embezzlement, n. The fraudulent taking of personal property with which one has been entrusted, esp. as a fiduciary. • The criminal intent for embezzlement — unlike larceny and false pretenses — arises after taking possession (not before or during the taking). — Also termed defalcation; peculation. See LARCENY; FALSE PRETENSES. [Cases: Embezzlement 1. C.J.S. Embezzlement […]
juvenile delinquent. A minor who is guilty of criminal behavior, usu. punishable by special laws not pertaining to adults. — Sometimes shortened to delinquent. — Also termed juvenile offender; youthful offender; delinquent minor. See OFFENDER. [Cases: Infants 153. C.J.S. Infants §§ 33–35, 41–42, 64, 67.]
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stultiloquium (st[schwa]l-ti-loh-kwee-[schwa]m). [fr. Latin stultus “foolish” + loqui “to speak”] Hist. A frivolous pleading punishable by fine. • This may have been the origin of the beaupleader. See BEAUPLEADER.
crime against the law of nations. Int’l law. 1. A crime punishable under internationally prescribed criminal law or defined by an international convention and required to be made punishable under the criminal law of the member states. 2. A crime punishable under international law; an act that is internationally agreed to be of a criminal
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A crime that is punishable under the common law, rather than by force of statute. Cf. statutory crime.
sweatwork. Slang. A compilation, esp. a searchable computer database, that does not qualify for U.S. copyright protection because the underlying facts are not copyrightable and the compilation is not a nontrivial arrangement. • New forms of intellectual-property laws are aimed at protecting the “sweat-of-the-brow” investment that goes into compiling databases. Cf. SWEAT-OF-THE-BROW DOCTRINE E.
false imprisonment. A restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent. • False imprisonment is a common-law misdemeanor and a tort. It applies to private as well as governmental detention. Cf. false arrest under ARREST. [Cases: False Imprisonment 2.] “[In the phrase false imprisonment,] false is … used not in the
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An attempt to commit an assault; an attempted battery that has not progressed far enough to be an assault, as when a person intends to harm someone physically but is captured while or after trying to locate the intended victim in his or her place of employment. • Traditionally, most commentators held that an attempted
infraction, n. A violation, usu. of a rule or local ordinance and usu. not punishable by incarceration. See VIOLATION(1). — infract, vb. civil infraction. An act or omission that, though not a crime, is prohibited by law and is punishable. • In some states, many traffic violations are classified as civil infractions.
counterfoil (kown-t[schwa]r-foyl), n. A detachable part of a writing on which the particulars of the main part are summarized. • The most common example is a check stub, on which the date, the payee, and the amount are typically noted.