A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court.
Read more...

The spontaneous or artificially induced expulsion of an embryo or fetus. As used in legal context, usually refers to induced abortion.
Read more...

Participation in an election by qualified voters who are permitted to mail in their ballots.
Read more...

The submission of a dispute to an unbiased third person designated by the parties to the controversy, who agree in advance to comply with the award—a decision to be issued after a hearing at which both parties have an opportunity to be heard.
Read more...

The process by which a woman is medically impregnated using semen from her husband or from a third-party donor.
Read more...

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is a fatal disease that attacks the body's immune system, making it unable to resist infection, and is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which is communicable in some bodily fluids and transmitted primarily through sexual behavior and intravenous drug use.
Read more...

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees U.S. citizens freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." In Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 88 S. Ct. 507, 19 L. Ed. 2d 576 (1967), the Supreme Court established the principle that a warrant issued by a "neutral and detached magistrate" must be obtained before a government authority may breach the individual privacy secured by the Fourth Amendment. The Katz decision held that "searches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions." Over the years, the Court has recognized a number of exceptions to this rule that allow the police in certain situations to legally conduct a search without a warrant. One of these exceptions is for automobile searches.
Read more...

A two-step judicial process in conformance to state statutory provisions in which the legal obligations and rights of a child toward the biological parents are terminated and new rights and obligations are created in the acquired parents.
Read more...

Pamphlets containing recently decided opinions of federal courts or state courts of a particular region.
Read more...

The body of law governing the cultivation of various crops and the raising and management of livestock to provide a food and fabric supply for human and animal consumption.
Read more...

Procedures for settling disputes by means other than litigation; e.g., by arbitration, mediation, or minitrials. Such procedures, which are usually less costly and more expeditious than litigation, are increasingly being used in commercial and labor disputes, divorce actions, in resolving motor vehicle and medical malpractice tort claims, and in other disputes that would likely otherwise involve court litigation.
Read more...

By the end of the 1980s, membership in animal advocacy organizations had reached 10 million people in the United States and opposition to the use of animals in laboratory experiments was rapidly growing. By 1990, seventy-six medical schools claimed that demonstrations and break-ins by animal rights advocates had cost them more than $4.5 million, according to a report from the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Read more...

The care, control, and maintenance of a child, which a court may award to one of the parents following a divorce or separation proceeding.
Read more...

The Christian Legal Society (CLS), founded in 1961, is a nonprofit organization of lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students. The group's mission is to promote high ethical standards within the legal profession, support its members' commitment to Christian professional lives, and advance religious freedom for all U.S. citizens regardless of affiliation. CLS provides resources for research into law and theology; maintains a data bank of commentaries on legal issues; and provides a speakers' bureau, lawyer referral service, and mediation and arbitration services. It also publishes Christian Legal Society—Briefly, a quarterly newsletter for its members, and Christian Legal Society—Quarterly, a magazine that covers issues in line with the society's goals. CLS's legal advocacy arm, the Center for Law and Religious Freedom, promotes freedom of religion and challenges government interference with the free exercise of religion.
Read more...

An organization comprised of people who voluntarily meet on a regular basis for a mutual purpose other than educational, religious, charitable, or financial pursuits.
Read more...