Championnet, Jean Étienne, 1762–1800, French general in the French Revolutionary Wars. Placed in command of the Army of Rome in 1798, he captured (1799) Naples from the Second Coalition and se...

Cesarean section, delivery of an infant by surgical removal from the uterus through an abdominal incision. The operation is of ancient origin: indeed, the name derives from the legend that Jul...

Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), former independent agency of the U.S. government, established in 1887; it was charged with regulating the economics and services of specified carriers eng...

Liability, in law, an obligation of one party to another, usually to compensate financially. It is a fundamental aspect of tort law, although liability may also arise from duties entered into ...

Tort, in law, the violation of some duty clearly set by law, not by a specific agreement between two parties, as in breach of contract. When such a duty is breached, the injured party has the ...

Schiavo case, the legal battles over the guardianship and rights of Theresa Maria Schindler Schiavo (1963–2005). Terri Schiavo was incapacitated and hospitalized in 1990, after she collapsed w...

Negligence, in law, especially tort law, the breach of an obligation (duty) to act with care, or the failure to act as a reasonable and prudent person would under similar circumstances. For a ...

Jury, body convened to make decisions of fact in legal proceedings. Historians do not agree on the origin of the English jury. Although some authorities trace it to Anglo-Saxon or even more re...