Bertillon system (b[schwa]r-t[schwa]-lon or bair-tee-yawn). A system of anthropometry once used to identify criminals by measuring and describing them. • The Bertillon system is named for Alphonse Bertillon, the French anthropologist who developed the technique early in the 20th century. It has been largely replaced by fingerprinting. Cf. ANTHROPOMETRY. “The system of identification known as […]
parental-consent statute. A statute that requires a minor to obtain his or her parent’s consent before receiving elective medical treatment. • Without parental consent, a physician or other medical professional commits a battery upon a child when giving nonemergency medical treatment. To pass constitutional muster, a parental-consent statute must include a judicial-bypass provision. Planned Parenthood
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A crime that includes one or more crimes of lesser grade. • For example, murder is a divisible offense comprising assault, battery, and assault with intent to kill.
military law. The branch of public law governing military discipline and other rules regarding service in the armed forces. • It is exercised both in peacetime and in war, is recognized by civil courts, and includes rules far broader than for the punishment of offenders. — Also termed military justice. — Sometimes loosely termed martial
secondary factor. (usu. pl.) Patents. Objective evidence that courts consider in determining a patent claim’s nonobviousness. • Secondary factors include “commercial success, long-felt but unsolved need, failure of others, and unexpected results.” Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17–18, 86 S.Ct. 684, 694 (1966). — Also termed secondary consideration. [Cases: Patents 36. 1.
money service business, n. A nonbank entity that provides mechanisms for people to make payments or to obtain currency or cash in exchange for payment instruments. • Money service businesses do not accept deposits or make loans. They include money transmitters, payment instrument sellers, stored-value providers, check cashers, and currency exchangers. — Also termed nonbank
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A 1958 federal statute that created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), a civilian agency of the federal government whose functions include conducting space research, improving aeronautical travel, building manned and unmanned space vehicles, developing operational space programs, and engaging in other space activities devoted to peaceful purposes for the benefit of all humankind.
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bishop’s court. 1. An ecclesiastical court usu. held in the diocese cathedral and presided over by the bishop’s chancellor. 2. Hist. Eccles. law. (cap.) A court (usu.) held in the cathedral of a diocese, the judge being the bishop’s chancellor, who applied civil canon law. • The jurisdiction included appeals from the Court of Archdeacon.
incident of ownership. (usu. pl.) Any right of control that may be exercised over a transferred life-insurance policy so that the policy’s proceeds will be included in a decedent’s gross estate for estate-tax purposes (because Douglas still retained the incidents of ownership after giving his life-insurance policy to his daughter, the policy proceeds were taxed
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legal secretary. An employee in a law office whose responsibilities include typing legal documents and correspondence, keeping records and files, and performing other duties supportive of the employer’s law practice. • Legal secretaries are usu. more highly skilled, and therefore more highly compensated, than secretaries in general business.