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Choate, Joseph Hodges

(Encyclopedia)Choate, Joseph Hodges chōt [key], 1832–1917, American lawyer and diplomat, b. Salem, Mass.; nephew of Rufus Choate. After being admitted (1855) to the bar, he moved to New York City. His legal care...

conflict of laws

(Encyclopedia)conflict of laws, that part of the law in each state, country, or other jurisdiction that determines whether, in dealing with a particular legal situation, its law or the law of some other jurisdictio...

Posse Comitatus Act

(Encyclopedia)Posse Comitatus Act, 1878, U.S. federal law that makes it a crime to use the military as a domestic police force in the United States under most circumstances. The law was designed to end the use of f...

trust

(Encyclopedia)trust, in law, arrangement whereby property legally owned by one person is administered for the benefit of another. Three parties are ordinarily needed for the relation to arise: the settlor, who bequ...

annual

(Encyclopedia)annual, plant that germinates from seed, blossoms, produces seed, and dies within one year. Annuals propagate themselves by seed only, unlike many biennials and perennials. They are thus especially su...

mufti

(Encyclopedia)mufti mŭfˈtē [key], in Islamic law, attorney or judicial/religious scholar who writes his opinion (fatwa) on legal subjects for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases. The recorded o...

White, Edward Douglass

(Encyclopedia)White, Edward Douglass, 1845–1921, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1894–1910), 9th chief justice of the United States (1910–21), b. Lafourche parish, La. He attended the Jesuit Coll...

Seneca, the elder, c.60 b.c.–c.a.d. 37, Roman rhetorician and writer

(Encyclopedia)Seneca, the elder (Lucius, or Marcus, Annaeus Seneca) lo͞oˈshəs, märˈkəs ənēˈəs sĕnˈəkə [key], c.60 b.c.–c.a.d. 37, Roman rhetorician and writer, b. Corduba (present-day Córdoba), Spa...

arrest

(Encyclopedia)arrest, in law, seizure and detention of a person, either to bring him before a court body or official, or to otherwise secure the administration of the law. A person may be arrested for an alleged vi...

Sherman, John

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, John, 1823–1900, American statesman, b. Lancaster, Ohio; brother of William Tecumseh Sherman. He studied law, was admitted (1844) to the bar, and practiced law several years in Mansfield, O...