Coverture
The legal status of women after marriage is assumed by the husband; one legal person; contracts, property, lawsuits, etc. are run by husband
Rule of Priority
The first to an individual plot of land has a superior right to their ownership and use of their property (quiet enjoyment of their land).
fellow servant rule
masters are not held responsible for actions or faults of other servants
Sojourning Slaves
separate from a fugitive slave; brought to a free territory by their owner or an agent for travel, not to establish residence
MA Free and Equal Clause
In the Mass Constitution all people are born free and have unalienable rights that cannot be taken away (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happines; (1780)
Sub potestate viri
Women let husbands have authority in exchange for security and one person. Still, the husband has control over all property, including what the wife owns, and the wife will not retain property after her husband's death. No contract between husband and wife because they are one entity.
Caveat Emptor
"Buyer beware" --> buyer is responsible for verifying the quality of goods
Assumption of Risk
An employee assumes all risk when entering a contract taking responsibility away from the employers
Comity
A state will look at the home state of the person in question (often slaves) to determine their freedom
Corporate Personhood
A corporation is an immortal being that can hold the same rights as a person (right to property. ability to sue, contracts, inheritance)
Moral/Formal Dilemma
Legal interpretation that takes pain and death into account, where a judge weighs their moral beliefs in tandem with the Constitution's writings.
Moral Free Agent
An individual is in charge of joining a contract (wage) based labor system as both the employer and the employee have the right to consent to a contract
Personal Liberty Laws
State laws that give more protection to black people in free states. This allows for habeas corpus writs, due process, and in some states protection from kidnapping for black people
Police Power
The state can make and enforce statutes that limit an individual's property rights
Free Labor Ideaology
Habeas Corpus
A writ that requires the "producing of a body" to court when a judge requires it to be obtained
Legal Instrumentalism
Evolve the law for the public good in economic development. Law as a dynamic institution, socially and economically, a creation of sharper distinction of public and private life, the explosion of judicial creativity with contract law, public power behind the private domain making.