solemn occasion. In some states, the serious and unusual circumstance in which the supreme court is constitutionally permitted to render advisory opinions to the remaining branches of government, as when the legislature doubts the legality of proposed legislation and a determination must be made to allow the legislature to exercise its functions. • Some factors […]
closed source, adj. Of or related to software that does not include the source code and cannot be modified without either damaging the program or violating the software developer’s ownership rights. • Proprietary software is usu. closed source.
A financial or operational transaction designed to make a present or future takeover bid more difficult by raising a company’s share price, paying off the bidder, or reducing a bidder’s profit. • Examples include issuing new shares of stock, acquiring expensive assets, and adopting a poison-pill defense. See POISON PILL; PORCUPINE PROVISION.
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Existing in life [life in being plus 21 years]. • In property law, this term includes children conceived but not yet born. — Also termed in esse. See LIFE IN BEING.
statement of fact. A form of conduct that asserts or implies the existence or nonexistence of a fact. • The term includes not just a particular statement that a particular fact exists or has existed, but also an assertion that, although perhaps expressed as an opinion, implies the existence of some fact or facts that
F.Supp.2d.abbr. The second series of the Federal Supplement, which includes decisions of federal district courts and the Court of International Trade from 1997 to the present. • Some of the F.Supp. volumes contain cases from 1998 and some of the F.Supp.2d volumes contain cases decided in 1997.
McNaghten rules (mik-nawt-[schwa]n).Criminal law. The doctrine that a person is not criminally responsible for an act when a mental disability prevented the person from knowing either the nature and quality of the act or whether the act was right or wrong. • The federal courts and most states have adopted this test in some form.
National Capital Planning Commission. A 12-member federal commission that plans the development of federal lands and facilities in the National Capital region, an area that includes the District of Columbia and six nearby counties — two in Maryland and four in Virginia. • The Commission was originally established as the National Capital Parks Commission, a
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Evidence that does not come directly under judicial cognizance but nevertheless constitutes an intermediate link between judicial evidence and the fact requiring proof. • It includes all facts that are known to the tribunal only by way of inference from some form of judicial evidence. See JUDICIAL NOTICE. Cf. judicial evidence.
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indecency, n. The state or condition of being outrageously offensive, esp. in a vulgar or sexual way. • Unlike obscene material, indecent speech is protected under the First Amendment. Cf. OBSCENITY. [Cases: Obscenity 1. C.J.S. Obscenity §§ 1–8.] — indecent, adj. “Obscenity is that which is offensive to chastity. Indecency is often used with the