Department of Homeland Security. The cabinet-level department of the federal government responsible for ensuring security within the U.S. borders and in its territories and possessions. • The Department has five major divisions: Border and Transportation Security, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Science and Technology, Information Analysis and Infrastructure, and Management. It was established in 2002 and […]
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recording act. A law that establishes the requirements for recording a deed or other property interest and the standards for determining priorities between persons claiming interests in the same property (usu. real property). • Recording acts — the three main types of which are the notice statute, the race statute, and the race-notice statute —
Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption. A 1993 international agreement to establish uniform procedures governing intercountry adoptions. • The Convention has not been widely accepted. The U.S. has signed but not ratified it.
A fund established usu. by a state or a state bar association to compensate persons for losses that they suffered because of their attorneys’ misappropriation of funds or other misconduct. [Cases: Attorney and Client 129.5. C.J.S. Attorney and Client § 279.]
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color of title. A written instrument or other evidence that appears to establish title but does not in fact do so. — Also termed apparent title.
A committee that is established for ongoing business, that continues to exist from session to session, and that is usu. charged with considering business of a certain recurring kind. • A legislature will ordinarily establish a standing committee concerned with a specific field of legislation. A legislative standing committee usu. considers basic questions of legislative
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Lemon test. A legal standard for judging the state’s violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. • The Lemon test has most often been used in school-related cases. It employs a three-pronged test to determine the state’s action: (1) Does the state’s action have a religious purpose? (2) Does the state’s action have
filiation (fil-ee-ay-sh[schwa]n). 1. The fact or condition of being a son or daughter; relationship of a child to a parent. • Despite Bentham’s protest (see below), filiation is usual in this sense. — Also termed filiality. “In English we have no word that will serve to express with propriety the person who bears the relation
United States Institute of Peace. An independent federal institution created to develop and disseminate knowledge about international peace and conflict resolution. • The Institute was established in 1984.
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rebellion. 1. Open, organized, and armed resistance to an established government or ruler. 2. Open resistance or opposition to an authority or tradition. 3. Hist. Disobedience of a legal command or summons.