The term action is used more often for civil lawsuits than for criminal proceedings.. Where there is no statute that limits the time to commence a particular action, a court may neverthe
Trang 1What Causes AIDS—and What
Does Not?
S
B
ince the first U.S case was identified in 1981,
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
has grown into an epidemic that has, as of 2007,
caused the death of 545,805 persons in the United
States The Joint United Nations Programme on
HIV/AIDS estimates that at the end of 2007 there
were 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS
worldwide During 2007, AIDS caused the deaths
of an estimated 2 million people At that time,
women were increasingly affected by AIDS; it was
estimated that women comprised approximately
50 percent of persons living with HIV or AIDS
worldwide No cure has been found, although
existing treatment employing multiple drugs has
made substantial gains in prolonging life and
reducing pain Despite the limits in medical
treatment, however, much is known about the
disease
AIDS is caused by the human immunodeficiency
virus (HIV) Transmitted by bodily fluids from person
to person, HIV invades certain key blood cells that
are needed to fight off infections HIV replicates,
spreads, and destroys these host cells When the
body’s immune system becomes deficient, the
person becomes AIDS-symptomatic, which means
the person develops infections that the body can no
longer ward off Ultimately, a person with AIDS dies
from diseases caused by other infections The
leading killer is a form of pneumonia
Most of the fear surrounding AIDS has to do
with its most common form of transmission: sexual
behavior The virus can be passed through any
behavior that involves the exchange of blood,
semen, or vaginal secretions Anal intercourse is
the highest-risk activity, but oral or vaginal
inter-course is dangerous too Thus, federal health
authorities recommend using a condom, yet they
caution that condoms are not 100 percent effective;
condoms can leak, and they can break Highly
accurate HIV testing is widely available and often
advisable, since infected people can feel perfectly
healthy Although the virus can be contracted
immediately upon exposure to it, symptoms of
full-blown AIDS may take up to ten years to appear
In addition to sexual behavior, only a few
other means of HIV transmission exist Sharing
unsterilized needles used in drug injections is one way, owing to the exchange of blood on the needle, and thus intravenous drug users are an extremely high-risk group Several cities have experimented with programs that offer free, clean needles These programs have seen up to a 75-percent reduction in new HIV cases Receipt of donations of blood, semen, organs, and other human tissue can also transmit HIV, although here screening methods have proved largely successful Childbirth and breast feeding are also avenues of transmission;
thus, children of HIV-positive mothers may be
at risk
The medical facts about HIV and AIDS are especially relevant to the law Unless exposed in one of a few very specific ways, most people have nothing to fear Casual contact with people who are infected is safe Current medical knowledge is quite strong on this point: no one is known to have caught the virus by sitting next to, shaking the hand of, or breathing the same air as an infected person For this reason, U.S law has moved to protect the civil rights of HIV-positive and AIDS-symptomatic per-sons Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C § 794 [1994]) prohibits discrimination against otherwise qualified disabled individuals, including individuals with a contagious disease or
an infection such as HIV or AIDS
The AIDS quilt, on display in Washington, D.C., has become a well-known symbol of support for victims of AIDS and their families Families and supporters of victims of AIDS create a panel to commemorate that person’s life and that panel is joined with others from around the country to create the quilt
FURTHER READINGS Barnett, Tony, and Alan Whiteside 2006 AIDS in the Twenty-First Century 2d ed New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Farmer, Paul 2003 Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor Berkeley: Univ of California Press.
CROSS REFERENCES Discrimination
78 ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME
Trang 2through drug-treatment regimens that require
individuals to consume many different types of
medications at the same time These anti-AIDS
“cocktails” undergo constant study and
modifi-cation as researchers learn more about the
workings of HIV The medications are from a
family of drugs called“protease inhibitors.”
Survival rates have dramatically improved
for those individuals using protease inhibitors,
but other problems have also arisen Some
persons do not respond to these medications, or
the side effects from taking the drugs diminish
the quality of life Protease inhibitors, for many
people, are intolerable because of nausea,
diarrhea, vomiting, headache, kidney stones,
and serious drug interactions with other
medications By 2003 researchers had found
that serious side effects include increased risk of
heart attack, abnormalities in fat distribution,
an increased propensity toward diabetes, and
abnormalities in cholesterol metabolism
Cost is another concern associated with
protease inhibitors To be effective, protease
inhibitors must be used in combination with at
least two other anti-HIV drugs Originally,
annual costs for this treatment was estimated
to be between $12,000 and $15,000 per person
However, in 2006 research was released that
estimated that Americans who were diagnosed
with the AIDS virus could have a life expectancy
of 24 years and spend approximately $600,000
in healthcare costs during those years The
average cost of the drugs equated to $2,100 a
month and $25,200 a year The increase in cost
from the original reports is due to improved
and more costly HIV medications Those
persons without private health insurance must
rely on public programs such as the AIDS Drug
Assistance Program (ADAP), a federally funded
initiative to provide AIDS-related drugs to
people with HIV Most ADAP programs, which
are administered by states, have lacked the
funding to enroll everyone in need
International Issues By 2003 the international
AIDS problem had become a crisis in Africa and
parts of Asia The situation is gravest in
sub-Saharan Africa, where AIDS is the leading cause
of death Over 22 million adults and children live
with HIV and AIDS, which accounts for more
than two-thirds of all individuals worldwide
living with AIDS Approximately 1.7 million
people die there each year from AIDS This
number is more than three-quarters of the global
total number of AIDS-related deaths each year
These figures stand in stark contrast to those of North America, where fewer than one million people are living with HIV and AIDS
The growth of AIDS in Africa and Asia has raised worries about global political and eco-nomic stability Governments in these ravaged countries have not been able to afford the anti-viral drugs In 2002 pharmaceutical companies agreed to sell these drugs to these countries as generic drugs, thus dropping the cost from
$12,000 to $300 per year per patient; yet, even at these prices, many governments would be hard pressed to purchase them
The UNITED NATIONS (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have worked to-gether to address the issues of prevention and treatment Although AIDS is among the most deadly infectious diseases in the world, the statistics reveal that, on a global basis, the number
of individuals dying of AIDS-related causes has declined in recent years In December 2002 a joint UN-WHO report disclosed that 42 million people in the world were living with HIV and AIDS In 2002 five million people contracted HIV, and over three million people died of AIDS
In 2007 the reports indicated that the number of individuals living with HIV had dropped to 33 million people worldwide and that 2.7 million people were newly infected in that year The total number of AIDS deaths decreased from five million to two million in 2007 This decline is due in large part to the increased availability of the antiretroviral treatment and improved pre-vention and care programs available worldwide
FURTHER READINGS ACLU 1996 The Rights of People Who Are HIV Positive.
Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.
——— 1995a AIDS and Civil Liberties Briefing paper no 13.
——— 1995b Lesbian and Gay Rights Briefing paper no 18.
——— 1994 ACLU Wins Precedent-Setting Claim in AIDS Case; Federal Court Rules That ADA Covers AIDS Discrimination Press release, November 21.
——— 1993 ACLU Files AIDS Discrimination Suit;
Challenges South Carolina Insurance Risk Pool Press release, April 6.
“Fighting Aids.” February 10, 2003 PBS News Hour Available online at www.pbs.org (accessed Mar 31, 2010).
Health and Human Services Department Social Security Administration 1991 A Guide to Social Security and SSI Disability Benefits for People with HIV Infection Pub no.
05-10020, September.
Jarvis, Robert M., et al., eds 1996 AIDS Law in a Nutshell.
2d ed Minneapolis, Minn.: West.
Rollins, Joe 2002 “AIDS, Law, and the Rhetoric of Sexuality ” Law & Society Review 36 (April).
ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME 79
Trang 3White House Office of the Press Secretary 1994 Proclamation for World AIDS Day, November 30, 1994 Press release.
——— 2009 Obama Administration Announces New Campaign to Refocus National Attention on the HIV Crisis
in the United States Press release, April 7, 2009; National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Barack Obama: Fighting HIV/AIDS Worldwide.” Available online at http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/AIDSFact Sheet.pdf; website home page: http://www.baracko bama.com (accessed June 10, 2009).
Public Library of Science (Pl o S Medicine) 2007 The US Anti-Prostitution Pledge; First Amendment Challenges and Public Health Priorities (Policy Forum)(United States Leadership Against Global HIV/AIDS, Tubercu-losis, and Malaria Act of 2003).
“Global Summary of the AIDS Epidemic, December 2007.”
Available online at http://www.who.int/hiv/data/
2008_global_summary_AIDS_ep.png; website home page: http://www.who.int (accessed June 10, 2009).
“AIDS Patients Will Spend $600K for care.” Available online
at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15655257/print/1/
displaymode/1098; website home page: http://www.
msnbc.com (accessed June 8, 2009).
“The United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) ” Available online at http://www.
pepfar.gov/about/index.htm (accessed June 7, 2009).
CROSS REFERENCES Disability Discrimination; Discrimination; Food and Drug Administration; Gay and Lesbian Rights; Health Care Law;
Patients ’ Rights; Physicians and Surgeons; Privacy.
ACQUISITION CHARGE
A fee imposed upon a borrower who satisfies a loan prior to the date of payment specified in the loan agreement
Many home mortgages provide that if the persons who borrowed the money want to repay theirMORTGAGEwithin two years, they must pay an ACQUISITION CHARGEof a small percentage of the outstanding balance of the mortgage Prepayment penalty is another name for acquisition charge
ACQUIT
To set free, release or discharge as from an obligation, burden or accusation To absolve one from an obligation or a liability; or to legally certify the innocence of one charged with a crime
ACQUITTAL The legal and formal certification of the innocence
of a person who has been charged with a crime Acquittals in fact take place when a jury finds a VERDICTof notGUILTY Acquittals in law take place
byOPERATION OF LAWsuch as when a person has been charged as an ACCESSORY to the crime of ROBBERYand the principal has been acquitted
ACT Something done; usually, something done inten-tionally or voluntarily or with a purpose The term encompasses not only physical acts—such as turning on the water or purchasing
Results of Criminal Trials in 2007–2008 a
Acquitted 0.6%
Dismissed 9%
Convicted 90.4%
SOURCE: U.S Courts, “Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics,” available online at http://www.uscourts gov/caseload2008/contents.html (accessed on August
12, 2009).
a Refers to trials completed in U.S District Courts from April 1,
2007, to March 31, 2008.
ILLUSTRATION BY GGS CREATIVE RESOURCES REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION OF GALE, A PART OF CENGAGE LEARNING.
Total felony dispositions
statewide: 165,016
Percentage resulting in conviction
Percentage resulting in dismissal
Percentage resulting in acquittal
Acquittal: State of New York Felony Arrest Dispositions for 2008
Percent
0 20 40 60 80 100
69%
23%
0.4%
SOURCE: New York State, Division of Criminal Justice Services, “Criminal Justice
Statistics,” available online at http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/crimnet/ojsa/
dispos/index.htm (accessed on August 7, 2009)
ILLUSTRATION BY GGS
CREATIVE RESOURCES.
REPRODUCED BY
PERMISSION OF GALE,
A PART OF CENGAGE
LEARNING.
80 ACQUISITION CHARGE
Trang 4a gun—but also refers to more intangible acts
such as adopting a decree, edict, law, judgment,
award, or determination An act may be a private
act, done by an individual managing his or her
personal affairs, or it may be a public act, done
by an official, a council, or a court When a bill is
favorably acted upon in the process of
LEGISLA-TION, it becomes an act
ACT OF GOD
An event that directly and exclusively results from
the occurrence of natural causes that could not
have been prevented by the exercise of foresight or
caution; an inevitable accident
Courts have recognized various events as
acts of God—tornadoes, earthquakes, death,
extraordinarily high tides, violent winds, and
floods Many insurance policies for property
damage exclude from their protection damage
caused by acts of God
ACTION
Conduct; behavior; something done; a series of
acts
A case or lawsuit; a legal and formal demand
for enforcement of one’s rights against another
party asserted in a court of justice
The term action includes all the proceedings
attendant upon a legal demand, itsADJUDICATION,
and its denial or its enforcement by a court
Specifically, it is theLEGAL PROCEEDINGS, while a
CAUSE OF ACTIONis the underlying right that gives
rise to them In casual conversation, action and
cause of action may be used interchangeably, but
they are more properly distinguished At one
time it was more correct to speak of actions at
law and of proceedings or suits in equity The
distinction is rather technical, however, and not
significant since the merger of law and equity
The term action is used more often for civil
lawsuits than for criminal proceedings
Parties in an Action
A person must have some sort of LEGAL RIGHT
before starting an action That legal right implies a
duty owed to one person by another, whether it is
a duty to do something or a duty not to do
something When the other person acts
wrong-fully or fails to act as the law requires, such
behavior is a breach, or violation, of that person’s
legal duty If that breach causes harm, it is the
basis for a cause of action The injured person
may seek redress by starting an action in court
The person who starts the action is the PLAINTIFF, and the person sued is theDEFENDANT They are the parties in the action Frequently, there are multiple parties on a side The defen-dant may assert a defense which, if true, will defeat the plaintiff’s claim ACOUNTERCLAIMmay
be made by the defendant against the plaintiff
or a CROSS-CLAIM against another party on the same side of the lawsuit The law may permit joinder of two or more claims, such as an action for property damage and an action for personal injuries, after one auto ACCIDENT; or it may require consolidation of actions by an order of the court Where prejudice or injustice is likely to result, the court may order aSEVERANCEof actions into different lawsuits for different parties
Commencement of an Action The time when an action may begin depends on the kind of action involved A plaintiff cannot start a lawsuit until the cause of action has accrued For example, a man who wants to use a parcel of land for a store where only houses are allowed must begin by applying for a variance from the local zoning board He cannot bypass the board and start an action in court His right
to SUE does not ACCRUE until the board turns down his request
Neither can a person begin an action after the time allowed by law Most causes of action are covered by a STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS, which specifically limits the time within which to begin the action If the law in a particular state says that an action for libel cannot be brought more than one year after publication of a
Acts of God, which include hurricanes such as Hurricane Katrina, are sometimes excluded from insurance policies for property damage.
AP IMAGES ACTION 81
Trang 5defamatory statement, then those actions must
be initiated within that statutory period Where there is no statute that limits the time to commence a particular action, a court may nevertheless dismiss the case if the claim is stale and ifLITIGATIONat that point would not be fair
A plaintiff must first select the right court, then an action can be commenced by delivery of the formal legal papers to the appropriate person
Statutes that regulate proper procedure for this must be strictly observed A typical statute specifies that an action may be begun
by delivery of a SUMMONS, or a WRIT on the defendant At one time, common-law actions had
to be pleaded according to highly technicalFORMS
OF ACTION, but now it is generally sufficient simply
to serve papers that state facts describing a recognized cause of action If this SERVICE OF PROCESSis done properly, the defendant has fair notice of the claim made against him or her and the court acquires jurisdiction over him or her In some cases, the law requires delivery of the summons or writ to a specified public officer such
as a U.S marshal, who becomes responsible for serving it on the defendant
Termination of an Action After an action is commenced, it is said to be pending until termination While the action is pending, neither party has the right to start another action in a different court over the same dispute or to do any act that would make the court’s decision futile
A lawsuit may be terminated because of dismissal before both sides have fully argued the merits of their cases at trial It can also be ended because of COMPROMISE AND SETTLEMENT, after which the plaintiff withdraws his or her action from the court
Actions are terminated by the entry of final judgments by the courts A judgment may be based on a juryVERDICTor it may be aJUDGMENT NOTWITHSTANDING THE VERDICT Where there has been no jury, judgment is based on the judge’s decision Unless one party is given leave—or permission from the court—to do something that might revive the lawsuit, such as amending
an insufficient complaint, the action is at an end when judgment is formally entered on the records of the court
CROSS REFERENCE Civil Procedure.
ACTION ON THE CASE One of the old common-law forms of action that provided a remedy for the invasion of personal or property interests
ACTION ON THE CASEis also calledTRESPASSon the case because it developed from theCOMMON -LAW ACTION of trespass during the fifteenth century in England Often it is simply called case
Case differs from trespass in that it redresses more indirect injuries than theWILLFULinvasion
of the plaintiff’s property contemplated by trespass It was designed to supplement the action of trespass For example, a person struck
by a log thrown over a fence could maintain an action in trespass against the thrower If, instead, the wrongdoer tossed the log into the street and thePLAINTIFFwere hurt by stumbling over it, the plaintiff could maintain an action on the case rather than in trespass
In PLEADING an action on the case, the plaintiff sets forth the circumstances of the entire case In pleading an action on the case, the complaint differed from the forms used in pleading other actions because other actions generally had highly stylized and rigid forms that had to be followed word for word The plaintiff in the action on the case alleged facts to show that (1) theDEFENDANT had some sort of duty; (2) the defendant had violated that duty; and (3) the result was harm to the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s property Over the years this action developed into a remedy for a wide variety of wrongs that were not redressed by the otherFORMS OF ACTION For example, a plaintiff could SUE a defendant who maintained a NUISANCEin the neighborhood; who violated an easement or aRIGHT OF WAY; or who committed libel, slander, malicious prosecution, fraud, or deceit Most importantly, the action on the case came into common use as the legal method for compensating victims of NEGLIGENCE It thus became one of the most widely used forms of action in the common-law system and gave birth to the modern law of torts
When ejectment was still considered a modern improvement on trespass in England, it already had been abandoned in New England because of its complicated technical requirements One of the reasons for the American experience is that law books were scarce in the colonies, and many judges were laymen The most rigid applications of technical formalities came during
82 ACTION ON THE CASE
Trang 6the first half of the nineteenth century after
lawyers gained influence in the legal system
Dissatisfaction with the technicalities of the
forms soon began to peak CODE PLEADING was
then introduced to replace the prior forms of
action An attempt was made to reduce the
number of writs to some basic few that would
be adequate for all of the different requirements
of modern LITIGATION Attention was shifted
from the form to the elements of a CAUSE OF
ACTION Courts asked only whether the plaintiff
had stated a CLAIM on which relief could be
granted The objective was to decide whether
the plaintiff was entitled to a remedy with as
little procedural red tape as possible When
code pleading fell short of this goal, the modern
law ofCIVIL PROCEDUREdeveloped the theory that
there should be only one form of action, the
CIVIL ACTION
The old forms of action exist only as names
for procedures based on them and as the
foundation of much of theSUBSTANTIVE LAW In
Pennsylvania, for example, the word trespass is
used for tort actions, and assumpsit for lawsuits
based upon contracts
ACTIONABLE
Giving sufficient legal grounds for a lawsuit; giving
rise to a cause of action
An act, event, or occurrence is said to be
actionable when there are legal grounds for
basing a lawsuit on it For example, anASSAULT
is an actionable tort
ACTIONABLE PER SE
Legally sufficient to support a lawsuit in itself
Words are ACTIONABLE PER SE if they are
obviously insulting and injurious to one’s
reputation In lawsuits for libel or slander,
words that impute the commission of a crime, a
loathsome disease, or unchastity, or remarks
that affect the plaintiff’s business, trade,
profes-sion, calling, or office may be actionable per se
No special proof of actual harm done by the
words is necessary to win monetary damages
when words are actionable per se
ACTUAL CASH VALUE
The fair or reasonable cash price for which a
property could be sold in the market in the
ordinary course of business, and not at forced sale
The price it will bring in a fair market after reasonable efforts to find a purchaser who will give the highest price What property is worth in money, allowing for depreciation Ordinarily, actual cash value, fair market value, and market value are synonymous terms
ACTUAL NOTICE Conveying facts to a person with the intention
to apprise that person of a proceeding in which his or her interests are involved, or informing a person of some fact that he or she has a right to know and which the informer has a legal duty to communicate
When such notice has been given to someone personally, it is called express actual notice or express notice If a tenant notifies a landlord that the elevator is broken, the landlord has express actual notice of the defect
Should the landlord fail to repair the elevator and another tenant is injured while riding it, the landlord would be liable for the tenant’s injuries
Actual notice can be presumed if an average person, having witness of the same evidence, should know that a particular fact exists This is called implied actual notice or implied notice
If the landlord had been with the tenant when the tenant discovered the broken elevator, the landlord would be considered to have implied notice of the defect
ACTUARY
A statistician who computes insurance and pension rates and premiums on the basis of the experi-ence of people sharing similar age and health characteristics
The profession also includes statisticians who provide expert data analysis on risk assessment and risk management for the financial services sector Actuaries are most often employed within the insurance industry, but also prepare and assess data for commercial and investment banks, retirement and PENSION fund administrators, or are self-employed as consultants Specific data prepared by actuaries
is often presented in the form of actuarial tables (MORTALITY TABLES) that indicate the life expec-tancy of an individual Such tables may be used
as the bases for calculating estimated insurance premiums or monthly retirement annuities
When utilized by expert WITNESSES, actuarial
ACTUARY 83
Trang 7tables are admissible in evidence to show life expectancy Juries may award damages to plain-tiffs for compromised life expectancy resulting from the alleged wrongdoing of tortfeasors (wrongdoers)
ACTUS REUS [Latin, Guilty act.] As an element of criminal responsibility, the wrongful act or omission that comprises the physical components of a crime
Criminal statutes generally require proof of both actus reus and mens rea on the part of a defendant in order to establish criminal liability
AD DAMNUM [Latin, To the loss.] The clause in a complaint that sets a maximum amount of money that the plaintiff can recover under a default judgment if the defendant fails to appear in court
It is a fundamental principle of due process that a DEFENDANT must be given fair notice of what is demanded of him or her In a CIVIL ACTION, a PLAINTIFF must include in the com-plaint served on a defendant a clause that states the amount of the loss or the amount of money damages claimed in the case This clause is the
ad damnum It tells a defendant how much he
or she stands to lose in the case
In some states, the ad damnum sets an absolute limit on the amount of damages recoverable in the case, regardless of how much loss the plaintiff is able to prove at trial The reason for this rule is that a defendant should not be exposed to greaterLIABILITY than the ad damnum just because he or she comes into court and defends himself or herself In states that follow this rule, a plaintiff may be given leave to increase the amount demanded by amending the complaint if later circumstances can be shown to warrant this For example, a plaintiff who sues for $5,000 for a broken leg may find out after the action has begun that she will be permanently disabled At that point, the court may allow the plaintiff to amend her complaint and demand damages of $50,000
In most states and in the federal courts, a plaintiff can collect money damages in excess of the ad damnum if proof can be made at trial to support the higher amount A defendant may ask for more time to prepare the case in order not to
be prejudiced at trial if it begins to look as though the plaintiff is claiming more money than the ad
damnum demands However, the defendant cannot prevent judgment for a higher amount
AD HOC [Latin, For this; for this special purpose.] An attorney ad hoc or a guardian or curator ad hoc is one appointed for a special purpose, generally to represent the client, ward, or child in the particular action in which the appointment is made
An administrative agency, a legislature, or other governmental bodies may establish ad hoc committees to study particular problems For example, a city government may establish an ad hoc committee to investigate and discuss the placement of a new stadium in the city Likewise,
an administrative agency in some jurisdictions may engage in ad hoc rulemaking, whereby the agency establishes specific procedures to pro-mulgate a rule without necessarily adhering to formal rulemaking requirements
AD HOMINEM [Latin, To the person.] A term used in debate to denote an argument made personally against an opponent, instead of against the opponent’s argument
AD INTERIM [Latin, In the meantime.] An officer ad interim is
a person appointed to fill a position that is temporarily open, or to perform the functions of a particular position during the absence or tempo-rary incapacity of the individual who regularly fulfills those duties
AD LITEM [Latin, For the suit; for the purposes of the suit; pending the suit.] A guardian ad litem is a guardian appointed to prosecute or defend a suit
on behalf of a party who is legally incapable of doing so, such as an infant or an insane person
AD VALOREM According to value
The term ad valorem is derived from the Latin ad valentiam, meaning “to the value.” It is commonly applied to a tax imposed on the value of property Real property taxes that are imposed by the states, counties, and cities are the most common type of ad valorem taxes ad valorem taxes can, however, be imposed upon
84 ACTUS REUS
Trang 8PERSONAL PROPERTY For example, a motor vehicle
tax may be imposed upon personal property
such as an automobile
An article of commerce may be subjected to
an ad valorem tax in proportion to its value,
which is determined by assessment or appraisal
Duties, taxes on goods imported or brought
into this country from a foreign country, are
either ad valorem or specific An ad valorem
duty is one in the form of a percentage on the
value of the property, unlike a specific duty that
is a fixed sum imposed on each article of a class,
such as all Swiss wristwatches, regardless of
their individual values
CROSS REFERENCE
Taxation.
vADAMS, JOHN
JOHN ADAMS achieved prominence on many
levels—asJURIST, statesman, and as the second
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Known for his
sharp diplomatic skills, his flair for words, and
his spirited activism, he was an instrumental
figure in forging the fledgling nation that would
become the United States of America
Adams was born on October 30, 1735, in
Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, the son
of a farmer His parents encouraged him in his
studies, and pushed him to enter Harvard
College to study for the clergy Upon graduation
in 1755, the strong-willed Adams instead
decided to teach and study law He was
admitted to the Boston bar in 1758 and
established a prestigious legal practice During
the pre–Revolutionary War years, Adams spoke
out strongly against many acts enforced by the
British government, including the TOWNSHEND
ACTS, which unjustly taxed items such as glass
and tea He also joined the Sons of Liberty—a
group of lawyers, merchants, and businessmen who, in 1765, banded together to oppose the STAMP ACT
From 1774 to 1778 Adams served as the Massachusetts representative to theCONTINENTAL CONGRESS He entered the judiciary during this period and rendered decisions as chief justice
of the Superior Court of Massachusetts from
1775 to 1777 In 1776 he signed the newly createdDECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
After the war, Adams entered the field of foreign service, acting as commissioner to France in 1777 In 1783 Adams went to Paris with JOHN JAYand THOMAS JEFFERSON to success-fully negotiate the TREATY OF PARIS with Great Britain, which officially ended the Revolution-ary War and established the United States as an
John Adams LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
◆
1732 George Washington born
1735 Born, Braintree, Mass.
1758 Admitted to Boston bar
1755 Graduated from Harvard College
1774–78 Mass representative to the Continental Congress
1765 Joined the Sons of Liberty
1788 Became first vice president of the U.S.
1775–83 American Revolution
1797–1801 Served as second president of the U.S.
1824 His son John Quincy Adams elected president of the U.S.
1826 Died July 4, Braintree, Mass.; Thomas Jefferson died, Charlottesville, Va (same day)
FEAR IS THE FOUNDATION OF MOST GOVERNMENTS
—J OHN A DAMS ADAMS, JOHN 85
Trang 9independent nation In 1785 Adams became the first U.S minister to Great Britain
Adams returned to the United States in 1788 and began service to the new government with his election to the office of vice president of the United States He was the first person to serve in this office and was reelected for a second term
in 1792 In 1796 Adams was elected president
of the United States He was the second man to hold this position, following the retirement of the first president, GEORGE WASHINGTON During his term of office, Adams advocated naval strength; approved the ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS
of 1798 (1 Stat 566, 570, 577, 596), which increased the restrictions concerning ALIENS and imposed harsh penalties on any person who attempted to obstruct the government system;
averted war with France; and selected the eminent JOHN MARSHALL as chief justice of the U.S Supreme Court In 1800 Adams ran for the presidency for a second term but was defeated by Thomas Jefferson
Adams’s political and personalJURISPRUDENCE was characterized by intense nationalism; some consider him the most influential designer of the new nation’s government and identity A Federalist and a realist who spoke his mind without consideration for political fallout, Adams believed that unchecked power created abuse even in the best of democracies To that end, he was the most significant advocate for the creation of a balance of powers through a tripartite government: a bicameral legislature, a strong executive, and an independent judici-ary He also authored the state constitution for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which remains the oldest functioning written consti-tution in the world Adams published a number
of political treatises, including Thoughts on Government (1776) and Defense of the Constitu-tions of the United States of America against the Attacks of Mr Turgot (1787)
John Adams sought a written constitution based on unwritten NATURAL LAW He believed that the COMMON LAW was the source of unalienable,INDEFEASIBLErights of men, the honor and dignity of human nature, the grandeur and glory of the public, and the universal happiness
of individuals
John Adams was also a devoted family man
His wife, Abigail, was a vivacious and witty first lady who openly commented on politics and issues of the day There were five Adams
children, including John Quincy, who served
as the sixth president of the United States John Adams died on July 4, 1826, in Braintree FURTHER READINGS
Allen, Brooke 2002 “John Adams: Realist of the Revolu-tion ” The Hudson Review (spring) 55.
McCullough, David 2001 John Adams New York: Simon & Schuster.
Ryerson, Richard Alan, ed 2001 John Adams and the Founding of the Republic Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society.
Thompson, C Bradley 1998 John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty Lawrence: Univ Press of Kansas.
vADAMS, JOHN QUINCY John Quincy Adams was more than just the sixth PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES He was a child of the American Revolution, having witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill He was the son of the nation’s second president, JOHN ADAMS And he was a successful diplomat Chosen president by the House after finishing second in theELECTORAL COLLEGE, Adams became the first president to wear long trousers, rather than breeches, at his inauguration, on March 4,
1825 After one term as president, he went on
to serve with distinction for 17 years in the House of Representatives
Adams was born on July 11, 1767, in Braintree, Massachusetts (now Quincy, Massa-chusetts) As the son of one of the nation’s founders, he had many opportunities not avail-able to other young men Before reaching the age when young people today graduate from high school, Adams had established himself as a diplomat He accompanied his father on diplo-matic missions to Europe in 1778 and 1780, where he studied in Paris, France, and in Amsterdam and Leiden, the Netherlands In
1781, at the age of 14, Adams traveled with Francis Dana, the first American minister to Russia, as Dana’s private secretary and French interpreter In 1783 the young Adams joined his father in Paris, where he served as one of the secretaries to the American commissioners in the negotiations of the peace treaty that concluded the American Revolution Fearing alienation from his own country, Adams returned home
in 1785 and, by virtue of his earlier studies, was able to enroll as a junior at Harvard College, from which he graduated in 1787
For three years Adams read law at New-buryport, Massachusetts, under THEOPHILUS PARSONS, and in 1790 he was admitted to the
86 ADAMS, JOHN QUINCY
Trang 10bar While struggling to find clients, Adams
engaged in political journalism He wrote a
series of 11 articles controverting some of the
doctrines presented in Thomas Paine’s Rights of
Man (1791–92) In a second series of articles, he
defended President George Washington’s policy
of neutrality in the war between France and
England in 1793 His third series of articles
attacked those who wanted the United States
to join France in a war against Britain These
articles impressed Washington so much that
he appointed Adams U.S minister to the
Netherlands in May 1794
President Washington thought Adams one
of the ablest officers in the foreign service In
1796 he appointed Adams minister to Portugal
Before Adams’s departure for that new post,
however, his father became president Both
Adamses felt that it was undesirable for the son
of a president to hold a post in the father’s
administration, but Washington urged that the
younger Adams remain in the diplomatic corps,
calling him the most valuable public person
abroad President Adams then appointed his
son minister to Prussia
Before taking up his new post in Prussia,
Adams was married, in London, to Louisa
Catherine Johnson (1775–1852), daughter of
the U.S counsel in London
In September 1801, with new president
THOMAS JEFFERSON in the White House, Adams
was called back from Prussia In 1802 he was
elected to the Massachusetts senate One year
later the state senate elected him to the U.S
Senate (Prior to the passage of theSEVENTEENTH
AMENDMENTin 1913, U.S senators were elected
by the senates of the individual states.)
Adams had always considered himself a
political independent, and he was given a
chance to prove this in the U.S Senate After his election, he was set upon by forces opposed
to the FEDERALIST PARTY, of which Adams was considered a member, and political enemies
of his father Instead of accepting his fate as
a powerless and unpopular member of an unpopular political minority, Adams asserted his political independence He began to vote with President Jefferson and the opposition Democratic-Republicans, and broke with his party completely in 1807 by supporting the EMBARGO ACT(46 App U.S.C.A § 328) This act, backed by Jefferson, placed an embargo on all
John Quincy Adams LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
1767 Born, Braintree, Mass.
1775–83 American Revolution
1787 Graduated from Harvard College
1790 Admitted to Mass bar
1796 Appointed minister
to Prussia 1803–08 Served
in U.S Senate
1814–15 Key negotiator
in Treaty of Ghent 1823 Developed the Monroe Doctrine
1825–29 Served as sixth president of the U.S 1831–48 Served in the
U.S House of Representatives
1848 Died, Washington, D.C.
1775
❖