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...
legal history
People v. William Freeman (1847)
People v. William Freeman (1847) was the first case in the United States where a defendant used an insanity defense. The case was heard and decided by the New York Supreme Court.
William Freeman was a Black and Indigenous...
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) is the Supreme Court case that had originally upheld the constitutionality of “separate, but equal facilities” based on race. It was subsequently since overturned by Brown v. Board of Education (1954).
...polygamy
Polygamy is the practice of having more than one spouse at the same time. Polygamy as a crime originated in the common law, and it is now outlawed in every state. In the United States, polygamy was declared unlawful through the passing of...
Queen's Bench
Queen’s Bench is one of three divisional courts in the United Kingdom’s High Court that serves both as a court of original and appellate jurisdiction. Queen’s Bench (called Queen or King’s bench depending on who is reigning) covers a wide...
redlining
Redlining can be defined as a discriminatory practice that consists of the systematic denial of services such as mortgages, insurance loans, and other financial services to residents of certain areas, based on their race or ethnicity....
rex non potest peccare
Rex non potest peccare is a Latin legal maxim meaning "the king can do no wrong" which developed into the doctrine of sovereign immunity, also known as governmental immunity. Rex non potest peccare originated in English common law and is...
right
A right is a power or privilege held by the general public, usually as the result of a constitution, statute, regulation, judicial precedent, or other type of law. Legal rights are enforceable by legal institutions and can be invoked in...
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States (1935)
Schechter Poultry Corp. v. United States, 295 U.S. 495, is a Supreme Court case that invalidated a provision of the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) that authorized the President to approve “codes of fair competition” for the poultry...
seduction
Seduction, in law, refers to an act by which a person entices another to have unlawful sexual intercourse with them by means of persuasions, promises, flattery or bribes without using any physical force or violence.
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