ABSTRACT OF TITLE A condensed history, taken from public records or documents, of the ownership of a piece of land.. An abstract of title, or title abstract, briefly summarizes the vario
Trang 1An abstract comprises—or concentrates in itself—the essential qualities of a larger thing—
or of several things—in a short, abbreviated form It differs from a TRANSCRIPT, which is a verbatim copy of the thing itself and is more comprehensive
CROSS REFERENCE Abstract of Title.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE
A condensed history, taken from public records or documents, of the ownership of a piece of land
An abstract of title, or title abstract, briefly summarizes the various activities affecting ownership of a parcel of land When a person
or business agrees to purchaseREAL ESTATE, that person or business arranges for an examination
of the history of the property’s title This examination is known as aTITLE SEARCH A title search is conducted to determine that the seller
of the property in fact owns the property and has a free-and-clear title A free-and-clear title has no clouds on it, which means that no person
or business other than the seller has an interest
in, orCLAIMto, the property
The process of determining the precise ownership of a piece of land by searching an abstract is complex and laborious Often, the title abstract does not contain every transaction
or proceeding that may affect ownership of the land The search conductor, or abstractor, usually a trained professional, must verify that the abstract is complete by reviewing recent certifications that the abstract is correct, check-ing for gaps in dates and certification numbers, and ensuring that a proper legal description appears with each entry The abstractor con-ducts a credit and finances check on all the names appearing in the abstract to see if any of the parties has filed for BANKRUPTCY or has incurred other debts that may have caused a creditor to file a LIEN against the property toward payment of the debt
An abstractor must refer to many different sources to verify that the title to a parcel of land
is true and correct The abstractor verifies the original government survey, which should include gaps and overlaps in land ownership
Given improved technology, surveys have a margin of error of less than one foot The abstractor must understand the various means
of describing the exactBOUNDARIESof a piece of land and must recognize unacceptable methods
Claims on the title to a property are subject to time limitations, but the limitations have certain exceptions For example, the Forty-Year Law holds that no party with a potential claim that arose over 40 years before can claim an interest in
a property of which one person or business has been the recorded owner for at least 40 years Exceptions are made, however, for those holding mortgages or contracts with terms that span more than 40 years and also for prior interests claimed as school or school district lands, parkland dedications, or the property of religious
CORPORATIONSor associations
To perform a title search, the abstractor must obtain a copy of the abstract from the county recorder in the county in which the land
is located Then it takes time to make sense of the document The accompanying sample abstract of title illustrates typical entries
1 Entry 1 identifies the land in question The sample abstract is for platted land, which
is land described by lots and blocks A platted parcel spans a certain number of feet, on a certain lot, within a certain block, within a certain city Another method of identifying a parcel of land is byMETES AND
parcel is identified by its boundaries according to their terminal points and angles Platted descriptions are used in urban areas, and metes and bounds descriptions are used mostly in rural areas
2 Entry 2 is the original entry It states the time and place that the U.S government first conveyed this tract of land to a private individual The description follows
a progression from small to large The parcel is identified first by its location within a certain section, which is located within a certain township, which is located within a certain range Each range spans six miles and several townships, and each township contains several sections, which in turn are divided into quarters, which can also be divided into quarters The last two lines of the right-hand column might read, for example, “Land Office Records, page 100 North 14 of Section 36, T [Township] 32, R [Range] 22.” The original description of any parcel
of land comes from the measurements of the original government survey of the nineteenth century
Trang 23 Entry 3 is the land patent, or John Doe’s
title defense The land patent is issued by
the government to operate as proof of title
for the first governmentally recognized
owner of the land The land patent shows
the date of the land transfer, the date the
patent was filed with the government,
the particular book of deeds containing
the patent, and the land parcel as
de-scribed in the original entry
4 Entry 4 reveals that John Doe platted his
quarter of section 36—that is, he subdivided
the land and dedicated it to the public for sale
The beginning of the entry might read,“Plat
of Stoneybrook Addition to the City of New
Heidelberg.” Note that township 36 has
become, or has been incorporated into, what
is now New Heidelberg The entry continues
with the date John Doe received approval
from the city of New Heidelberg, the date the
subdivision was filed with the county,
the particular book of plats in which the
subdivision is entered, and the original
description of the land The subdivision is
entered in the county’s book of plats because
New Heidelberg has chosen to identify its
land parcels by plats, and not metes and
bounds Other means of identifying land
parcels are sometimes employed Land is
sometimes identified by acres in rural areas,
and by government lots for land adjacent to
meandering lakes, but most of the land in the
United States is identified by either plats or
metes and bounds
5 Entry 5 shows that John Doe sold a parcel
of the subdivision to Richard ROE Roe
received aWARRANTY DEED, which serves as
evidence of Doe’s title A warranty deed
means that Doe has warranted to Roe that
Doe is the rightful owner of the land This
type of deed has legal ramifications that
benefit the purchaser, here Roe There
are other types of real ESTATE deeds A
purchaser receives aTAX DEED, for example,
when he or she buys real estate sold for
nonpayment of taxes, and this purchase
involves procedures that differ from those
of other land purchases A sheriff’s deed
is given to the purchaser of land sold
by court order such as in a MORTGAGE
has special legal ramifications for the
purchaser Because the land in the sample abstract is platted, the parcel is assigned a lot number, within a certain block, within the city of New Heidelberg—for example, this entry might read, “Lot 1, Block E, Stoneybrook Addition to City of New Heidelberg.” The entry also contains infor-mation on when the warranty deed was signed and when it was filed with the county
6 Entry 6 shows that Richard Roe and Ruth Roe have mortgaged their property to John Smith With an interest in lot 1 of block E as
property, and the Roes have undertaken to repay Smith The entry shows the date the mortgage agreement was signed and the date the mortgage was filed with the county The remainder might read,“Book 1
of Mortgages, page 10, to secure $10,000, due January 10, 1910 Lot 1, Block E, Stoneybrook Addition.”
7 Entry 7 shows that John Smith has assigned the mortgage on lot 1, block E,
to William White In other words, Smith has sold to White his mortgagee interest in lot 1, block E An assignment can occur for any number of reasons, but often it is a sale made to satisfy debts This particular action is entered in the book of assign-ments in the county seat
8 Entry 8 shows that Richard Roe and Ruth Roe have paid off, or satisfied, the mortgage (et ux is Latin for “and wife”)
This entry is filed in the book of assign-ments in the county seat
9 Entry 9 reveals that Richard Roe has died
This “Will and Probate” entry reports that, upon his death, Roe seeks to transfer ownership of lot 1, block E, in New Heidelberg, to his wife, Ruth Roe
10 Entry 10 identifies Ruth Roe as the sole owner of the parcel The PROBATE court, which tends to property matters sur-rounding the death of an individual, has approved the assignment of lot 1, block E, contained in Richard Roe’s will
11 Entry 11 shows that Ruth Roe has taken out a mortgage on lot 1, block E She has borrowed money from Samuel Brown, using the real estate as collateral The entry is identical to the first mortgage agreement with John Smith, entry 6
ABSTRACT OF TITLE 39
Trang 3A sample abstract of title
Abstract of Title
1 1 Abstract of Title to north 500 feet, front and rear, of Lot 1 , Block 2 , in NW Addition to the City of New Heidelberg
2 2 United States Entry No 1 .
to Dated Jan 1 , 1889.
John Doe Land Office Records, page 100 .
North 1/4 of Section 36 , T 32 , R 22 .
to Dated Jan 1, 1889 John Doe Filed Jan 1, 1889 .
Book 1 of Deeds, Page 100 North 1/4 of Section 36 , T 32 , R 22 .
1 4 John Doe et al Plat of Stoneybrook E Addition to the City of New Heidelberg .
to Dated Feb 1, 1889 The Public Filed Feb 1, 1889 .
Book 1 of Plats, page 200 North 1/4 of Section 36 , T 32 , R 22 .
2 5 John Doe, unmarried, Warranty Deed.
to Dated Feb 1, 1890 Richard Roe Filed Feb 1, 1890 .
Book 3 of Deeds, page 300 Lot 1 , Block E , Stoneybrook Addition to City of New Heidelberg .
2 6 Richard Roe and Mortgage.
Ruth Roe, his wife, Dated Feb 1, 1890 .
to Filed Feb 1, 1890 John Smith Book 1 of Mortgages, page 10 , to secure $10,000 , due
January 10, 1910 Lot 1 , Block E , Stoneybrook Addition.
2 7 John Smith Assignment of Mortgage No 6.
to Dated Jan 1, 1895 William White Filed Jan 1, 1895 .
Book 5 of Assignments, page 100 .
2 8 William White Satisfaction of No 6.
to Dated Jan 1, 1910 Richard Roe et ux Filed Jan 1, 1910 .
Book 3 of Satisfactions, page 200 .
2 9 Richard Roe Will and Probate.
to Dated July 1, 1915 Ruth Roe Probate July 1, 1915
Filed Aug 1, 1915 Book 10 of Miscellaneous, page 100 Testator leaves all of his property, real and personal, to his wife, Ruth Roe.
to Probate Court, Munich County.
Ruth Roe Dated Aug 1, 1915 .
Filed Aug 1, 1915 Book 10 of Miscellaneous, page 300 Adjudged and decreed that Lot 1 , Block 2 , NW Addition is
11 Ruth Roe, widow, Mortgage.
to Dated Jan 1, 1920 Samuel Brown Filed Jan 1, 1920 .
Book 10 of Mortgages, page 100 , to secure $20,000 , due Jan 1, 1930 .
Lot 1 , Block 2 , NW Addition.
12 Ruth Roe, widow, Foreclosure of No 11.
by Sheriff of Notice of sale, Feb 1, 1930.
County, Affidavit of publication, Feb 1, 1930
to Proof of service, Feb 1, 1930.
Samuel Brown Sheriff's certificate of sale, March 1, 1930.
Filed March 1, 1930.
Book 15 of Miscellaneous, page 300 Lot 1 , Block 2 , NW Addition, sold March 1, 1930, to Samuel Brown, for $10,000 .
[continued]
Trang 412 Entry 12 reveals that Ruth Roe was unable
to make her mortgage payments to Samuel
Brown, and Brown has sought payment by
exercising his right to force a sale of the
property by foreclosing on the mortgage
newspaper The dates of public notice,
the publicationAFFIDAVIT, and the service
of notice to Roe are all entered in the
abstract The certificate of sale and
the date the forced sale was filed with the
county are also included This entry shows
that Brown has purchased lot 1 at the
resulting sheriff’s sale of the property
The amount Brown paid would depend on
the value of the real estate and the amount
of the mortgage The “No 11” following
“Foreclosure of” simply refers to the court
document number of the foreclosure
13 Entry 13 shows that Samuel Brown and
Sophy Brown have sold a part of lot 1 to
James Jones byQUITCLAIM DEED Generally,
a quitclaim deed transfers title to property
without warranties that the title is free and
clear Owing to Ruth Roe’s financial
troubles, the Browns are probably
uncer-tain of their title’s completeness, so they
have chosen to sell parts of their lot by
quitclaim deed instead of warranty deed
Jones now owns a northern piece of lot 1,
block E, of Stoneybrook Addition
14 Entry 14 shows the taxes paid on the
property, except for the current year An
entry of taxes paid is listed every time a tax
the property of the abstract Taxes listed in
the abstract may include estate taxes,
inheritance taxes, capital gains taxes, and
local government property taxes The
abstract should include the current amount of these taxes and certification that they have been paid
15 Entry 15 reveals that, to avoid financial disaster, James Jones has filed bankruptcy
The northern piece of lot 1, block E, Stoneybrook Addition, New Heidelberg, is now being used to secure protection from creditors Jones has given to the bank-ruptcy court aTRUST DEED, which the court retains until Jones has fulfilled his obliga-tions under the financial rehabilitation plan approved by the court Should Jones default on this arrangement, the court could order a forced sale of the property, with proceeds going to Jones’s creditors
The land covered by this particular abstract has now been defined; it is a certain northern piece of lot 1 of block E
in the Stoneybrook Addition of New Heidelberg The land to the south of this piece would have its own abstract, which would be identical to this abstract up to the point that lot 1 was divided up and part of it sold to Jones Likewise, the abstract for the adjacent lot 2 on block E would have an abstract identical to this abstract up to the point that John Doe sold
to Richard Roe the newly platted land of section 36 in township 32, range 22
FURTHER READINGS Galaty, Fillmore, Wellington J Allaway, and Robert C Kyle.
2002 Modern Real Estate Practices 16th ed Chicago:
Dearborn Real Estate Education.
Jacobus, Charles J 1998 Real Estate Law 2d ed Florence, KY: South-Western Education.
Koenig, R Harry 1991 How to Lower Your Property Taxes.
New York: Fireside.
Abstract of Title
13 Samuel Brown and Quitclaim Deed.
Sophy Brown, his wife, Date April 1, 1940 .
to Filed April 1, 1940 .
James Jones Book 27 of Deeds, page 100 .
North 250 feet, front and rear, of Lot 1 , Block 2 ,
NW Addition.
14 Taxes paid, except for year 1940, amounting to $15,000
15 In re James Jones Petition of Debtor for arrangement under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Act,
Bankruptcy as amended (§ 301 et seq.) filed Jan 1, 1950 in U.S District Court for
No the District of New Hampshire.
A sample abstract of title (continued)
ILLUSTRATION BY GGS CREATIVE RESOURCES REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF GALE,
A PART OF CENGAGE LEARNING.
ABSTRACT OF TITLE 41
Trang 5CROSS REFERENCES Deed; Property Law; Real Property; Recording of Land Titles; Torrens Title System.
ABSTRACTION Taking from someone with an intent to injure or defraud
Wrongful abstraction is an unauthorized and illegal withdrawing of funds or an
own benefit It may be a crime under the laws of
a state It is different from embezzlement, which
is a crime committed only if the taker had a lawful right to possession of the money when it was first taken
ABUSE Everything that is contrary to good order estab-lished by usage Departure from reasonable use;
immoderate or improper use Physical or mental maltreatment Misuse Deception
To wrong in speech, reproach coarsely, dispar-age, revile, and malign
ABUSE EXCUSE Description of efforts by some criminal defendants
to negate criminal responsibility by showing that they could not tell right from wrong due to abuse by their spouses or parents Although this defense is not specifically recognized in substantive criminal law, it has been used successfully in some cases to prove, for example, the insanity defense
Using prior sexual or other physical abuse as evidence in a criminal defense is largely a result
of research regarding mental disorders caused
by such abuse Psychologists and other researchers have identified disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder and battered woman syndrome, as causes for severe emo-tional instability that can lead to violent acts by the victim against his or her abuser Some writers have advocated more widespread use of such evidence to mitigate the PUNISHMENT of victims who commit violent acts
Other scholars and writers disagree, noting that substantiveCRIMINAL LAWdoes not recognize theABUSE EXCUSEas a legitimate defense except in some limited circumstances, such as those involving the INSANITY DEFENSE Harvard law professor ALAN DERSHOWITZ coined the term in his 1994 book, The Abuse Excuse, where he deems the studies regarding psychological
disorders caused by abuse as “psychobabble” Dershowitz and other critics disagree not only with the use of abuse as mitigating evidence of criminal intent, but also with the results of the studies themselves According to these critics, especially Dershowitz, the abuse excuse fails to distinguish between the reasons why a person committed a crime and the responsibility for committing the crime
In a few high profile cases during the late 1980s and 1990s, defendants sought to avoid criminal responsibility for their crimes by introducing evidence of prior abuse In 1989 Lyle and Erik Menendez, ages 21 and 18 respectively, brutally killed their parents in the family’s California home At their first trial for
introduced evidence that the men’s father, Jose Menendez, had sexually abused his sons for a number of years Because of this abuse, Lyle and Eric, according to the defense, killed their parents out of fear In raising the evidence of abuse, the defense sought to reduce the conviction from murder to voluntaryMANSLAUGHTER The defense won a victory of sorts when the first trial ended in
whether the brothers were killers or whether they acted out due to the years of alleged abuse they had suffered In a second trial in 1995, however, the jury convicted the brothers of first-degree murder notwithstanding the evidence of abuse, and the judge sentenced them to life in prison without the possibility ofPAROLE
In 1993 Lorena Bobbitt was indicted for
MALICIOUSwounding after cutting off her sleeping husband’s penis during the middle of the night
At her trial, her defense team introduced evidence of a history of sexual and physical abuse committed by the husband, John, against Lorena Unlike the Menendez case, where the defense conceded that the brothers were criminally responsible for their actions, Lorena’s defense team used the evidence to prove the insanity defense In 1994 a jury found her not guilty of the crime by reason of insanity
Scholars have noted that the employment of the abuse excuse as a defense is more viable if
it is used to prove insanity, which happened in the Lorena Bobbitt case Commentators have also noted that evidence of prior abuse, whether substantiated or not, has been used in settings other than criminal defense For instance, a wife may accuse a husband of SEXUAL ABUSE during
Trang 6DIVORCEproceedings or an adult woman maySUE
her father for sexual abuse that allegedly
occurred when the woman was a child
FURTHER READINGS
Arenella, Peter 1996 “Demystifying the Abuse Excuse: Is
There One? ” Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy 19.
Becker, Mary E 1998 “The Abuse Excuse and Patriarchal
Narratives ” Northwestern Univ Law Review 92, vol 4.
Dershowitz, Alan M 2000 “Review Essay: Moral Judgment:
Does the Abuse Excuse Threaten Our Legal System? ”
Buffalo Criminal Law Review 3, vol 2.
ABUSE OF DISCRETION
A failure to take into proper consideration the
facts and law relating to a particular matter; an
arbitrary or unreasonable departure from
prece-dent and settled judicial custom
Where a trial court must exercise discretion
in deciding a question, it must do so in a way
that is not clearly against logic and the evidence
An improvident exercise of discretion is an
error of law and grounds for reversing a
decision on APPEAL It does not, however,
necessarily amount to BAD FAITH, intentional
wrong, or misconduct by the trial judge
For example, the traditional standard of
APPELLATEreview for evidence-related questions
arising during trial is the“abuse of discretion”
standard Most judicial determinations are
made based on evidence introduced at LEGAL
sound recordings, DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE such
as exhibits and business records, and a host of
other materials, including voice exemplars,
handwriting samples, and blood tests
Before such materials may be introduced into
the record at a legal proceeding, the trial court must
determine that they satisfy certain criteria
govern-ing the admissibility of evidence At a minimum,
the court must find that the evidence offered is
relevant to the legal proceedings Evidence that
bears on a factual or legal issue at stake in a
controversy is considered relevant evidence
The relevancy of evidence is typically
measured by its PROBATIVE value Evidence is
generally deemed probative if it has a tendency
to make the existence of any material fact
more or less probable Evidence that a MURDER
DEFENDANTate spaghetti on the day of the murder
might be relevant at trial if spaghetti sauce was
found at the murder scene Otherwise such
evidence would probably be deemed irrelevant
and could be excluded from trial if opposing counsel made the proper objection
During many civil and criminal trials, judges rule on hundreds of evidentiary objections lodged
by both parties These rulings are normally snap judgments made in the heat of battle Courts must make these decisions quickly to keep the proceedings moving on schedule For this reason, judges are given wide latitude in making evidentiary rulings and will not be overturned
on appeal unless the appellate court finds that the trial judge abused his or her discretion
For example, in a NEGLIGENCE case, a state appellate court ruled that the trial court did not
ABUSE its discretion by admitting into evidence a posed accident-scene photograph, even though the photograph depicted a model pedestrian blindly walking into the path of the driver’s vehicle with the pedestrian’s head pointed straight ahead as if she was totally oblivious to the vehicle and other traffic (Gorman v Hunt, 19 S.W.3d 662 [Ky 2000]) In upholding the trial court’s decision to admit the evidence, the appellate court observed that the photograph was only used to show the pedestrian’s position relative to the vehicle at the time of impact and not to blame the pedestrian for being negligent
The appellate court also noted that the LAWYER
objecting to the photograph’s admissibility was free to remind the jury of its limited relevance duringCROSS-EXAMINATIONand closing arguments
An appellate court would find that a trial court abused its discretion, however, if it admitted into evidence a photograph without proof that it was authentic (Apter v Ross, 781 N
E.2d 744 [Ind.App 2003]) A photograph’s authenticity may be established by a witness’s personal observations that the photograph accu-rately depicts what it purports to depict at the time the photograph was taken Ordinarily the photographer who took the picture is in the best position to provide such testimony
FURTHER READINGS Cohen, Ruth Bryna 2000 “Superior Court Affirms Non Pros for Failure to Subpoena Own Witness; Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion in Its Application of Civil Procedure Rule 216.” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (October 9).
Hamblett, Mark 2001 “Circuit Panel Issues Recusal Guidelines; Says Rakoff Acted Properly In Not Stepping Down ” New York Law Journal (February 26).
Riccardi, Michael A 2002 “Polygraph Evidence OK to Prove Probable Cause, Circuit Judges Say; No Abuse of Discretion in Relying on ‘Lie Detector’ for Limited Purpose ” Pennsylvania Law Weekly (April 29).
ABUSE OF DISCRETION 43
Trang 7CROSS REFERENCES Appeal; Bad Faith; Error; Evidence; Precedent; Probative;
Relevancy.
ABUSE OF POWER Improper use of authority by someone who has that authority because he or she holds a public office
ABUSE OF POWERis different from usurpation
of power, which is an exercise of authority that the offender does not actually have
ABUSE OF PROCESS The use of legal process to accomplish an unlawful purpose; causing a summons, writ, warrant, mandate, or any other process to issue from a court in order to accomplish some purpose not intended by the law
For example, a grocer rents a small building but complains to the LANDLORD about the inadequate heating system, leaks in the roof, and potholes in the driveway When the landlord fails to make the required repairs, the grocer decides the property is worth less and deducts $100 a month from his rent payments
The landlord starts a lawsuit to either recover the full amount of rent due or to oust the grocer and regain possession of the premises The law
in their state is fairly clear on the question:
A tenant has no right to force a landlord to make repairs by withholding a portion of the rent The landlord knows that she has a good chance of winning her case, but she also wants
to teach the grocer a lesson On the first three occasions that the case comes up on the court calendar, the grocer closes his store and appears
in court, but the landlord does not show up On the fourth occasion, the landlord comes to court and wins her case The grocer, in a separate action for ABUSE OF PROCESS, claims that the landlord is using the court’s power to order him
to appear simply to harass him The court agrees and awards him money damages for lost income and inconvenience
Abuse of process is a wrong committed during the course ofLITIGATION It is a perversion
of lawfully issued process and is different from
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION, a lawsuit started without any reasonable cause
ABUSIVE Tending to deceive; practicing abuse; prone to ill-treat by coarse, insulting words or harmful acts
Using ill treatment; injurious, improper, hurtful, offensive, reproachful
UsingABUSIVE language, even though offen-sive, is not criminal unless it amounts to fighting words that, by their very utterance, tend to incite an immediateBREACH OF THE PEACE
ABUT
To reach; to touch To touch at the end; be contiguous; join at a border or boundary; terminate on; end at; border on; reach or touch with an end The term abutting implies a closer proximity than the term adjacent
When referring to real property, abutting means that there is no intervening land between the abutting parcels Generally, properties that share a common boundary are abutting A statute may require abutting owners to pay proportional shares of the cost of a street improvement project
vABZUG, BELLA SAVITSKY Bella Savitsky Abzug served as a Democratic congresswoman in the 1970s and became one of the most outspoken advocates for women’s rights in the United States After she left Congress in 1976, she remained involved in political and social issues both nationally and internationally With her raspy voice, New York accent, and trademark floppy hat, Abzug was one of the most recognizable public figures in recent U.S history
Bella Savitsky was born on July 24, 1920, in New York City and was raised in the Bronx The daughter of Russian immigrant Jews, her father was a butcher who operated the “Live and Let Live” meat market As a young girl, she raised and collected money on behalf of Zionism After she graduated from high school, she attended Hunter College, where she was presi-dent of the stupresi-dent government Following graduation in 1944, she attended Columbia Law School, where she was the editor of theLAW
married Martin Abzug, who would go on to become a successful stockbroker
After graduating in 1947, Abzug
concentrat-ed her legal practice in the fields of LABOR LAW
in left-wing politics As an ATTORNEY for the
Mississippi in 1950 to argue theAPPEALof Willie McGee, an African American man who had
Trang 8been convicted of raping a white woman She
also defended individuals whom SenatorJOSEPH
Commu-nist subversion During the 1950s Abzug
managed to juggle her legal and political careers,
while being a mother to two daughters
In the 1960s Abzug organized opposition to
nuclear arms testing by founding Women’s
Strike for Peace In 1970 she was elected as a
Democratic congresswoman from New York
City She was an outspoken critic of theVIETNAM
WAR and the policies of President RICHARD M
NIXON After the WATERGATEscandals erupted in
1973, Abzug was the first public official to call
for Nixon’sIMPEACHMENT
Although Abzug antagonized many of her
male colleagues in Congress by insisting on
gender equality inside and outside of the Capitol,
in 1974 she served as an assistant whip to House
Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-Mass.) She chaired a
subcommittee on government information and
individual rights and co-authored theFREEDOM OF
INFORMATION ACTand thePRIVACYAct Abzug also
worked on behalf of the ill-fated EQUAL RIGHTS
AMENDMENT, which failed to acquire the necessary
number of states forRATIFICATION
A national figure by the mid-1970s, Abzug
sought theDEMOCRATIC PARTYnomination for the
Senate in 1976 She lost a close race to Daniel
Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) Several campaigns
for New York City mayor and Congress followed,
but Abzug never served in elective office again
Despite these defeats, she remained active in
efforts for women’s rights She was president of
the National Commission on the Observance of
International Women’s Year, cofounder of the
National Women’s Political Caucus, and the
founder of the International Women’s Environ-mental and Development Organization In 1995 she played a major role in a world conference on women’s issues, held in Beijing, China
Abzug remained active in the women’s movement despite numerous health problems that began in the mid-1980s She died on March 31,
1998, in New York City following heart surgery
FURTHER READINGS Abzug, Bella S., with Mim Kelber 1984 Gender Gap: Bella Abzug’s Guide to Political Power for American Women.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Abzug, Bella S 1972 Bella! Ms Abzug Goes to Washington.
New York: Saturday Review Press.
Bella Abzug.
AP PHOTOS.
Bella Savitsky Abzug 1920–1998
❖
❖
1920 Born,
New York
City, NY
1947 Graduated from Columbia University Law School
1961–70 Founded and chaired Women's Strike for Peace
1971–76 Served
in the U.S.
House of Representatives
◆
1974 Co-authored Freedom of Information Act; served as assistant whip to House Speaker Tip O'Neill
◆
1978 Appointed
to President Carter's Advisory Committee on Women; fired
in 1979 for criticizing Carter
◆
1984 The Gender Gap
published
◆
1990 Co-founded the Women's Environment and Development Organization
◆
1995 Led delegation
to Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing, China
1998 Died, New York City
1939–1945 World War II
1966 The National Organization for Women (NOW) founded
of Equal Rights Amendment failed
◆
1972 Equal Rights Amendment passed Congress
1976 Lost Democratic nomination for the Senate
WOMEN HAVE BEEN TRAINED TO SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A LIPSTICK THOSE DAYS ARE OVER
—B ELLA A BZUG
Trang 9Faber, Doris 1976 Bella Abzug New York: Lothrop, Lee &
Shepard.
Intimate Portrait: Bella Abzug (videotape) 1998 Lifetime Productions.
Rogers, Kathy 1998 “Bella Abzug: ALeader of Vision and Voice ” Columbia Law Review 98 (June) 1998.
CROSS REFERENCE Equal Rights Amendment.
ACADEMIC FREEDOM Academic freedom is the right to teach as one sees fit, but not necessarily the right to teach evil The term encompasses much more than teaching-related speech rights of teachers
Educational institutions are communities unto themselves with rules of their own, and when conflicts arise, often times the most common and compelling arguments involve freedom As a result, the academic community energetically explores the nature of freedom in society at large, and it is often forced to confront its own concepts of freedom in the process
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has long led efforts among educators to define the concept of
with the Association of American Colleges (now the Association of American Colleges and Uni-versities), drafted and approved the Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure The statement’s purpose is to “promote public understanding and support of academic freedom and tenure and agreement upon procedures to ensure them in colleges and universities.”
According to the statement, educational institutions should afford full freedom for teachers to conduct research and publish their results, subject to their adequate performance in other academic duties Teachers should also have freedom in the classroom to discuss their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce controversial matter that has no relation to their subject Institutions may place limitations on academic freedom because of religious or other aims of the institution, though these limitations should be stated clearly in writing at the time of the teacher’s appointment
Although the position of the AAUP is not binding upon colleges and universities, it has had an important impact on the tenure policies
of these institutions Tenure, according to the AAUP, promotes freedom of teaching, research,
and other educational activities and also pro-vides a“sufficient degree of economic security to make the profession attractive to men and women of ability.” Tenure is based upon a contractual relationship between the educational institution and the teacher, and this agreement provides private rights between the two Academic freedom was first introduced as a judicial term of art (a term with a specific legal meaning) by Supreme Court JusticeWILLIAM O
DOUGLAS In Adler v Board of Education of City of New York (342 U.S 485, 72 S Ct 380, 96 L Ed
517 [1952]), the Supreme Court upheld a New York law (N.Y Civ Service Law § 12-a) that prohibited employment of teachers in public institutions if they were members of“subversive organizations.” In a scathing dissent joined by Justice Hugo L Black, Douglas argued that such
contrary to the FIRST AMENDMENT guarantee of free speech
Justice Douglas equated academic freedom with the pursuit of truth If academic freedom
is the pursuit of truth and is protected by the First Amendment, reasoned Douglas, then the New York law should be struck down because its potential effect was to produce standardized thought According to Douglas’s dissent, the New York law created an academic atmosphere concerned not with intellectual stimulation but with such questions as “Why was the history teacher so openly hostile to Franco’s Spain? Who heard overtones of revolution in the English teacher’s discussion of The Grapes
of Wrath?” And “What was behind the praise
of Soviet progress in metallurgy in the chemistry class?” Douglas conceded that the public school systems need not become “cells for Communist activities,” but he reminded the court that the Framers of theCONSTITUTION“knew the strength that comes when the mind is free.” Shortly after the Adler decision, a similar case arose in New Hampshire that received very different treatment by the Supreme Court On January 5, 1954, Paul M Sweezy was sum-moned to appear before New Hampshire attorney general Louis C Wyman for inquiries into Sweezy’s political associations Under a
1951 New Hampshire statute, the state
“subversive activities” and determine whether
“subversive persons” were located within the state (Sweezy v New Hampshire, 354 U.S 234,
77 S Ct 1203, 1 L Ed 2d 1311[1957]) Wyman
Trang 10was especially interested in information on
members of thePROGRESSIVE PARTY, an
organiza-tion many politicians suspected of nurturing
Sweezy said he was unaware of any violations
of the statute He further stated that he would
not answer any questions impertinent to the
inquiry under the legislation and that he would
not answer questions that seemed to infringe on
hisFREEDOM OF SPEECH Sweezy did answer
numer-ous questions about himself, his views, and his
activities, but he refused to answer questions about
other people In a later inquiry by the attorney
general, Sweezy refused to comment about an
article he had written and about a lecture he had
delivered to a humanities class
When Sweezy persisted in his refusal to talk
about others and about his lecture, he was held
in contempt of court and sent to the Merrimack
County Jail The Supreme Court of New
Hampshire affirmed the conviction, and Sweezy
appealed
The U.S Supreme Court went on to reverse
the decision The basis for the reversal was the
New Hampshire statute’s improper grant of
broad interrogation powers to the attorney
general and its failure to afford sufficient
criminal protections to an ACCUSED The Court
commented strongly upon the threat such a
statute posed to academic freedom
The principal opinion, written by Chief
JusticeEARL WARREN, questioned the wisdom of
Wyman’sLEGISLATIVEinquiry With regard to the
questions on Sweezy’s lecture to the humanities
class, Warren stated that“[t]o impose any strait
jacket upon the intellectual leaders in our
colleges and universities would imperil the
future of our Nation.”
Justice FELIX FRANKFURTER wrote a separate
concurring opinion To Frankfurter, the call of
the Court was to decide the case by balancing the
right of the state to self-protection against
the right of a citizen to academic freedom and
political PRIVACY Frankfurter concluded that
Wyman’s reasons for questioning Sweezy on
academics were“grossly inadequate” given “the
grave harm resulting from governmental
intru-sion into the intellectual life of a university.”
Neither of the PLURALITYopinions in Sweezy
would have found all congressional inquiries into
academia to be unconstitutional However, both
opinions helped free educators in later cases by
recognizing and emphasizing the danger of restricting academic thought In Keyishian v
BOARD OF REGENTSof the University of New York (385 U.S 589, 87 S Ct 675, 17 L Ed 629[1967]), the Supreme Court finally awarded to teachers and professors the full complement of free speech and political privacy rights afforded other citizens
Political “loyalty oaths” required of New York State employees (including educators) under state
CIVIL SERVICE laws were declaredVOID, and New York education laws against “treasonable or seditious speech” were found to violate the First Amendment right to free speech According to the Keyishian decision, “[A]cademic freedom is a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom.”
The tension between academic oversight and academic freedom did not end with the Keyishian case The Supreme Court has also held that if school authorities can show additional independent grounds for discharge, they may terminate a teacher for disruptive speech even if a substantial motivation for the termination was speech on issues of public concern (Pickering v Board of Ed of Township High School Dist 205, Will County, 391 U.S
563, 88 S Ct 1731, 20 L Ed 2d 811[1968]; Mt
Healthy City Bd of Ed v Doyle, 429 U.S 274, 97
In 1954 Paul M Sweezy, a New York magazine editor and former Harvard professor, refused to answer questions about his political associations from New Hampshire attorney general Louis
C Wyman Sweezy was jailed for contempt of court but later won on appeal.
AP IMAGES ACADEMIC FREEDOM 47