Latin for Lawyers

VAGUE, VAGUENESS

condemned and punished. Because vagrancy is a vague concept difficult to define and legislate against, vagrancy laws are often held to define status crimes which are unconstitutionally vague. Most states and communities have now abolished their vagrancy laws. See STATUS CRIME VAGUE, VAGUENESS [L. vagus / wandering, roving, fickle] Lacking a precise meaning. Expressed so as to make comprehension or appli cation difficult or impossible. Not clearly defined. The doctrine of vagueness in the law requires that a statute be held void and unenforceable if persons “of common intelligence must necessarily guess at its meaning and differ as to its application.” Connally v. General Construction Co. , 269 U.S. 385 (1926). VALID, VALIDATE [L. valeo , valere / to be strong; to be in good health] Valid: Acceptable; justifiable; relevant and correct. Supported by truth and authority. Executed so as to have legal effect and force. Enforceable at law. Characteristic of a document which is legally binding. A valid defense is a defense which, when proved, will be recognized by the law as entitling the defendant to avoid guilt or responsibility. A valid excuse is a good and suffi cient excuse. Validate: to make valid or legally effective. To affirm or grant. To validate a statute is to amend an existing statute to eliminate errors and omissions and to make it enforceable in all its provisions. VALUE, VALUABLE [L. valere / to be strong] The utility or worth of anything, expressed in money. The measure of worth attributed by society to an object which satisfies some human need (value in use) or which is accepted by others in exchange for money or other goods (value in exchange). Intrinsic worth or significance. Also, the cost of produc ing an article. Market value or fair market value is the price, expressed in money, which a willing buyer will pay to a willing seller of a particular prod uct, commodity or service. Valuable consideration is a term of contract law. It is the legal detriment (e.g., a promise or undertaking, the payment of money, the performance of services) suffered by one party in exchange for and in order to induce a detriment by the other party. VANDAL, VANDALISM [L. Vandalus, Vandalii / the Germanic people who lived between the Vistula and Oder Rivers and who sacked Rome in 455 A.D.] Anyone who wilfully destroys property or who damages property belonging to others or to the public. Vandalism is the wilful or malicious destruction of property.

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