Per Curiam

The term per curiam refers to a decision made by a court of numerous judges, but without a particular author’s name attached to the decision. For example, per curiam decisions are typically short and concern issues that the court does not consider to be controversial in nature. However, this is not always the case, as sometimes the judges do not […]

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Sovereign Immunity

The term “sovereign immunity” refers to a ruling body, such as the U.S. government, being immune from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution. For example, sovereign immunity means that no one can sue the government without having the government’s consent. Sovereign immunity comes from British common law, which provided the idea that the King is immune from charges of wrongdoing. To […]

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Misprision

The term “misprision” refers to the deliberate act of hiding the awareness of a crime. For example, misprision exists when someone has knowledge that a crime is about to occur, and yet does nothing to stop it. Another example of misprision is clerical misprision, which is typically less serious and occurs when the clerk of the court makes a mistake […]

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Judicial Branch

The term “judicial branch” refers to the branch of the U.S. government responsible for interpreting and applying existing laws to the cases that come before it. For example, the judicial branch decides everything from criminal and civil cases and applies the laws of the jurisdiction, as well as the Constitution to them. The most important arm of this important branch […]

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