wex definitions

youthful offender

A youthful offender is an adolescent who committed a crime, who may not be tried in an adult court; instead will be tried in a juvenile court. The youthful offenders may take some responsibility for the unlawful behavior and may not be...

Zambrano

Zambrano (Zambrano v. I.N.S.) was a class action case that lasted from 1988 to 2002 in which the plaintiffs, undocumented aliens, challenged I.N.S. regulations, arguing they unduly restrict the eligibility of undocumented aliens who might...

zealous witness

A zealous witness is someone whose testimony is clearly biased in favor of the party for whom they are testifying. This is usually the case when a witness shows far more than expected enthusiasm when providing testimony.

[Last...

zero tape

Zero tape (also called a zero report) refers to a file produced by electronic voter machines which show that the machine has no votes tallied at the beginning of an election. Many states require poll workers to retrieve a zero tape before...

zone of danger rule

The zone of danger rule is a doctrine that limits the liability of persons accused of negligent infliction of emotional distress ("NIED"). If the zone of danger rule applies, plaintiffs suing for NIED may only recover damages if they were (1) "placed...

zone of interests

The type of interests or concerns that a law is intended to regulate or protect. The law can be a constitutional provision or legislative statute. To have standing when challenging state action based on a law, the plaintiff's injury must fall under...

zoning

Zoning is a legislative act dividing a jurisdiction's land into sections and regulating different land uses in each section in accordance with a zoning ordinance.

Flexibility in Zoning:

A number of devices allow governing boards to include...

zoning ordinance

A municipal law that outlines permitted uses for various sections of land. Thus, some parts of a city may be dedicated to industrial use, while others may be set aside for residential or commercial use only. A zoning ordinance may also regulate...

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