A legal system is the framework of rules, procedures, and institutions that a community uses to interpret and enforce their laws. A legal system is binding on all legal disputes within its jurisdiction.
There is no uniform...
legal history
legitimate
Legitimate has several legal meanings. When it is used as an adjective, it means lawful, or right. It can also be an antiquated term for an individual of lawful parentage or lawful issue, meaning that they weren’t born out of wedlock. In...
Lochner era
The Lochner Era refers to a period of history in the United States characterized by strong judicial protections for economic liberties, especially freedom of contract. The period takes its name from a landmark case, Lochner v. New York, 198...
Magna Carta
The Magna Carta was a charter of rights agreed to by King John of England in 1215, and was Europe’s first written constitution. Prior to the implementation of the Magna Carta, English monarchs were considered above the law of the land and ruled with...
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
Marbury v. Madison (1803) was the U.S. Supreme Court case that established the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review. (Read the opinion here).
After President John Adams lost the 1800 election, but before he left office,...
Model Penal Code (MPC)
The Model Penal Code (or MPC) is a model code assembled by the American Legal Institute that was first promulgated in 1962. Following the MPC’s promulgation, many states’ criminal codes underwent significant reforms, and to this day, many...
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...
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...