Dombrowski doctrine. A short-lived rule that entitled a person to seek a federal-court injunction to prevent prosecution under a broad or vague state statute that affects rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Dombrowski v. Pfister, 380 U.S. 479, 85 S.Ct. 1116 (1965). • The doctrine was greatly cut back six years after it was announced, […]
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laesio enormis (lee-shee-oh i-nor-mis). [Law Latin “excessive loss” or “abnormal loss of more than half”] Roman & civil law. 1. The sale of a thing for which the buyer paid less than half its real value. • The seller could rescind the sale, but the buyer could keep the item purchased by paying the full
race statute. A recording act providing that the person who records first, regardless of notice, has priority. • Only Louisiana and North Carolina have race statutes. — Also termed pure race statute; race act. Cf. NOTICE STATUTE ; RACE-NOTICE STATUTE. [Cases: Vendor and Purchaser 231(11).C.J.S. Vendor and Pur-chaser § 502.]
algorithm exception. Patents. The general rule that an abstract mathematical function, such as an algorithm, cannot be patented. • The exception was first articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 93 S.Ct. 253 (1972). The rule was undermined by State St. Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Fin. Group,
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East India Company. Hist. The company that was originally established to pursue exclusive trade between England and India, and that later became more active in political affairs than in commerce. • In 1858, by the Government of India Act, the government of the company’s territories was transferred to the Crown. The company was dissolved in
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corpus cum causa (kor-p[schwa]s k[schwa]m kaw-z[schwa]). [Law Latin “the body with the cause”] Hist. A writ issuing out of Chancery to remove both a person and a record from an inferior court in order to review a judgment issued by the inferior court. “The first use of the writ to challenge imprisonment was in cases
quominus (kwoh-m[schwa]-n[schwa]s or kwoh-mI-n[schwa]s). [Latin quo minus “by which the less”] Hist. A 14th-century Exchequer writ alleging that the plaintiff had lent the defendant a sum of money and that the plaintiff was unable to repay a debt of similar amount to the Crown because of the debt to the defendant. • In effect, the
Black Hand. Hist. Any of several secret societies that were active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. • Most of these organizations were composed of anarchists or separatists and engaged in terrorism. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a loosely knit Sicilian–Italian criminal organization called the Black Hand extorted money from
Rare. A fee tail created when land is given to a man and wife and the heirs of their bodies. See FRANKMARRIAGE.
earl. A title of nobility, formerly the highest in England but now the third highest, ranking between a marquis and a viscount. • This title corresponds with the French comte and the German graf. Originating with the Saxons, this title is the most ancient of the English peerage. William the Conqueror first made the title