is Said To Be The Law Of Tyrants: It Is Always Unknown; It Is Different In Different Men; It Is Casual, And Depends Upon Con Stitution, Temper„ And Passion. ...
Disseisin
Disseisin. A Privation Of Seisin. A Usurpation Of The Right Of Seisin And Posses Sion, And An Exercise Of Such Powers And Privileges Of Ownership As To Keep Out Or Dis Place Him To Whom These Rightfully Belong. 2 Washburn, Real Prop. 283. It Takes The Seisin Or Estate From ...
Distrain
Distrain. To Take As A Pledge Pro Perty Of Another, And Keep The Same Until He Performs His Obligation Or Until The Pro Perty Is Replevied By The Sheriff. It Was Used To Secure An Appearance In Court, Pay Ment Of Rent, Performance Of Services, Etc. 3 Blackstone, Comm. 231 ...
Distress Infinite
Distress Infinite. In English Practice. A Process Commanding The Sheriff To Distrain A Person From Time To Time, And Continually Afterwards, By Taking His Goods By Way Of Pledge To Enforce The Performance Of Something Due From The Party Distramed Upon. In This Case No Distress Can Be Im Moderate, ...
District Of Columbia
District Of Columbia. A Por Tion Of The Country, Originally Ten Miles Square, Which Was Edded To The United States By The States Of Virginia And Maryland, Over Which The National Government Has Exclusive Jurisdiction. Under The Constitution, Congress Is Authorized To "exercise Exclusive Jurisdiction In All Eases What Soever, ...
Divorce
Divorce. The Dissolution Or Partial Suspension, By Law, Of The Marriage Relation. The Dissolution Is Termed Divorce From The Bond Of Matrimony, Or, In The Latin Form Of The Expres Sion, A Vinculo Matrimonii; The Suspension, Divorce From Bed And Board, A Menea Et Thoro. The Former Divorce Puts An ...
Dog
Dog. A Well-known Domestic Animal. In Almost All Languages This Word Is A Term Or Name Of Contumely Or Reproach. See 3 Bulstr. 226; 2 Mod. 260; 1 Leon. 148 ; And The Title Action On The Case For Defamation In The Digests ; Minsheu, Diet. 2. A Dog Is ...
Domicil
Domicil. That Place Where A Man Has His True, Fixed, And Permanent Home And Prin Cipal Establishment, And To Which Wkenever He Is Absent He Has The Intention Of Returning. Lieber, Encyc. Am. ; 10 Mass. 188 ; 11 La. 175 ; 5 Mete. Mass. 187 ; 4 Barb. N. ...
Dominium
Dominium (lat.). Perfect And Com Plete Property Or Ownership In A Thing. Plenum In Re Dominium,—plena In Re Potestas. This Right Is Composed Of Three Principal Elements, Viz.: The Right To Use, The Right To Enjoy, And The Right To Dispose Of The Thing, To The Exclusion Of Every Other ...
Donatio Mortis Causa
Donatio Mortis Causa (lat. A Gift In Prospect Of Death). A Gift Made By A Person In Sickness, Who, Apprehending His Dissolution Near, Delivers, Or Causes To Be De Livered, To Another, The Possession Of Any Per Sonal Goods, To Keep As His Own In Case Of The Donor's Decease. ...
Double Insurance
Double Insurance. Is Where Divers Insurances Are Made Upon The Same Interest In The Same Subject Against The Same Risks In Favor Of The Same Assured, In Propor Tions Exceeding The Value, 1 Phillips, Ins. 366. A Like Excess In One Policy Is Over-insurance. If The Valuation Of The•whole Interest ...
Doubt
Doubt. The Uncertainty Which Exists In Relation To A Fact, A Proposition, Or Other Thing ; An Equipoise Of The Mind Arising From An Equality Of Contrary Reasons. Ayliffe, Pand. 121. 2. The Most Embarrassing Position Of A Judge Is That Of Being In Doubt; And It Is Frequently The ...
Dower
Dower (from Fr. Dower, To Endow). The Provision Which The Law Makes For A Widow Out Of The Lands Or Tenements Of Her Husband, For Her Support And The Nurture Of Her Children. Coke; Litt. 30 A; 2 Black Stone, Comm. 130; 4 Kent, Comm. 35; Wash Hum, Real Prop. ...
Drunkenness
Drunkenness. In Medical Juris Prudence. The Condition Of A Man Whose Mind Is Affected By The Immediate Use Of In Toxicating Drinks. 2. This Condition Presents Various Degrees Of In Tensity, Ranging From A Simple Exhilaration To A State Of Utter Unconsciousness And Insensibility. In The Popular Phrase, The Term ...
Duplicity
Duplicity. In Pleading. (lat. Duplex, Twofold ; Double.) The Union Of More Than One Cause Of Action In One Court In A Writ, Or More Than One Defence In One Place, Or More Than A Sin* Breach In A Replication. 1 Woodb. & M. C. C. 381. 2. The Union ...
Duress
Duress. Personal Restraint, Or Fear Of Personal Injury Or Imprisonment. 2 Mete. Ky. 445. ' Duress Of Imprisonment Exists Where A Man Actually Loses His Liberty. If A Man Be Ille Gally Deprived Of His Liberty Until He Sign And Seal A Bond, Or The Like, He May Allege This ...
Dwelling House
Dwelling-house. But Burglary May Be Com Mitted In A Church, At Common Law. 3 Cox, Cr. Cas. 581; Coke, 3d Inst. 64. It Must Be The Dwelling-house Of Another Person. 1 Bishop, Crim. Law, 91 • 2 East, P1. Cr. 502. See 4 Dev. & B. No. C.422; 12 N. ...
Easement
Easement. A Right In The Owner Of One Parcel Of Land, By Reason Of Such Owner Ship, To Use The Land Of Another For A Srecial Purpose Not Inconsistent With A General Pro Perty In The Owner. 2 Washburn, Real Prop. 25. A Privilege Which The Owner Of One Adja ...
Ejectment
Ejectment (lat. E, Out Of, Jacere, To Throw, Cast; Icere, To Cast Out, To Eject). In Practice. A Form Of Action By Which Possessory Titles To Corporeal Hereditaments May Be Tried And Possession Obtained. A Form Of Action Which Lies To Regain The Possession Of Real Property, With Damages For ...
Election
Election. Choice ; Selection. The Selection Of One Man From Amongst More To Discharge Certain Duties In A State, Corpora Tion, Or Society. The Obligation Imposed Upon A Party To Choose Between Two Inconsistent Or Alterna Tive Rights' Or Claims, In Cases Where There Is Clear Intention Of The Person. ...
Electors Of President
Electors Of President. Per Sons Elected By The People, Whose Sole Duty Is To Elect A President And Vice-president Of The United States. The Constitution Provides, Amend. Nrt. 12, That "the Electors Shall Meet In Their Respective States, And Vote By Ballot For President And Vice-president, One Of Whom, At ...
Embezzlement
Embezzlement. In Criminal Law. The Fraudulently Removing And Secreting Of Personal Property With Which The Party Has Been Intrusted, Tor The Purpose Of Applying It To His Own Use. 2. The Principles Of The Common Law Not Being Found Adequate To Protect General Owners Against The Fraudulent Conversion Of Property ...
Emblements
Emblements (fr. Embler, Or Embhaver, To Sow With Corn. The Profits Of The Land Sown). The Right Of A Tenant To Take And Carry Away, After His Tenancy Has Ended, Such Annual Products Of The Land As Have Resulted From His Own Care And Labor. Coke, Litt. 55 B; 4 ...
Eminent Domain
Eminent Domain. The Power To Take Private Property For Public Use. 6 How. 536. The Superior Right Of Property Subsisting In A Sovereignty, By Which Private Property May In Certain Cases Be Taken Or Its Use Con Trolled For The Public Benefit, Without Regard To The Wishes Of The Owner. ...
Enforcement Of Obligation 24
Enforcement Of Obligation. 24. As The Surety-cannot Be Bound To Any Greater Extent Than The Principal, It Follows That The Creditor Cannot Pursue The Surety Until He Has Actjuired A Full Right Of Action Against The Principal Debtor. A Surety For The Per Formance Of Any Future Or Executory Contract ...
Entry
Entry. In Common Law. The Act Of Setting Down The Particulars Of A Sale, Or Other Transaction, In A Merchant's Or Trades Man's Account-books : Such Entries Are, In General, Prima Facie Evidence Of The Sale And Delivery, And Of Work Done ; But Unless The Entry Be The Original ...
Equity
Equity. A Branch Of Remedial Justice By And Through Which Relief Is Afforded To Suitors In The Courts Of Equity. In The Broad Sense In Which This Term Is Some Times Used, It Signifies Natural Justice. In A More Limited Application, It Denotes Eqnal Justice Between Contending Parties. This Is ...
Equity Of Redemption
Equity Of Redemption. A Right Which The Mortgagor Of An Estate Has Of Redeeming It, After It Has Been Forfeited At Law By The Non-payment At The Time Appointed Of The Money Secured By The Mortgage To Be Paid, By Paying The Amount Of The Debt, In Terest, And Costs. ...
Escape
Escape. The Deliverance Of A Person Who Is Lawfully Imprisoned, Out Of Prison, Before Such A Person Is Entitled To Such Deli Verance By Law. 5 Mass. 310. The Voluntarily Or Negligently Allowing Any Person Lawfully In Confinement To Leave The Place. 2 Bishop, Crim. Law, 0 917. Departure Of ...
Escheat
Escheat (fr. Escheoir. To Happen). An Accidental Reverting Of Lands To The Original Lord. In Case Of Escheat By Failure Of Heirs, By Corrup Tion Of Blood, Or By Conviction Of Certain Crimes, Tho Feud Fell Back Into The Lord's Hands By A Termina Tion Of The Tenure. 1 Washburn, ...
Estate For Life
Estate For Life. A Freehold Es Tate, Not Of Inheritance, But Which Is Held By The Tenant For His Own Life Or The Life Or Lives Of One Or More Other Persons, Or For An Inde Finite Period, Which May Endure For The Life Or Lives Of Persons In Being, ...
Estoppel
Estoppel. The Preclusion Of A Person From Asserting A Fact By Previous Conduct, In Consistent Therewith, On His Own Part Or The Part Of Those Under Whom He Claims, Or By An Adjudication Upon His Rights Which Be Cannot Be Allowed To Call In Question. A Preclusion, In Law, Which ...
Estovers
Estovers Estouviers, Necessaries ; From Estoffer, To Furnish). The Right Or Privilege Which A Tenant Has To Furnish Himself With So Much Wood From The Demised Premises As May He Sufficient Or Necessary For His Fuel, Fences, And Other Agricultural Operations. 2 Blackstone, Comm. 35 ; Woodfall, Landl. & Ten. ...
Estrepement
Estrepement. A Common-law Writ For The Prevention Of Waste. The Writ Lay At Common Law To Prevent A Party In Possession Frcm Committing Waste On An Estate The Title To Which Was Disputed, After Jndgmcnt Oh Teined In Any Real Action And Before Possession Was Delivered By The Sheriff. But. ...
Eviction
Eviction. Depriving A Person Of The Possession Of His Lands Or Tenements. Teohnically, The Dispossession Must Be By Judgment Of Law ; If Otherwise, It Is An Ouster. Total Eviction Takes Place When The Pos Sessor Is Wholly Deprived Of His Rights In The Premises. Partial Eviction Takes Place When ...
Ex Post Facto Law
Ex Post Facto Law. A Statute Which Would Render An Act Punishable In A Manner In Which It Was Not Punishable When It Was Committed. 6 Cranch, 138 ; 1 Kent, Comm. 408. A Law Made To Punish Acts Committed Before The Existence Of Such Law, And Which Had Not ...
Examination
Examination. In Criminal Law. The Investigation By An Authorized Magistrate Of • The Circumstances Which Constitute The Grounds For An Accusation Against A Person Arrested On A Criminal Charge, With A View To Discharging The Person So Arrested, Or To Se Curing His Appearance For Trial By The Proper Court, ...
Examiners In Patent Office
Patent Office, Examiners In. Upon The Reorganization Of The Patent Office, In 1836, Under The Act Of July 4 Of That Year, A New And Important Principle Was In Troduced. Prior To That Date, Any One Was At Liberty To Take Out His Patent For Almost Any Contrivance, If He ...
Exception
Exception (lat. Excipere : Ex, Out Of, Capere, To Take). In Contracts. A Clause In A Deed By Which The Lessor Excepts Something Out Of That Which Be Granted Before By The Deed. The Exclusion Of Something From The Effect Or Operation Of The Deed Or Contract Which Would Otherwise ...
Exchange
Exchange. In Commercial Law. A Negotiation By Which One Person Transfers To Another Funds Which He Has In A Certain Place, Either At A Price Agreed Upon Or Which Is Fixed By Commercial Usage. This Transfer Is Made By Means Of An Instru Ment Which Represents Such Funds And Is ...
Excuse
Excuse. A Reason Alleged For The Doing Or Not Doing A Thing. 2. This Word Presents Two Ideas, Differing Essen Tially From Each Other. In One Case An Excuse May Be Made In Order To Show That The Party Accused Is Not Guilty; In Another, By Showing That Though Guilty ...
Execution
Execution. The Accomplishment Of A Thing; The Completion Of An Act Or Instru Ment; The Fulfilment Of An Undertaking. Thus, A Contract Is Executed When The Act To Be Done Is Performed ; A Deed Is Executed When It Is Signed, Sealed, And Delivered. In Criminal Law. Putting A Convict ...
Executor
Executor. One To Whom Another Man Commits By His Last Will The Execution Of That Will And Testament. 2 Blackstone, Comm. 503. A Person To Whom A Testator By His Will Commits The Execution, Or Putting In Force, Of That Instrument And Its Codicils. Yonblanque, Rights And Wrongs, 307. Lord ...
Executor De Son Tort
Executor De Son Tort. One. Who Attempts To Act As Executor Without Law, Ful. Authority. 2. If A Stranger Takes Upon Him To Act As Executor Without Any Just Authority (as, By Intermeddling With The Goods Of The Deceased, And Many Other Transactions), He Is Called In Law An Executor ...
Executory Devise
Executory Devise. Such A Limit •tion Of A Future Estate In Lands Or Chattels As The Law Admits In Case Of A Will, Though Contrary To The Rules Of Limitation In Convey Ances At Common Law. 2. In The Case Of Chattels This Is More Properly Called An Executory Bequest. ...
Exemplary Damages
Exemplary Damages. In Prac Tice. Damages Allowed As A Punishment For Tints Committed With Fraud, Actual Malice, Or Deliberate Violence Or Oppression. 2. The Principle Appears To Be Now Well Es Tablished In Nearly Alithe States Of The Union, Though It Is Denied In Some, That In Actions For Torts ...
Expulsion
Expulsion (lat. Expellere, To Drive Out). The Act Of Depriving A Member Of A Body Politic Or Corporate, Or Of A Society, Of His Right Of Membership Therein, By The Vote Of Such Body Or Society, For Some Violation Of His Duties As Such, Or For Some Offence Which Renders ...
Extent Of Obligation 1s
Extent Of Obligation. 1s. The Liability Of A Surety Cannot Exceed, In Any Event, That Of The Principal, Though It May Be Less. The Same Rule Does Not Apply To The Remedies, Which May Be Greater Against %he Surety, But, Whatever May .be The Lia, Bility Imposed Upon The Surety, ...
Extradition
Extradition (lat. Ex, From, Traditio, Handing Over). The Surrender By One Sove Reign State To Another, On Its Demand, Of Persons Charged With The Commission Of Crime Within Its Jurisdiction, That They May Be Dealt With According To Its Laws. The Surrender Of Persons By One Sovereign State Or Political ...
False Pretences
False Pretences. In Criminal Law. False Representations And Made With A Fraudulent Design To Obtain "money, Goods, Wares, And Merchandise," With Intent To Cheat. 2 Bouvier, Inst. N. 2308. A Representation Of Some Fact Or Circum Stance, Calculated To Mislead, Which Is Not True. 19 Pick. Mass. 184. The Pretence ...
Family Meetings
Family Meetings (called, Also, Family Councils). In Louisiana. Meetings Of At Least Five Relations, Or, In Default Of Relations Of Minors Or Other Persons On Whose Interest They Are Called Upon To Deliberate, Then Of The Friends Of Such Minors Or Other Persons. 2. The Appointment Of The Members Of ...