P
The remission, by the chief
executive of a state or nation, of a
punishment which a person convicted of crime has been sentences to undergo.
A significant provision in
American, that when dealings between parties are reduced to an unambiguous
written instrument, e.g., a deed, contract or lease, the instrument cannot be
contradicted or modified by oral evidence. The rule is subject to various
limitations and exceptions, however.
Supervised suspension of the
execution of a convict's sentence, and release from prison, conditional upon
hiss continued compliance with the terms of parole. (2) A regular part of the
rehabilitation process. Assuming good behavior, it is the normal expectation in
the vast majority of cases. Statutes generally specify when a prisoner will be
eligible to be considered for parole and detail the standards and procedures
applicable.
Lat., by itself; alone.
Personal property.
A request made to a public
official or public body that has authority to act concerning it. The right to
petition the government for a redress of grievances is secured to the people by
the U.S. Const., Amendment 1. (2) Under some codes of civil procedure, the
written statement of the plaintiff's case which initiates a lawsuit. (3) A
written request to the court for an order after notice. Uniform Probate Code ss
5&-103(15).
A person who initiates a
lawsuit.
The alternate and opposing
written statements of the parties to a lawsuit. Under the Federal Rules of
Civil Procedure, and analogous sate rules of civil procedure, the pleadings
consist of a Complaint and an Answer; a Reply to a Counterclaim denominated as
such; an Answer to a Cross&-claim, if the Answer contains a Cross&-claim;
a Third&-&-party Complaint, it a person who was not an original party
is summoned; and a Third&-party Answer, if a Third&-party Complaint
is served. No other pleadings shall be allowed, except that the court may order
a Reply to an Answer or a Third&-party Answer. Fed. R. Civ. P. 7(a). Pleadings
consist of simple concise and direct averments of claims for relief, defenses
and denials. Matters which constitute an avoidance or affirmative defense must
be set forth affirmatively. Id. 8.
A flexible term for the
authority of federal and state legislatures to enact laws regulating and
restraining private rights and occupations for the promotions of public health,
safety, welfare and order.
A meeting between the judge and
counsel for the parties, preliminary to the trial of a lawsuit. Under modern
rules of civil procedure, in any lawsuit, the court may in its discretion
direct the attorneys for the parties to appear before it for a conference, to
consider any matters that may aid in the disposition of the lawsuit. Fed. R.
Civ. P. 16.
As prohibited by the Robinson&-Patman
Act (q.v.), the making of a distinction in price between customers, for reasons
which do not reflect differences in cost of manufacture, transportation or
sale.
At first view; on the first
aspect.
Proof of a fact or collection of
facts, which creates a presumption of the existence of other facts, or from
which some conclusion may be legally drawn, but which presumption or conclusion
may be discredited or overcome by other relevant proof.
The leading, or most important;
the original; a person, firm or corporation from whom an agent derives his
authority; a person who is first responsible, and for whose fulfillment of an
obligation a surety becomes bound; the chief, or actual, perpetrator of a
crime, as distinguished from the accessory, who may assist him; the important
part of an estate, as distinguished from incidents, or accessories; a sum of
money loaned, as distinguished from the interest paid for its use.
An exceptional right, or
exemption, It is either (a) personal, attached to a person or office; or (b)
attached to a thing, sometimes called real. The exemption of ambassadors and
members of Congress from arrest, while going to, returning from, or attending
to the discharge of their public duties, is an example of the first. (2) the
fact that conduct which, under ordinary circumstances, would subject an actor
to liability,
under particular circumstances
does not subject him to liability. A privilege may be based upon (a) the
consent of the other affected by the actor's conduct, or (b) the fact that its
exercise is necessary for the protection of some interest of the actor or of
the public which is of such importance as to justify the caused or threatened
by its exercise, or (c) the fact that
the actor is performing a function for the proper performance of which freedom
of action is essential. Restatement (Second) of Torts ss10.
Participation in knowledge or
interest. Persons who so participate are called privies. Privity in deed, i.e.,
by consent of the parties, is opposed to privity in law, e.g., tenant by
curtesy.
A reasonable ground for
suspicion, supported by circumstances sufficiently strong to warrant a cautious
man to believe that an accused person is guilty of the offense with which he is
charged. (2) Concerning a search, probable cause is flexible, common&-sense
standard. It merely requires that the facts available to the officer would
warrant a person of reasonable caution in the belief that certain items may be
contraband or stolen property or useful as evidence of a crime; it does not
demand any showing that the belief is correct or more likely true than false. A
practical, nontechnical probability that incriminating evidence is involved is
all that is required.
The means whereby a court
enforces obedience to its orders. Process is termed (a) original, when it is
intended to compel the appearance of the defendant (b) mesne, when issued
pending suit to secure the attendance of jurors and witness; and (c) final,
when issued to enforce execution of a judgment. (2) In patent law, the art or
method by which any particular result is produced, e.g., the smelting of ones
or the vulcanizing of rubber.
A person to whom a promise is
made. Accord, Restatement (Second) of Contracts ss 2(3).
A person who makes or gives a
promise. Accord, Restatement (Second) of Contracts ss2(2).
A person who brings an action
against another, in the name of the government. A public prosecutor is an
officer appointed or elected to conduct all prosecutions in behalf of the
government. A private prosecutor is an individual who, not holding office, conducts
an accusation against another. Occasionally, an aggrieved person will employ a
private attorney to serve as such a prosecutor.
Something which produces a
result, and without which, the result could not have occurred. (2) Any original
event, which in natural unbroken sequence, produces a particular foreseeable
result, without which the result would not have occurred.
A highly flexible term of
imprecise definition, for the consideration of what is expedient for the
community concerned. (2) The principle of law which holds that no person can do
that which has a tendency to be injurious to the public, or against the public
good. (3) The statutes and precedents, and not the general considerations of
public interest.
Damages in excess of the loss
sustained and allowed as a punishment for torts committed with fraud, actual
malice, or violence.
