Law, Crime & Punishment, STE-TOD
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
Stern Gang
Stern Gang, Zionist extremist organization in Palestine, founded in 1940 by Avraham Stern (1907–42) after a split......
Stipulatio
Stipulatio, in Roman law, a form of contract based upon a simple question and answer. It had no parallel in other......
stochastic terrorism
stochastic terrorism, the repeated use of hate speech or other vilifying, dehumanizing rhetoric by a political......
Stockholm syndrome
Stockholm syndrome, psychological response wherein a captive begins to identify closely with his or her captors,......
Stone v. Graham
Stone v. Graham, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on November 17, 1980, ruled (5–4) that a Kentucky statute......
Stonewall riots
Stonewall riots, series of violent confrontations that began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, between police......
strain theory
strain theory, in sociology, proposal that pressure derived from social factors, such as lack of income or lack......
Streisand effect
Streisand effect, phenomenon in which an attempt to censor, hide, or otherwise draw attention away from something......
Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College
Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme......
Subpoena
Subpoena, formal instrument issued by a court, grand jury, legislative body or committee, or duly authorized administrative......
Sugar Act
Sugar Act, (1764), in U.S. colonial history, British legislation aimed at ending the smuggling trade in sugar and......
suicide bombing
suicide bombing, an act in which an individual personally delivers explosives and detonates them to inflict the......
Summary jurisdiction
Summary jurisdiction, in Anglo-American law, jurisdiction of a magistrate or judge to conduct proceedings resulting......
Summons
Summons, in law, document issued by a court ordering a specific person to appear at a specific time for some specific......
Sumptuary law
Sumptuary law, any law designed to restrict excessive personal expenditures in the interest of preventing extravagance......
sunset law
sunset law, a legal provision that provides for the automatic termination of a government program, agency, or law......
sunshine laws
In the United States, the term sunshine law is typically used to refer to state laws providing for public access......
supermax prison
supermax prison, correctional facility, or collection of separate housing units within a maximum-security prison,......
Supremacy, Act of
Act of Supremacy, (1534) English act of Parliament that recognized Henry VIII as the “Supreme Head of the Church......
Supreme Court of India
Supreme Court of India, final court of appeal and highest judicial authority in India. Located in New Delhi, the......
Supreme Court of Japan
Supreme Court of Japan, the highest court in Japan, a court of last resort with powers of judicial review and the......
Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States, final court of appeal and final expositor of the U.S. Constitution. Within......
Swashbuckling Sisters: 6 Lady Pirates
You’ve heard of Blackbeard and Redbeard and Bluebeard, but what about the beardless buccaneers? While women pirates......
swatting
swatting, act of reporting a false crime at a specific address with the aim of involving armed law enforcement.......
Swiss Civil Code
Swiss Civil Code, body of private law codified by the jurist Eugen Huber at the end of the 19th century; it was......
T4 Program
T4 Program, Nazi German effort—framed as a euthanasia program—to kill incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled,......
Taff Vale case
Taff Vale case, (1900–01), in Great Britain, the successful trial of a suit brought by the Taff Vale Railway Company......
Taft–Hartley Act
Taft–Hartley Act, (1947), in U.S. history, law—enacted over the veto of Pres. Harry S. Truman—amending much of......
Taihō code
Taihō code, (ad 701), in Japan, administrative and penal code of the Taihō era early in the Nara period, modeled......
Taika era reforms
Taika era reforms, (“Great Reformation of the Taika Era”), series of political innovations that followed the coup......
Tailhook scandal
Tailhook scandal, scandal in which U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officers and defense contractors committed sexual......
Taliban
Taliban, ultraconservative political and religious faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s following......
Talion
Talion, principle developed in early Babylonian law and present in both biblical and early Roman law that criminals......
tallage
tallage, in medieval Europe, a tax imposed by the lord of an estate upon his unfree tenants. In origin, both the......
Tanzimat
Tanzimat, (Turkish: “Reorganization”), series of reforms promulgated in the Ottoman Empire between 1839 and 1876......
Tariff of 1828
Tariff of 1828, restrictive tariff that triggered the Nullification Crisis in the United States in the early 19th......
Tate murders
Tate murders, the shocking and grisly murders of actress Sharon Tate and four other people by followers of cult......
Tax Court
Tax Court, in the United States, a court that hears cases involving tax litigation. Originally, a Board of Tax......
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 22, 2017, introduced significant......
tax law
tax law, body of rules under which a public authority has a claim on taxpayers, requiring them to transfer to the......
Tax Reform Act of 1986
Tax Reform Act of 1986, the most-extensive review and overhaul of the Internal Revenue Code by the U.S. Congress......
Tea Act
Tea Act, (1773), in British American colonial history, legislative maneuver by the British ministry of Lord North......
Teapot Dome Scandal
Teapot Dome Scandal, in American history, scandal of the early 1920s surrounding the secret leasing of federal......
Telecommunications Act of 1993, Canada
Telecommunications is the use of electronic communication in space and time and implies that messages are being......
Telecommunications Act of 1996
Telecommunications Act of 1996, U.S. legislation that attempted to bring more competition to the telephone market......
Temple, Le
Le Temple, in Paris, originally a fortified monastery of the Templars and later a royal prison. It was built in......
Tenant farming
Tenant farming, agricultural system in which landowners contribute their land and a measure of operating capital......
Tennis Court Oath
Tennis Court Oath, (June 20, 1789), dramatic act of defiance by representatives of the unprivileged classes of......
Tenth Amendment
Tenth Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, providing......
Tenure of Office Act
Tenure of Office Act, (March 2, 1867), in the post-Civil War period of U.S. history, law forbidding the president......
Territorial waters
Territorial waters, in international law, that area of the sea immediately adjacent to the shores of a state and......
terrorism
terrorism, the calculated use of violence to create a general climate of fear in a population and thereby to bring......
Terrorism Confinement Center
Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), maximum-security mega-prison located in Tecoluca, El Salvador. Officially......
Terry v. Ohio
Terry v. Ohio, U.S. Supreme Court decision, issued on June 10, 1968, which held that police encounters known as......
test act
test act, in England, Scotland, and Ireland, any law that made a person’s eligibility for public office depend......
Texas v. Johnson
Texas v. Johnson, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5–4) on June 21, 1989, that the burning of......
Texas v. White
Texas v. White, (1869), U.S. Supreme Court case in which it was held that the United States is “an indestructible......
Text of the Constitution of the United States
On September 17, 1787, the United States Constitution—the oldest written constitution still in effect today—was......
Textualism
Textualism, in U.S. law, is a theory of legal interpretation according to which laws and other legal documents......
The 50th Anniversary of the Watts Riots of 1965
Fifty years ago, on August 11, 1965, a heated encounter between a white California Highway Patrol officer and an......
The Assassination of Leon Trotsky
The exiled communist theorist and revolutionary Leon Trotsky was attacked by a Soviet agent in Coyoacán, Mexico,......
The Craziest Scam? Gregor MacGregor Creates His Own Country
In 1822 and 1823 hundreds of people departed England and Scotland on voyages to the promising new country of Poyais.......
The Epstein Files: A Scandal in Photos
The story of Jeffrey Epstein has proven to be one of the more disturbing and enduring scandals of the early 21st......
The Eternal Legacy of Treasure Island
When we think about pirates, there is a nearly universal image that comes to mind, which has been perpetuated throughout......
The Holocaust: Facts and Figures
One of history’s darkest chapters, the Holocaust was the systematic killing of six million Jewish men, women, and......
The International Criminal Court (ICC)
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a court of last resort that was created to investigate and prosecute......
The Most Stolen Work of Art
In 1432 the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck—with help from his brother Hubert—completed his masterpiece, Adoration......
The Osage Nation Murders: The Story Behind Killers of the Flower Moon
In the long history of the relationship between Native Americans and the European settlers and their descendents......
The Plot to Assassinate George Washington
The history of the United States would not be the same without George Washington. During the American Revolution......
The Riots of the Long, Hot Summer
The “Summer of Love” in the United States took place alongside rising racial tensions in many of the country’s......
The Time a Law Clerk Successfully Forged a New Shakespeare Play to Impress His Dad
The trove of documents was astonishing. A deed was the first to emerge—a dull legal agreement made nearly 200 years......
The Time Julius Caesar Was Captured by Pirates
In the 1st century BCE the Mediterranean Sea had a crime problem. Specifically, it had a pirate problem. The rugged......
The Tuam babies of Ireland
In 2014 a shocking news story emerged from western Ireland. Human remains, appearing to be those of infants and......
theft
theft, in law, a general term covering a variety of specific types of stealing, including the crimes of larceny,......
There’s a Riot Goin’ On: Riots in U.S. History (Part One)
Riots are in the news more than anyone would like to admit, and they have been since before there ever was a United......
There’s a Riot Goin’ On: Riots in U.S. History (Part Two)
In psychological terms, crowds are aggregations of individuals whose self-awareness and independence of action......
Thesavalamai
Thesavalamai, traditional law of the Tamil country of northern Sri Lanka, codified under Dutch colonial rule in......
thing
thing, in medieval Scandinavia, the local, provincial, and, in Iceland, national assemblies of freemen that formed......
Third Amendment
Third Amendment, amendment (1791) to the Constitution of the United States, part of the Bill of Rights, that prohibits......
Thirteenth Amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment (1865) to the Constitution of the United States formally abolished slavery in the United......
Thomson Corporation
Thomson Corporation, Canadian publishing and information services company. Its specialty reporting covers the fields......
Three-fifths compromise
Three-fifths compromise, compromise agreement between delegates from the Northern and the Southern states at the......
thug
thug, member of a well-organized confederacy of professional assassins who traveled in gangs throughout India for......
timar
timar, in the Ottoman Empire, grant of lands or revenues by the sultan to an individual in compensation for his......
Timeline of the September 11 Attacks
Note: All times listed are Eastern Daylight Time. list, September 11 attacks, World Trade Center, Pentagon, American......
Timothy W. v. Rochester, New Hampshire, School District
Timothy W. v. Rochester, New Hampshire, School District, case in which the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals......
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, case in which on February 24, 1969, the U.S. Supreme......
Title IX
Title IX is a clause of the 1972 Federal Education Amendments, signed into law on June 23, 1972, which states that......
Today in History—April 21: Solved Mysteries: Al Capone’s Vault Is Opened
On this day in 1986, one of the most anticlimactic reveals in history happened: A vault that had belonged to gangster......
Today in History—April 2: The Story of the Richmond Bread Riot
On this day in 1863 more than 100 women armed with knives, axes, and pistols marched to Richmond, Virginia’s capitol......
Today in History—April 4: A Nation Mourns Martin Luther King, Jr.
On this day in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, as he was preparing to leave......
Today in History—August 10: The Night the Son of Sam Was Arrested
Just after 10 pm on this day in 1977, police arrested a 24-year-old postal worker who called himself the Son of......
Today in History—August 11: America’s Escape-Proof Prison Opens
In 1933 Sanford Bates, director of the newly created U.S. Bureau of Prisons, wrote to the wardens of the country’s......
Today in History—August 21: The Mona Lisa Theft
On this day in 1911, a woman with a mysterious smile went missing. At the time, almost no one knew her name. It......
Today in History—August 31: The First Victim of Jack the Ripper
In the early morning hours of August 31, 1888, Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols was found dead in the Whitechapel district......
Today in History—December 11: The GoodFellas Behind the Lufthansa Heist
“To be a wise guy was to own the world.” That is, according to Henry Hill, noted Mafia associate, FBI informant—and......
Today in History—December 30: Justinian I’s Meticulous Code
December 30 was a major benchmark for the Code of Justinian, or Corpus Juris Civilis (“Body of Civil Law”), which......
Today in History—February 12: The Surreal Theft of The Scream
Security footage shows two figures approaching the museum with a ladder. They position it near a second-story window.......
Today in History—February 14: The Day Chicago’s Bootlegging War Spiraled Out of Control
At 10:30 am on this day in 1929, light snow was falling in Chicago. A black Cadillac—the kind favored by police—pulled......
Today in History—February 20: The Eleventh Duel Commandment? No Dueling
On this day in 1839 Congress banned the ritual that Lin-Manuel Miranda made famous in the hit musical Hamilton.......