Law, Crime & Punishment, WHY-“O
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
Why Has Peru Had So Many Presidents?
Peru has earned a reputation for a so-called “presidential curse”: Eight presidents have taken office since 2016,......
Why Is Marijuana Illegal in the U.S.?
Since the late 20th century, there has been a growing movement in the United States to legalize marijuana. In 1996......
Wild Bunch
Wild Bunch, a collection of cowboy-outlaws who flourished in the 1880s and ’90s in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and......
Wilderness Act
Wilderness Act, U.S. environmental protection legislation (1964) that created the National Wilderness Preservation......
Will
Will, legal means by which an owner of property disposes of his assets in the event of his death. The term is also......
Wilmington Ten
Wilmington Ten, 10 civil rights activists who were falsely convicted and incarcerated for nearly a decade following......
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Wisconsin v. Yoder, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on May 15, 1972, ruled (7–0) that Wisconsin’s compulsory......
Witness protection program
Witness protection program, a government service designed to protect persons whose lives are endangered as a result......
Wolfenden Report
Wolfenden Report, a study containing recommendations for laws governing sexual behaviour, published in 1957 by......
Women’s Armed Services Integration Act
Women’s Armed Services Integration Act, law enacted in 1948 that permitted women to serve as full members of the......
Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on March 3, 1832, held (5–1) that the states did......
World Trade Center
World Trade Center, complex of several buildings around a central plaza in New York City that in 2001 was the site......
World Trade Center bombing of 1993
World Trade Center bombing of 1993, terrorist attack in New York City on February 26, 1993, in which a truck bomb......
writ
writ, in common law, order issued by a court in the name of a sovereign authority requiring the performance of......
writ of Writ of habeas corpus
A writ of habeas corpus (Latin: “you should have the body”) is a common law order issued by a judge or court requiring......
Wyandotte Constitution
Wyandotte Constitution, in the period immediately preceding the American Civil War, document under which Kansas......
yakuza
yakuza, Japanese gangsters, members of what are formally called bōryokudan (“violence groups”), or Mafia-like criminal......
Yazoo land fraud
Yazoo land fraud, in U.S. history, scheme by which Georgia legislators were bribed in 1795 to sell most of the......
Years of Lead
Years of Lead, a period of sociopolitical unrest in Italy that began in the late 1960s and continued through the......
Younger Brothers
Younger Brothers, four Midwestern American outlaws of the post-Civil War era—Thomas Coleman (“Cole”; 1844–1916),......
zamindar
zamindar, in India, a holder or occupier (dār) of land (zamīn). The root words are Persian, and the resulting name......
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 27, 2002, ruled (5–4) that an Ohio school-voucher......
zemsky sobor
zemsky sobor, (“assembly of the land”), in 16th- and 17th-century Russia, an advisory assembly convened by the......
zemstvo
zemstvo, organ of rural self-government in the Russian Empire and Ukraine; established in 1864 to provide social......
Zhdanovshchina
Zhdanovshchina, cultural policy of the Soviet Union during the Cold War period following World War II, calling......
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 1993, ruled (5–4)......
zombie computer
zombie computer, computer or personal computer (PC) connected to the Internet and taken over by a computer worm,......
Zoning
Zoning, the legislative method of controlling land use by regulating such considerations as the type of buildings......
Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot Suit Riots, a series of conflicts that occurred in June 1943 in Los Angeles between U.S. servicemen and Mexican......
Ṣadr Dīwānī ʿAdālat
Ṣadr Dīwānī ʿAdālat, in Mughal and British India, a high court of civil and revenue jurisdiction. It was instituted......
’Ndrangheta
’Ndrangheta, criminal organization that originated in Italy’s Calabria region. One of the most extensive and powerful......
“O Captain! My Captain!”
On the evening of April 14, 1865, as the U.S. Civil War wound to a close, Pres. Abraham Lincoln and his wife went......