Questions tagged [united-states]
For questions specific to the United States as a whole, or that span multiple state jurisdictions. If your question is related to a specific state then you should use that state's tag instead (or as well).
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Can federal courts overturn state court decisions on matters of state law?
If a state court rules, for example, that a particular state law is unconstitutional under the state constitution, can this decision be overturned by a federal court?
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Is a non-exclusive and revocable license valid consideration for a legal agreement/contract?
This question pertains to U.S. law, and California law specifically, if it matters.
The motivation behind this question is the scenario where a company has supplied parts or equipment usage to a non-...
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Why are US convicts sent to prison with a public "rap sheet" detailing the charges against them?
I watched a documentary where it was stated that US convicts would be sent to prison with a piece of paper detailing what they have been convicted of. Many other inmates would try to steal this ...
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Could my son get in legal trouble for a poor taste joke he made on social media?
My son is 16 and runs a meme page on Instagram. A couple of hours ago, he posted a photograph of Lord Mountbatten with the caption "hey British people, the IRA made Lord Mountbatten go boom, how ...
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Can a person be convicted for violating a law that had been ruled unconstitutional by a lower court but was later reinstated?
Suppose that the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has ruled that a federal law is unconstitutional. Because I live in the Ninth Circuit, I am now allowed to "violate" the law.
What if ...
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In U.S. is there any IP concern when my own company pays expenses for prototype development? [closed]
This question pertains to U.S. law, and California specifically if that matters.
Suppose person A founds a company that is owned by themselves and a trusted partner person B. Person A has a majority ...
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Can you ever be certain that you will not be tried for an alleged crime?
Suppose someone is involved in a self-defense altercation where the other party ends up dead. As far as I understand this could result in one of the following outcomes:
The police investigate and a ...
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Is it legal for an American citizen to obtain BRICS currency and then exchange those bills for U.S. dollars sometime in the future?
I would like to know if it is legal for an American to go to a foreign exchange bank in their area, exchange a certain amount of U.S. dollars to obtain the bills of the foreign currencies of the BRICS ...
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What is the closest equivalent to criminal compensation orders in your jurisdiction(s) of expertise?
In the U.K., or at least in England, if Bob is convicted of a crime of which Alice is a victim, Bob may be ordered by the court at sentencing to pay to it on Alice’s behalf a sum representing losses ...
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Can you be retried if you appeal a partial acquittal?
I know that in the US Double Jeopardy protection means that if you are acquitted the prosecution cannot attempt to appeal or retry you (except for very narrow exceptions). However, a defendant is ...
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Dental Work not authorized [closed]
Contacted dental office to set up fillings for two teeth. Office said there were three together and it was easier to do all three at once. Patient stated that insurance only covered two per year and ...
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Extent to which a will is holographic
"Albus" and "Severus" are making a will together. They do not want to bother with an attorney or witnesses, so Severus handwrites it, under the assumption that doing so will make ...
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Retroactive lack of testamentary capacity
"Juan" makes his will. A year later, he is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and so loses testamentary capacity. Often, the medical diagnosis for Alzheimer's comes well after the victim's ...
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Can employeed be fired for planning to take FMLA?
In the US, Family and Medical Leave is protected by federal law. Part of the provisions is that you cannot fire an employee for taking FMLA.
Presumably, if an employer was malicious, they would ...
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Conflicts of Interest Dilemma in the US
Generally speaking, does conflict of interests apply when a plaintiff wants to employ the same lawyer the defendant had employed in the past to sue the same defendant (e.g. B employs the lawyer who ...
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If a U.S. state legalized murder in a discriminatory way, how could the courts remedy that?
This is apparently very hypothethal question. According to the answers to the question "Could a state legalize murder?", theoretically, a U.S. state could legalize murder (of course, it ...
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Difference between "dismissed with prejudice" vs. "res judicata"?
What are the differences and similarities between the two? How are they used in the USA? Thanks.
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Does anything like “indirect discrimination” or the “duty to make reasonable adjustments” exist in the U.S.?
The U.K. Equality act 2010 introduces a notion called “indirect discrimination.” Basically it’s things that one does that disproportionately affects individuals possessing a protected characteristic (...
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I gave someone a key to my place while I'm gone. If they steal from me, am I covered under renter's insurance?
Would I need to prove/argue that it was reasonable to trust that person?
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Can the Medal of Honor be legislatively awarded to a person who does not technically qualify?
On February 3, 1943, four US Army chaplains, George L. Fox, Alexander D. Goode, Clark V. Poling, and John P. Washington, died while rescuing others as the SS Dorchester sank. Initially, they were ...
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Accidentally killing someone while purposefully beating them up
"Vladimir" decides to beat up "Juan". While it can be proven beyond any reasonable doubt that Vladimir did not intend to kill Juan (merely rough him up a bit), the beating causes ...
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Did the cops enter Jordan Belfort’s home after he totalled his car on Lemmons legally? [closed]
In the Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort takes a ton of Quaaludes and then urgently tries to get home in his car and causes a lot of damage to other cars and objects along the way. He then wakes up ...
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Transport of Gas Cylinders [closed]
In the US, I will be transporting gas cylinders (propane, oxygen, acetylene, C25, CO2) in and between New Mexico and Colorado and need to find the regulations for this. I am a not a professional in ...
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Bizarre boots-on-ground investigation by FBI: transparency and recourse
Alfred is one day contacted by a shopkeeper he befriended, who warned him that an FBI agent had visited his place of work inquiring about his presentation, behaviour etc. He is shortly then also ...
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What is the "important thing" that can make a true statement defamatory wrt the X/Media Matters lawsuit?
It is in the news that Elon Musk's social media platform X has sued Media Matters a media watchdog group. Media Matters has published multiple reports about X alleging adverts for major companies have ...
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Is it illegal to give false information about a person to a foreign-based telemarketer?
I have always wondered if there is anything illegal with an American citizen giving false information about another American citizen to a foreign-based telemarketer, such as someone who by their ...
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What sentences are faced for vandalism (and more) in New Hampshire?
Assume that people covered the front of a building with red paint, smashed windows, locked the main lobby doors with a bicycle lock, and destroyed HVAC equipment, interrupting operation of a business.
...
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Could a federal law override a state constitution?
Suppose a state Constitution explicitly states that residents of the state have a specific right (obviously this comes from the abortion debate, but I’m not necessarily focusing on that particular ...
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Is it fair use to include unpurchased media in a website that is still under development?
When a new website is being built for a client, it often begins as a "development" site that uses one or more methods to make sure that it is not accessible by normal and customary means. ...
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OpenAI employees' move to Microsoft: Non-compete regulations?
A few days ago, Sam Altman was fired from his position as OpenAI's CEO in a surprise move.
Altman has, as of now, accepted an offer by Microsoft to join the company as head of an AI lab. Microsoft has ...
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How long do courts have to follow precedents?
It was recently in the news that the Eight Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that only the federal government can sue under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
However, this past June, the Supreme ...
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International Turkey Hunt
Juan (the perpetually unlucky jeweler from some of my previous questions on this site) decides to go turkey hunting in far-north Minnesota, near the border with Canada. Assume that it is legal to hunt ...
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Why are only thiamin (B₁), riboflavin (B₂), niacin (B₃), iron, and folate required to be added to enriched flour in U.S. federal law? [closed]
U.S. Code of Federal Regulations § 137.165 (a) on enriched flour specifies that it must
contains in each pound 2.9 milligrams of thiamin, 1.8 milligrams of riboflavin, 24 milligrams of niacin, 0.7 ...
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Guidance on Documentation for Cross-Border Collaboration in Financial Project Development [migrated]
As a backend developer addressing financial challenges in Nigeria, I've encountered trust issues locally and am seeking collaboration with developers from America and Europe. Given concerns related to ...
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Would the US Marshals have concurrent jurisidction to arrest January 6 protesters with active federal warrants along with the FBI?
I have family members who work in the US Marshals that I will be seeing soon for Thanksgiving.
While I can certainly submit tips to the FBI, such process is rather impersonal and is just more ...
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Can I create a "business website" without registering a business or DBA?
Let's say I want to create a website where customers can order custom chairs. I've got a brand, a name, a logo, etc. Do I have to register the business first before publishing the website?
There's ...
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Is it legal for an apartment or county or state to ignore fire safety rules?
(Jurisdiction: GA, USA)
My apartment's elevator inspection certificate has expired 3 months ago. This puts serious risk on lives on residents especially in the high-rise.
I've sent multiple reminders ...
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US: Does the DBA on the registration and on contracts/businesses have to be exactly the same?
Someone registers a DBA of "Bob Bobby" with the state. However, on the contracts, they sign as [legal name] DBA Bob's Services.
Or, they create a website called bobsservices.com, and on the ...
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Does the EPA’s Stop Sale Order against BerkeyFilters.com affect the company’s ability to distribute to other consumer facing retailers or to export?
BerkeyFilters.com has received a so called stop sale order from the USA EPA related to their claims of their product’s ability to remove microorganisms from the filtered water. What is the extent or ...
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US: Can a website with a contact form but no privacy policy get sued
I've seen business websites where the founders are literally lawyers, and their websites do not have a privacy policy. Their websites do have a contact form where users enter their email, message, ...
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May we recieve a compensation payment after the victim has died? [closed]
In mid-October, my mother received a notice saying that my father was eligible for compensation (in the neighborhood of $1000) as part of an enforcement action related to the case of USA v. Epsilon/...
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Can people legally perform services for others without declaring themselves to be an offical self-employed organization?
A person would like to provide home services for some of his neighbors.
Is it necessary to set up an official business and employ himself -- perhaps for purposes of sales-tax compliance?
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How much opportunity to review terms is necessary to form a contract?
Someone makes me a contract offer for, say, a health insurance plan. They set a deadline by which I must accept or reject the offer.
I inquire as to the full terms of the offer. They say that the ...
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Do companies have the legal right to reduce your salary?
Let's say you signed an "At will" employment contract. And then lets say the company you work for has a 30% reduction in revenue. Can the company just reduce everyone in the company's salary ...
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Obtaining right to copy music for private use?
If I wish to obtain the right to copy music for private use, how do I do that? Or do I need to do that?
There is an organization called ASCAP that will sell rights to publicly perform music, like in a ...
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Is it illegal to threaten harm to yourself?
If Bob goes up to Alice with a knife and threatens to cut her, obviously that's illegal. But what if Bob points the knife at himself, and threatens to hurt/kill himself? Assuming he's subdued before ...
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Can the USAF legally prevent me from walking on the beach waterline?
TL;DR: Do I have a right to walk on the beach at Eglin Air Force Base if I don't stray from the water's edge?
I've been walking along the beach in Florida for years. Part of my route used to take me ...
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Were there ever attempts to prosecute organized crime as a form of rebellion in the US?
Before the RICO statute was passed, has there ever been any attempts to treat armed criminal organizations as forms of rebellion?
It is sometimes said (regardless of whether it is true) that crime ...
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Why are authors suing Meta and OpenAI instead of Shawn Presser for copyright infringement?
Various authors are suing OpenAI and Meta for alleged copyright infringement in using the authors' works to train the companies' large language models (LLMs).
My understanding is that OpenAI has ...
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Are war crimes eligible for private prosecution?
Is there any circumstance in which a private individual or organization could undertake a criminal prosecution for a violation of 18 U.S. Code § 2441 - War crimes?
Since the passage of the "...
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