The Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA) of 1984 imposes a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison for anyone with at least 3 previous violent felony or serious drug offense convictions who illegally possesses a firearm. Like other “three strikes...
criminal law
armed conflict
Armed conflicts are contextualized into two different categories: international armed conflicts and domestic armed conflicts. International armed conflicts occur when there is conflict between two or more states. Domestic armed conflicts...
arraignment
An arraignment is the first step in a criminal proceeding where the defendant is brought in front of the court to hear the charges against them and enter a plea.
See, e.g. County of Riverside v. McLaughlin 500 U.S. 44 (1991...
arrest
An arrest is the use of legal authority to deprive a person of their freedom of movement.
An arrest is generally made with an arrest warrant. An arrest may be made without a warrant if probable cause and exigent...
arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a document issued by a judge or magistrate that authorizes the police to take someone accused of a crime into custody. An arrest warrant is issued by the competent authority upon a showing of probable cause, which means a...
arson
Arson is a crime at common law, originally defined as “the malicious burning of the dwelling of another.” However, the definition changes slightly depending upon the jurisdiction. For some jurisdictions, arson is the intentional setting of a...
arson with intent to defraud an insurer
A party who intentionally sets fire to their property with the purpose of collecting insurance money on that property is guilty of arson with the intent to defraud an insurer. Arson with the intent to defraud an insurer is a state law offense...
assault
Assault is generally defined as an intentional act that puts another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact. No physical injury is required, but the actor must have intended to cause a harmful or offensive...
assault and battery
Assault and battery is a modern legal term which combines assault with the separate charge of battery. Assault refers to the wrong act of causing someone to reasonably fear imminent harm. This means that the fear must be something a...
assisted suicide
As noted in the Supreme Court of New Mexico case Morris v. Brandenburg, assisted suicide is the act of actively aiding other people in the taking of their own lives. Physician-assisted suicide, a subset of assisted suicide, involves the...