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Burton, Harold Hitz

(Encyclopedia)Burton, Harold Hitz, 1888–1964, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1945–58), b. Jamaica Plain (now part of Boston), Mass. Admitted to the bar in 1912, he built a prosperous law practice ...

Washington, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Washington, state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is bordered by Idaho (E); Oregon, with the Columbia River marking much of the boundary (S); the Pacific Ocean (W); and the Ca...

fine

(Encyclopedia)fine. 1 In criminal law, sum of money exacted by a lawful tribunal as punishment for a crime. In the case of misdemeanors and minor infractions of the law, convicted persons ordinarily have the altern...

capital punishment

(Encyclopedia)capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state. Since the 1970s almost all capital sentences in the United States have been imposed for homicide. There has been intense debate reg...

Martin, François Xavier

(Encyclopedia)Martin, François Xavier fräNswäˈ zävyāˈ märtăNˈ [key], 1762–1846, American jurist, b. Marseilles, France. He emigrated to the United States (c.1786) and was admitted to the North Carolina ...

Burger, Warren Earl

(Encyclopedia)Burger, Warren Earl, 1907–95, American jurist, 15th chief justice of the United States (1969–86), b. St. Paul, Minn. After receiving his law degree in 1931 from St. Paul College of Law (now Mitche...

Sutherland, George

(Encyclopedia)Sutherland, George, 1862–1942, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1922–38), b. Buckinghamshire, England. He was taken by his family to Springville, Utah from England in 1864. After study...

gun control

(Encyclopedia)gun control, government limitation of the purchase and ownership of firearms. The availability of guns is controlled by nations and localities throughout the world. In the United States the “right o...

Tompkins, Daniel D.

(Encyclopedia)Tompkins, Daniel D., 1774–1825, American political figure, Vice President of the United States (1817–25), b. Scarsdale, N.Y. A leader of the Jeffersonian group in New York state, he was elected to...

plea bargaining

(Encyclopedia)plea bargaining, negotiation in which a defendant agrees to plead guilty to a criminal charge in exchange for concessions by the prosecutor (representing the state). The defendant waives the right to ...