Latin for Lawyers

RETIRE

able. A retaliatory eviction is an action by a landlord to remove a tenant who has complained about services or taken action against the landlord. A retalia tory statute is a law passed by one state to impose the same burdens upon cit izens of another state, e.g., fees, taxes, penalties, professional licensing restrictions, as are imposed upon its citizens by that other state. A retaliatory discharge is the discharge of an employee in specific response to some action by the employee, e.g., a complaint by the employee to the authorities of price-fixing or criminal activity by the employer. RETIRE [L. re + traho, trahere / to pull, draw, carry along] To withdraw. To retreat. To seek privacy. The act of a jury in withdrawing into a restricted area for its deliberations. The act of a government in with drawing a debt issue from the market, e.g., by recalling or paying off a bond issue; or of a corporation in buying back its stock. Also, to withdraw perma nently from work or employment. RETRACT, RETRACTION [L. re + traho , trahere / to pull, drag; to draw back, drag back, bring back] To recant or disavow a prior position or statement. In the law of contracts, to disavow, negate or withdraw an offer before the offeree accepts or acts in reli ance upon the offer. In the law of libel, the formal renunciation and dis claimer of a defamatory statement. A suspect may retract his statement or confession to the police after consultation with his attorney. RETRAXIT [L. retrahere / to pull back] Literally, he has taken (it) back. The voluntary withdrawal or dismissal in open court of a claim or cause of action by the plaintiff, resulting in a perma nent loss of the claim. Under the federal rules, this is the same as a voluntary dismissal with prejudice. RETREAT (DUTY TO) [L. from retrahere ] The process or act of pulling or drawing back. Voluntary withdrawal from risk or danger. The forced movement of troops back from a more forward position. In a minority of states, a person threatened with violence or risk to his person or life must at least attempt to retreat before he may resort to deadly force in response to the threat. The obligation to retreat is embodied in the Uniform Penal Code, § 304(2)(b). A majority of states, however, do not recognize the duty to retreat ; they consider retreat to be an act of cowardice. Those states which encourage retreat before the use of deadly force, permit the use of nondeadly force in self-defense. No state requires retreat when one is attacked in his own home.

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