A latin phrase for “At first sight.” A prima facie case presents enough evidence for the plaintiff to win the case barring any defenses or additional evidence presented by the defendant. See, e.g. Hernandez v. New York, 500 US 352 (1991).
LII is committed to interdisciplinary research and cooperation. In that spirit, we want to let you know about the results of a research project by Cornell professors Valerie Reyna and Chuck Brainerd that is likely to have major implications for legal proceedings and other branches of the criminal justice system. Using mathematical models, they discovered that memories are captured and recorded separately and differently in two distinct parts of the mind; and that, contrary to established belief and practice, children are less likely than adults to produce false memories and are therefore more likely to give accurate testimony when properly questioned. The research was funded by the National Science Foundation. Reyna and Brainerd have summarized their project and findings in a new book, The Science of False Memory, published by Oxford University Press.
In law, the term equity refers to a particular set of remedies and associated procedures. These equitable doctrines and procedures are distinguished from “legal” ones. Equitable relief is generally available only when a legal remedy is insufficient or inadequate in some way. This could be when a claim involves a particular piece of real estate, or if specific performance is the relief requested by the plaintiff.
The distinction arose in England where there were separate courts of law and of equity. Following this pattern in America some states created “chancery courts” dealing with equitable relief only. In other states, the courts of common law were empowered to exercise equity jurisdiction. Separate courts of chancery have largely been abolished and the same court that may fashion a legal remedy has the power to prescribe an equitable one.
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance — that principle is contempt prior to investigation.”
Attributed to Herbert Spencer by Alcoholics Anonymous. But that’s not the end of the story….
A state is better governed which has few laws, and those laws strictly observed.
From Discourse on Method of Rightly Conducting Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences (1637)
An answer to a complaint at civil law that does not dispute the facts of the complaint but contends that the facts, even if true, do not constitute a wrongdoing. The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have replaced the demurrer with a motion to dismiss. See, e.g. United States v. Carolene Products Co. 304 U.S. 144 (1938). But the staff will be glad to tell you that demurrer still applies at LII.
There are two kinds of restrictions upon human liberty — the restraint of law and that of custom. No written law has ever been more binding than unwritten custom supported by public opinion.
Carrie Chapman Catt, in a speech at Senate hearing on Woman’s suffrage
To set aside; to void. As in “to quash a motion,”
or “quash evidence.” See, e.g. Arizona v. Evans, 514 US 1 (1995).
When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) needs help with tax law, it turns to Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute (LII).
Everyone has to pay income tax. It says so in Title 26, the section of the U.S. Code that governs tax law.
Title 26 has been available on the LII Web site for more than ten years. But now, LII’s Tax Code will be included in the IRS Tax Products CD/DVD package — a tax preparer’s main resource for all things taxable that includes tax publications and forms, research tools, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Paul Showalter, the IRS staffer who produces the Tax Products, called LII Director Thomas R. Bruce on February 7 to ask permission to use the LII material. With the nimbleness that makes the Web different from print, the LII closed the deal and transmitted their version of Title 26 to Showalter the same day.
“I decided to use the LII Tax Code primarily because it is the site that www.IRS.gov refers people to,†Showalter says.
The Government Printing Office (GPO) also makes the U.S. Code available online—but it’s slow and hard to read. The LII version is not only more readable; it also provides a table of recent updates to the law, a link to the GPO site, and the opportunity to easily download or print the material.
The IRS produces 26,000 of its Tax Product CD/DVD package, which is sent, free of charge, to thousands of tax preparers and other interested parties. They go to each member of Congress; to free tax clinics (such as those run by the AARP); to members of the IRS Corporate Partnership (companies who make tax information freely available on company intranets); to libraries; and to IRS employees and IRS walk-in offices.
“We work in a disconnected environment, and employees like easy access to products,†Showalter explains. “The Tax Products package is a great off-line research tool, and that’s why it was created.â€
An earlier version of the IRS Tax Products shipped in December. At the end of February, the IRS will ship their final release, this time incorporating the LII’s contribution.
LII’s user-friendly version of Title 26 is now available online. The LII also makes general tax information accessible.
B-screeds
