Law, Crime & Punishment, SEA-STE
Every society draws lines between order and disorder. Explore the laws, crimes, courts, and punishments that reveal how communities define justice and respond when rules are broken.
Law, Crime & Punishment Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Search and seizure
Search and seizure, practices engaged in by law enforcement officers in order to gain sufficient evidence to ensure......
Second Amendment
Second Amendment, amendment to the Constitution of the United States, adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights,......
secret police
secret police, Police established by national governments to maintain political and social control. Generally clandestine,......
Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), U.S. regulatory commission established by Congress in 1934 after the......
security
security, in business economics, written evidence of ownership conferring the right to receive property not currently......
Sedition
Sedition, crime against the state. Though sedition may have the same ultimate effect as treason, it is generally......
seduction
seduction, in law, the act of a man enticing (without the use of physical force) a previously chaste woman to consent......
seisin
seisin, in English feudal society, a term that came to mean a type of possession that gained credibility with the......
Sejm
Sejm, lower house of the national legislature of Poland. The term Sejm initially referred to the Polish legislature......
Selective Service Acts
Selective Service Acts, U.S. federal laws that instituted conscription, or compulsory military service. Conscription......
Self-defense
Self-defense, in criminal law, justification for inflicting serious harm on another person on the ground that the......
Self-incrimination
Self-incrimination, in law, the giving of evidence that might tend to expose the witness to punishment for crime.......
Senior Courts of England and Wales
Senior Courts of England and Wales, in England and Wales, judicial body that consists of the Court of Appeal, the......
sentence
sentence, in law, formal judgment of a convicted defendant in a criminal case setting the punishment to be meted......
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated......
Sequestration
Sequestration, in its broadest legal sense, the removal of property from a person in possession of the property.......
sergeanty
sergeanty, in European feudal society, a form of land tenure granted in return for the performance of a specific......
serial murder
serial murder, the unlawful homicide of at least two people carried out by the same person (or persons) in separate......
Servitude
Servitude, in Anglo-American property law, a device that ties rights and obligations to ownership or possession......
Settlement
Settlement, in law, a compromise or agreement between litigants to settle the matters in dispute between them in......
Settlement, Act of
Act of Settlement, (June 12, 1701), act of Parliament that, since 1701, has regulated the succession to the throne......
Seventeen Article Constitution
Seventeen Article Constitution, in Japanese history, code of moral precepts for the ruling class, issued in 604......
Seventeenth Amendment
Seventeenth Amendment, amendment (1913) to the Constitution of the United States that provided for the direct election......
Seventh Amendment
Seventh Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, that......
sex slavery
sex slavery, condition in which one human being is owned by another and is forced or otherwise coerced into working......
sex trafficking
sex trafficking, form of human trafficking that involves the use of fraud, force, or coercion to persuade or compel......
Sexual abuse
in criminal law, any act of sexual contact that a person suffers, submits to, participates in, or performs as a......
Sexual assault
Sexual assault, illegal form of sexual contact initiated or performed without the appropriate consent of the victim.......
sexual harassment
sexual harassment, unsolicited verbal or physical behaviour of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment may embrace any......
sexual-predator law
sexual-predator law, statute that mandates lengthy periods of civil commitment for habitual sexual offenders and......
Shabaab, al-
al-Shabaab, Somali-based Islamist militant group with links to al-Qaeda. Beginning in 2006, the group waged an......
Shadow docket
The shadow docket is a body of Supreme Court rulings in the form of orders or decisions by a single justice of......
Shaw v. Reno
Shaw v. Reno, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5â4) on June 28, 1993, that electoral districts......
Shelby County v. Holder
Shelby County v. Holder, legal case, decided on June 25, 2013, in which the U.S. Supreme Court declared (5â4) unconstitutional......
Shelton v. Tucker
Shelton v. Tucker, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on December 12, 1960, ruled (5â4) that an Arkansas statute......
sheriff
sheriff, a senior executive officer in an English county or smaller area who performs a variety of administrative......
Sherman Antitrust Act
Sherman Antitrust Act, first legislation enacted by the U.S. Congress (1890) to curb concentrations of power that......
shield law
shield law, in the United States, any law that protects journalists against the compelled disclosure of confidential......
Shining Path
Shining Path, Peruvian revolutionary organization that endorsed Maoism and employed guerrilla tactics and violent......
Short Parliament
Short Parliament, (April 13âMay 5, 1640), parliament summoned by Charles I of England, the first to be summoned......
shunning
shunning, social control mechanism used most commonly in small tight-knit social groups to punish those who violate......
Sicilian Mafia
Sicilian Mafia, hierarchically structured organization of criminals in Sicily, Italy. The Sicilian Mafia is made......
Sikh Gurdwara Act
Sikh Gurdwara Act, legislation passed in India unanimously by the Punjab legislative council in July 1925 to end......
simony
simony, buying or selling of something spiritual or closely connected with the spiritual. More widely, it is any......
Sing Sing
Sing Sing, maximum-security prison located in Ossining, New York. In use since 1826, it is one of the oldest penal......
Single European Act
Single European Act (SEA), agreement enacted by the European Economic Community (EEC; precursor to the European......
Sinhala Only Bill
Sinhala Only Bill, (1956), act passed by the government of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) making Sinhalese the official......
Sipuel v. Board of Regents
Sipuel v. Board of Regents, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on January 12, 1948, ruled unanimously (9â0) to......
Sitges, Declaration of
Declaration of Sitges, agreement in 1957 by the rival Colombian political leaders Alberto Lleras Camargo of the......
Sixteenth Amendment
Sixteenth Amendment, amendment (1913) to the Constitution of the United States permitting a federal income tax.......
Sixth Amendment
Sixth Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, that effectively......
Skinner v. Railway Labor Executivesâ Association
Skinner v. Railway Labor Executivesâ Association, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 21, 1989, ruled......
Slaughterhouse Cases
Slaughterhouse Cases, in American history, legal dispute that resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision......
Slavery Abolition Act
Slavery Abolition Act, (1833), in British history, act of Parliament that abolished slavery in most British colonies,......
Sloan v. Lemon
Sloan v. Lemon, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 25, 1973, struck down (6â3) a Pennsylvania state......
Smith Act
Smith Act, U.S. federal law passed in 1940 that made it a criminal offense to advocate the violent overthrow of......
Smith v. City of Jackson, Mississippi
Smith v. City of Jackson, Mississippi, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 30, 2005, held in a......
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act
Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act, (June 25, 1943), measure enacted by the U.S. Congress, over President Franklin......
Smith-Hughes Act
Smith-Hughes Act, U.S. legislation, adopted in 1917, that provided federal aid to the states for the purpose of......
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act
Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, U.S. legislation (June 17, 1930) that raised import duties to protect American businesses......
smuggling
smuggling, conveyance of things by stealth, particularly the clandestine movement of goods to evade customs duties......
Socage
Socage, in feudal English property law, form of land tenure in which the tenant lived on his lordâs land and in......
Social Security Act
Social Security Act, (August 14, 1935), original U.S. legislation establishing a permanent national old-age pension......
Solemn League and Covenant
Solemn League and Covenant, (1643), agreement between the English and Scots by which the Scots agreed to support......
solicitation
solicitation, in criminal law, the request, encouragement, or direction of one person by another to commit a serious......
Solicitor
Solicitor, one of the two types of practicing lawyers in England and Walesâthe other being the barrister, who pleads......
solitary confinement
solitary confinement, form of incarceration in which a prisoner is isolated from other inmates. Critics of this......
Solonâs laws
Solonâs laws, constitutional and judicial reforms instituted by the Athenian statesman and poet Solon probably......
Solovets Islands
Solovets Islands, group of islands, Arkhangelsk oblast (province), northwestern Russia. The group lies in the White......
Solovetsky Island
Solovetsky Island, prison island located in Siberian Russia, part of a system of prisons and labour camps that......
Soulbury Commission
Soulbury Commission, commission sent by the British government to Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1944 to examine a constitutional......
South Africa Act
South Africa Act, act of 1909 that unified the British colonies of the Cape Colony, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange......
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a nonprofit organization based in Montgomery, Alabama, that is committed......
Soviet law
Soviet law, law developed in Russia after the communist seizure of power in 1917 and imposed throughout the Soviet......
space law
space law, the body of regulations in international law that governs conduct in and related to areas of space above......
spam
spam, unsolicited electronic messages sent to large groups of people. Although e-mail is the most common means......
speakeasy
speakeasy, place where alcoholic beverages are illegally sold, especially such establishments in the United States......
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who is elected by the......
Specie Circular
Specie Circular, (July 11, 1836), in U.S. history, an executive order issued by President Andrew Jackson requiring......
Spencer v. Kugler
Spencer v. Kugler, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on January 17, 1972, summarily (without argument......
Spiegel affair
Spiegel affair, scandal in 1962, involving the weekly newsmagazine Der Spiegel and the West German government,......
Spirit of Laws, The
The Spirit of Laws, principal work of the French political philosopher Montesquieu (in full Charles-Louis de Secondat,......
Spooner Amendment
Spooner Amendment, congressional amendment to the Army Appropriations Act of 1901 that called for the end of the......
Sports, Book of
Book of Sports, order issued by King James I of England for use in Lancashire to resolve a conflict, on the subject......
Springfield Race Riot
Springfield Race Riot, (August 1908), in U.S. history, brutal two-day assault by several thousand white citizens......
spyware
spyware, type of computer program that is secretly installed on a personâs computer or mobile device in order to......
Squatter
Squatter, in 19th-century Australian history, an illegal occupier of crown grazing land beyond the prescribed limits......
SS
SS, the black-uniformed elite corps and self-described âpolitical soldiersâ of the Nazi Party. Founded by Adolf......
stalking
stalking, the crime of following another person against his or her wishes and harassing that person. The status......
Stamp Act
Stamp Act, (1765), in U.S. colonial history, first British parliamentary attempt to raise revenue through direct......
Stand-your-ground laws
Stand-your-ground laws, American legal statutes that permit the use of deadly force as a means of self-defense......
Standing to sue
Standing to sue, in law, the requirement that a person who brings a suit be a proper party to request adjudication......
Stanford Prison Experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment was a social psychology study in which college students became prisoners or guards......
Star Chamber
Star Chamber, in English law, the court made up of judges and privy councillors that grew out of the medieval kingâs......
Stare decisis
Stare decisis, (Latin: âlet the decision standâ), in Anglo-American law, principle that a question once considered......
state capture
state capture, the domination of policy making by private, often corporate, power. In the second half of the 20th......
Statuto Albertino
Statuto Albertino, (March 4, 1848), constitution granted to his subjects by King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia;......
statutory rape
statutory rape, in many jurisdictions, nonforced sexual relations between an adult and an individual who legally......
Stavisky affair
Stavisky affair, French financial scandal of 1933 that, by triggering right-wing agitation, resulted in a major......
Stealing Beauty: 11 Notable Art Thefts
The Mona Lisa is encased in bulletproof glass, and the millions who view the painting each year do so from behind......