In the old English legal system, a chancellor is a judge who sit in a chancery court—an equity court. In equity courts, the chancellor has the power to order acts rather than damages. As a result, injunctions, specific performance and vacatur are...
legal history
chancery
Chancery originated in Medieval England as a distinct court of equity, named for the Lord Chancellor. In its earliest form, those who were unable to obtain an adequate common law remedy could petition the King of England, who would refer the...
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act, signed into law on May 6, 1882, by President Chester A. Arthur, was an act of the Congress which effectively terminated Chinese immigration for ten years and prohibited the Chinese from becoming U.S. citizens. All...
church and state
Church and State is defined as a legal doctrine that provides for the separation of the State from religion in the United States. The doctrine is derived from the landmark US Supreme Court case Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U.S. 1. In...
circuit riding
Circuit riding is the act undertaken by judges, who would often travel between towns within a judicial district (previously known as a circuit) to hear cases in each town. Now, this practice has largely been discontinued.
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy), and religion in employment, education, and access to public facilities and public accommodations...
class action
Overview
A class action is a procedural device that permits one or more plaintiffs to file and prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group, or "class". Put simply, the device allows courts to manage lawsuits that would otherwise be...
colonialism
The word colony comes from the Latin word colonus, which means farmer - indicating the transfer of people to land. Colonialism is the act of power and domination of one nation, by acquiring or maintaining full or partial political control...
common law
Common law is law that is derived from judicial decisions instead of from statutes. American courts originally fashioned common law rules based on English common law until the American legal system was sufficiently mature to create common law rules...
common law lien
A common law lien is a lien that is created due to common law and does not depend on any statute or contract for its existence. Unless abolished by statute or judicial decision, common law liens generally have the force of law in each U.S....