Habeas Corpus
Medieval Latin meaning “[we, a Court, command] that you have the body [of the detainee brought before us]”) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful …
Rights / Laws
Bureaucracy
a word coined in 1818 meaning “rule by office” where an administration rules by excessive red tape and mindless routine. Although the term was used before Max …
Sharia Law
Unlike many religions, Islam includes a mandatory and highly specific legal and political plan for society called Sharia (pronounced “sha-ree-uh”), which translates approximately as “way” …
Patent
A patent is a voluntary disclosure of new, novel and useful technical information to the world. In essence, patents inform the world of something it has …
Indefinite Detention
The incarceration by a national government or law enforcement agency without a trial that is increasingly being used as a way of handling dissent. Indefinite …
Natural Law
On July 4, 1776, the United States of America, in declaring their independence, invoked “the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God,” proclaimed that men …
Freedom
Freedom is defined in Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary as “a state of exemption from the power or control of another.” It is the power and …
Free Speech
It is the right of a person to articulate opinions and ideas without interference, retaliation or punishment from the government. In this context, the term …
Magna Carta
or “Great Charter,” was arguably the most significant early influence on the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law today in …
Mayflower Compact
The first document of what would evolve into the republic of the United States. It should never be assumed, however, that the Pilgrim Fathers intended …