A pat-down search is when a police officer pats down the outer surfaces of a person’s clothing in an attempt to find weapons. A pat-down search constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. Pat-down searches, incident to an investigatory stops, are...
criminal law
Patriot Act
The Patriot Act is a shorthand name for The Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act. The Act was passed shortly after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. It was signed...
peculation
Peculation is the wrongful appropriation of public property, money, or goods entrusted to another’s guardianship, typically a public official, for personal use. Depeculation, a related phrase, is used to specify an act of peculation which...
peculator
A peculator (also referred to as an embezzler) refers to a person who steals money that was under their supervision, by utilizing the benefit or convenience created by their position. The money is not limited to cash, and can include vouchers...
pedophilia
Pedophilia is a mental disorder where an individual seeks sexual gratification from children. Spelled Paedophilia in British English. The American Psychological Association (APA) Dictionary of Psychology defines pedophilia as “a paraphilia in...
peeping Tom
A person who peeps through a window, door, or other aperture of a building for the purpose of spying on people engaging in intimate activities, such as undressing or sexual acts. The term “peeping tom” may also include “video voyeurism,”...
pen register
A pen register is a device or process that traces outgoing signals from a specific phone or computer to their destination; it is often used by law enforcement as the advanced counterpart of an outgoing call log. A pen register produces a list...
penal
In reference to law, “penal” is used primarily as a descriptive term relating to punishments or crimes. For example:
A penal code is a set of statutes that concern criminal offenses (e.g., California Penal Code, Texas Penal Code). A...penalty
A penalty is the punishment imposed upon a person who has violated the law, whether or a contract, a rule, or regulation. A penalty can be in response to either civil or criminal violations, though civil penalties are usually less severe....
penitentiary
The term penitentiary is derived from the Latin term paenitentia, meaning repentance. A penitentiary refers to a prison or place of confinement used to hold and correct criminals who have been convicted of felonies. In the Roman Catholic...