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Navalny, Alexei Anatolyevich

(Encyclopedia)Navalny, Alexei Anatolyevich, 1976–, Russian lawyer and political activist. Navalny joined the Russian United Democratic party...

obscenity

(Encyclopedia)obscenity, in law, anything that tends to corrupt public morals by its indecency. The moral concepts that the term connotes vary from time to time and from place to place. In the United States, the wo...

Mengistu Haile Mariam

(Encyclopedia)Mengistu Haile Mariam mĕnggīsˈto͞o hīˈlē märˈēəm [key], 1937–, military ruler of Ethiopia (1974–91). Mengistu, an army officer, participated prominently in Emperor Haile Selassie's over...

Newberry, Truman Handy

(Encyclopedia)Newberry, Truman Handy, 1864–1945, American naval officer and cabinet official, b. Detroit. He engaged in various financial enterprises and helped organize (1902) the Packard Motor Car Company. A fo...

Wang Ch'ung-hui

(Encyclopedia)Wang Ch'ung-hui wäng cho͞ong-hwē [key], 1881–1958, Chinese jurist. He was educated in China, Japan, Europe, and the United States. He was greatly influenced by Sun Yat-sen. Wang became (1912) the...

legislative apportionment

(Encyclopedia)legislative apportionment, subdivision of a political body (e.g., a state or province) for the purpose of electing legislative representatives. In the United States, the Constitution requires that Con...

Tenure of Office Act

(Encyclopedia)Tenure of Office Act, in U.S. history, measure passed on Mar. 2, 1867, by Congress over the veto of President Andrew Johnson; it forbade the President to remove any federal officeholder appointed by a...

confession

(Encyclopedia)confession, in law, the formal admission of criminal guilt, usually obtained in the course of examination by the police or prosecutor or at trial. For a confession to be admissible as evidence against...

conscientious objector

(Encyclopedia)conscientious objector, person who, on the grounds of conscience, resists the authority of the state to compel military service. Such resistance, emerging in time of war, may be based on membership in...

Gaynor, William Jay

(Encyclopedia)Gaynor, William Jay, 1849–1913, U.S. political leader, mayor of New York City, b. Oneida co., N.Y. He rose to prominence as a civic reformer in Brooklyn and, as justice of the New York supreme court...