courts
Abscond
Leaving a jurisdiction secretly or suddenly, e.g. to avoid service of process, arrest, or prosecution; or leaving with another person's money or property.
Illustrative caselawSee, e.g. Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 U.S. 318 (2001...
Absolute Disparity
A calculation used to analyze a claim that a jury pool did not represent a fair cross-section of the community. Calculated by subtracting the percentage of a group in the jury pool from the percentage of that group in the general population...
Absolute Privilege
Absolute privilege, in defamation law, refers to the fact that in certain circumstances, an individual is immune from liability for defamatory statements..
OverviewAbsolute privilege applies to statements made in certain contexts or in...
Abstention
A federal court's decision not to exercise jurisdiction over a case. The usual goal of abstention is the avoidance of needless conflict with a state court. See Federalism.
Abstention: an overviewAbstention is a doctrine under which...
Abuse of Discretion
A standard of review used by appellate courts to review decisions of lower courts. The appellate court will typically find that the decision was an abuse of discretion if the discretionary decision was made in plain error.
OverviewThe...
Acceptance of Service
Agreement by the defendant (or the defendant's attorney) to accept papers or a complaint without having the papers served by a process server or a sheriff. Acceptance of service is accomplished by signing a "receipt and acknowledgment of...
Accusation
1) Formally charging a person with a crime either by a prosecuting attorney filing charges against or through a grand jury indictment of that person. 2) Informally stating that a person has committed an illegal or immoral act.
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