Latin for Lawyers

L ATIN FOR L AWYERS

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT [L. corpus / body + punior, puniri / to punish] Punishment inflicted upon the body of an accused or felon. Corporal punish ment is covered under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forbids “cruel and unusual punishment.” As interpreted by the Court, this lan guage precludes most forms of corporal punishment. However, the Court has held that the death penalty does not violate this provision. See CRUEL CORPORATION [L. corpus / body] An artificial legal entity formed under authority of a state charter to act and transact business in the same way as a single person and enjoying the rights and duties set forth in its charter, including the right to perpetual existence, limited liability for its owners and the right to sue and be sued. A municipal corporation is a political entity organized by the state under the laws govern ing corporations to act as an independent state agency, with the power to sue and be sued and to exercise the power of eminent domain. CORPOREAL [L. corpus / the body, matter perceived by the senses] Having a tangible form or body. Palpable to the senses. Anything possessing an objective, material existence. Distinguished from the spiritual or intangi ble. See TANGIBLE CORPOREAL HEREDITAMENTS [L. corpus + hereditas / inheritance] The word hereditaments describes anything which can be inherited. It includes both tangible (e.g., a painting, a plot of land) and intangible (e.g., a copyright, the right to income under a trust) assets. Corporeal hereditaments are all tangible assets capable of inheritance. All intangible assets capable of A body or collection of identifiable parts. An aggregation of things. In the law of wills and trusts, the collection of property and interests which consti tute the principal of a trust. CORPUS DELICTI [L. corpus + delictum / fault, crime] Body or substance of the crime; any object proving that a crime may have been committed. A charred house and an empty gasoline can are the corpus delicti of arson . Objective proof that a crime has been committed. The body of the victim of a homicide. Generally, an objective showing that a crime, any crime, has been committed and that there is an identifiable victim. inheritance are called incorporeal hereditaments . See INCORPOREAL HEREDITAMENTS CORPUS [L. body]

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