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criminogenic (krim-a-na-jen-ik), adj. Tending to cause crime or criminality. - criminogenesis, n.

criminology (krim-a-nol-a-jee), The study of crime and criminal punishment as social phenomena; the study of the causes of crime and the treatment of offenders, comprising (1) criminal biology, which examines causes that may be found in the mental and physical constitution of an offender (such as hereditary tendencies and physical defects), and (2) criminal sociology, which deals with inquiries into the effects of environment as a cause of criminality. - Also termed criminal anthropology. Cf. CRIMINALISTICS; PENOLOGY. criminological (krim-a-na-loj-a-kal), adj. - criminologist, n.

crimping The offense of decoying and confining persons to force them into military service. Cf. IMPRESSMENT (3).

criss-cross agreement See cross-purchase agreement.

criss-cross agreement- See cross-purchase agreement under AGREEMENT.

critical evidence See EVIDENCE.

critical evidence- Evidence strong enough that its presence could tilt a juror's mind.o Under the Due Process Clause, an indigent criminal defendant is usu. entitled to an expert opinion of the merits of critical evidence. - Also termed crucial evidence.

critical legal studies 1. A school of thought advancing the idea that the legal system perpetuates the status quo in terms of economics, race, and gender by using manipulable concepts and by creating an imaginary world of social harmony regulated by law.The Marxist wing of this school focuses on socioeconomic issues. Fem-crits emphasize gender hierarchy, whereas critical race theorists focus on racial subordination. See fem-erit under CRlT; CRITICAL RACE THEORY. 2. The body of work produced by adherents to this school of thought. - Abbr. CLS.

critical limitation A limitation essential either to the operativeness of an invention or to the patentability of a patent claim for the invention.

critical race theory 1. A reform movement within the legal profession, particularly within academia, whose adherents believe that the legal system has disempowered racial minorities. The term first appeared in 1989. Critical race theorists observe that even if the law is couched in neutral language, it cannot be neutral because those who fashioned it had their own subjective perspectives that, once enshrined in law, have disadvantaged minorities and even perpetuated racism. 2. The body of work produced by adherents to this theory. Abbr. CRT.

critical stage Criminal procedure. A point in a criminal prosecution when the accused's rights or defenses might be affected by the absence of legal representation. Under the Sixth Amendment, a critical stage triggers the accused's right to appointed counsel Examples ofcritical stages include preliminary hearings, jury selection, and (of course) trial. C( ACCUSATORY STAGE.

critter See CRlT.

crop insurance Insurance that protects against loss to growing crops from natural perils such as hail and fire.

crop insurance See INSURANCE.

crop rent See RENT (1).

crop rent The portion of a harvest given by a sharecropper to a landlord as rent. Specific crop names, such as grain rent and potato rent, are commonly used.

crops Products that are grown, raised, and harvested. Crops usu. are from the soil, but fruit grown on trees are also considered crops.

cross 1. CROSS-EXAMINATION. 2. A sale of a large amount of publicly traded stock between two private parties. Although the transaction does not happen on the exchange floor, it typically requires exchange permission.

cross-action An action brought by the defendant against the plaintiff based on the same subject matter as the plaintiff's action. See CROSS-CLAIM.

cross-action- 1. See ACTION (4). 2. See CROSS-CLAIM.

cross-appeal An appeal by the appellee, usu. heard at the same time as the appellant's appeal.

cross-appeal- See APPEAL.

cross-bill A bill brought by the defendant against the plaintiff in the same suit, or against other defendants in the same suit, relating to the matters alleged in the original bill.

cross-bill- See BILL (2).

cross-claim See CROSS-CLAIM.

cross-claim- A claim asserted between codefendants or coplaintiffs in a case and that relates to the subject of the original claim or counterclaim. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 13(g). Also termed cross-action; cross-suit. Cf. COUNTERCLAIM. cross-claim, vb. - cross-claimant, n. "The courts have not always distinguished clearly between a cross-claim and a counterclaim, and have used one name where the other is proper under the rules, perhaps because in some states, and in the old equity practice, the term cross-complaint or cross-bill is used for what the rules regard as a counterclaim. Under Rule 13 a counterclaim is a claim against an opposing party, while a cross-claim is against a co-party. Further there is not the same freedom in asserting cross-claims that the rules provide for counterclaims. An unrelated claim against an opposing party may be asserted as a permissive counterclaim, but only claims related to the subject matter of the original action. or property involved therein. are appropriate as cross· claims." Charles Alan Wright, The Law of Federal Courts § 80. at 574 (5th ed. 1994).

cross-collateral 1. Security given by all parties to a contract. 2. Bankruptcy. Bargained-for security that in addition to protecting a creditor's postpetition extension of credit protects the creditor's prepetition unsecured claims, which, as a result of such security, obtain priority over other creditors' prepetition unsecured claims. Some courts allow this procedure,which is known as cross-collateralization.

cross-collateral- See COLLATERAL.

cross-collateral clause An installment-contract provision allowing the seller, if the buyer defaults, to repossess not only the particular item sold but also every other item bought from the seller on which a balance remained due when the last purchase was made. - Also termed dragnet clause.

cross-collateralization See cross-collateral under COLLATERAL.

cross-complaint 1. A claim asserted by a defendant against another party to the action. Also termed (in some jurisdictions) cross-petition. 2. A claim asserted by a defendant against a person not a party to the action for a matter relating to the subject of the action.

cross-default clause A contractual provision under which default on one debt obligation triggers default on another obligation.

cross-defendant The party against whom a cross-claim is asserted. Cf. CROSS-PLAINTIFF.

cross-demand See DEMAND (l).

cross-demand- A party's demand opposing an adverse party's demand. See COUNTERCLAIM; CROSSCLAIM.

crossed check A check that has lines drawn across its face and writing that specifies the bank to which the check must be presented for payment. The same effect is achieved by stamping the bank's name on the check. The check's negotiability at that bank is unaffected, but no other bank can honor it. Cf. open check.

crossed check- See CHECK.

cross-elasticity of demand A relationship between two products, usu. substitutes for each other, in which a price change for one product affects the price of the other.

cross-error See ERROR (2).

cross-error- An error brought by the party responding to a writ of error.

cross-examination The questioning of a witness at a trial or hearing by the party opposed to the party who called the witness to testify. The purpose of cross-examination is to discredit a witness before the fact-finder in any of several ways, as by bringing out contradictions and improbabilities in earlier testimony. by suggesting doubts to the witness, and by trapping the witness into admissions that weaken the testimony. The cross-examiner is typically allowed to ask leading questions but is traditionally limited to matters covered on direct examination and to credibility issues. - Also termed cross-interrogation. Cf. DIRECT EXAMINATION; RECROSS-EXAMINATION. - cross-examine, vb.

cross-interrogatory See INTERROGATORY.

cross-interrogatory An interrogatory from a party who has received a set of interrogatories.

cross-license See LICENSE.

cross-marriage See MARRIAGE (l).

cross-motion See MOTION (1).

cross-offer An offer made to another in ignorance that the offeree has made the same offer to the offeror. cross-offer, vb. cross-offeror, n.

cross-petition See CROSS-COMPLAINT.

cross-plaintiff The party asserting a cross-claim. Cf. CROSS-DEFENDANT.

cross-purchase agreement An agreement between a business's individual owners to purchase the interest of a withdrawing or deceased owner in order to continue operating the business. Also termed crisscross agreement. Cf. business-continuation agreement; third-party business-buyout agreement.

cross-purchase agreement- See AGREEMENT.

cross-purchase buy-sell agreement 1. BUY-SELL AGREEMENT (1). 2. A partnership insurance plan in which each partner individually buys and maintains enough insurance on the life or lives of other partners to purchase a deceased or expelled partner's equity.

cross-question See QUESTION (1).

cross-question A question asked of a witness during cross-examination. - Abbr. XQ.

cross-rate The exchange rate between two currencies expressed as the ratio of two foreign exchange rates in terms ofa common third currency (usu. the U.S. dollar). Foreign-exchange-rate dealers use cross-rate tables to look for arbitrage opportunities. See ARBITRAGE.

cross-reference An explicit citation to a related provision within the same or a closely related document; esp., in a patent application the explicit citation in a continuing patent application to all interrelated applications, back to the original filing. A cross-reference alone does not incorporate the disclosure of the parent application. CF. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE (1), (2). - cross-reference, vb.

cross-remainder A future interest that results when particular estates are given to two or more persons in different parcels of land, or in the same land in undivided shares, and the remainders of all the estates are made to vest in the survivor or survivors. Two examples of devises giving rise to cross-remainders are (1) "to A and B for life, with the remainder to the survivor and her heirs," and (2) "Blackacre to A and Whiteacre to B, with the remainder of A s estate to B on A s failure of issue, and the remainder of B s estate to A on B s failure of issue." If no tenants or issue survive, the remainder vests in a third party (sometimes known as the ulterior remainderman). Each tenant in common has a reciprocal, or cross, remainder in the share of the others. This type of remainder could not be created by deed unless expressly stated. It could, however, be implied in a will. "By a will also an estate may pass by mere implication, without any express words to direct its course....So also, where a devise of black-acre to A and of white-acre to B in tail, and if they both die without issue, then to C in fee: here A and B have cross remainders by implication, and on the failure of either s issue, the other or his issue shall take the whole: and C s remainder over shall be postponed till the issue of both shall fail." 2 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England 381 (1766).

cross-remainder See REMAINDER.

cross-stream guaranty See GUARANTY.

cross-stream guaranty- A guaranty made by a company for the obligation of another company when both are owned by the same parent company or individual.

cross-suit See CROSS-CLAIM.

crown The sovereign in his or her official capacity as a governing power. See KING; QUEEN (1), "In modern times it has become usual to speak of the Crown rather than of the King, when we refer to the King in his public'capacity as a body politic. We speak ofthe property of the Crown, when we mean the property which the King holds in right of his Crown. So we speak of the debts due by the Crown, of legal proceedings by and against the Crown, and so on. The usage is one of great convenience, because it avoids a difficulty which is inherent in all speech and thought concerning corporations sole, the difficulty, namely, of distinguishing adequately between the body politic and the human being by whom it is represented and whose name it bears." John Salmond, Jurisprudence 341-42 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed. 1947).

Crown case English law. A criminal action.

crown court See CROWN COURT.

crown court- An English court having jurisdiction over major criminal cases. Crown Courts date from 1971, when they assumed the criminal jurisdiction of the Assize Courts and all the jurisdiction of the Courts of Quarter Sessions.

crown jewel A company's most valuable asset, esp. as valued when the company is the subject of a hostile takeover. A common antitakeover device is for the target company to sell its crown jewel to a third party so that the company will be less attractive to an unfriendly suitor.

crown land See LAND.

Crown land Demesne land of the Crown; esp., in England and Canada, land belonging to the sovereign personally, or to the government, as distinguished from land held under private ownership. Also termed demesne land of the Crown. See demesne land.

crown loan See LOAN.

crown-jewel defense An antitakeover device in which the target company agrees to sell its most valuable assets to a third party if a hostile bid is tendered, so that the company will be less attractive to an unfriendly suitor. Cf. SCORCHED-EARTH DEFENSE; PAC-MAN DEFENSE.

crs abbr. See CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE.

crt abbr. 1. CRITICAL RACE THEORY. 2. See charitable-remainder trust under TRUST.

Crtified question See CERTIFIED QUESTION.

crucial evidence See critical evidence under EVIDENCE.

crucial evidence- See critical evidence.

cruel and abusive treatment See ABUSE (2),

cruel and inhumane treatment See extreme cruelty under CRUELTY.

cruel and unusual punishment Punishment that is torturous, degrading, inhuman, grossly disproportionate to the crime in question, or otherwise shocking to the moral sense of the community. Cruel and unusual punishment is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

cruel and unusual punishment See PUNISHMENT.

cruelty The intentional and malicious infliction of mental or physical suffering on a living creature, esp. a human; abusive treatment; outrage. Cf. ABUSE; INHUMAN TREATMENT; INDIGNITY. "When William Blake opined that 'Cruelty has a human heart', he posited the physical and emotional forms which cruelty may take. But when is one party so cruel to the other that it goes to the heart of the marriage and justifies dissolution? A New York court defined cruelty as bodily harm, or a reasonable apprehension of bodily harm, which endangers life, limb, or health and renders marital cohabitation unsafe or improper. Some states are reluctant to permit divorce when there has been only emotional suffering without physical harm. And in a marriage of long duration, some courts require that the cruelty be more extreme to justify divorce than if the relationship has been brief. Acts constituting the ground must continue over an extended period of time unless they are so severe as to shock the conscience. or raise the probability that it would be unsafe for the innocent party if the couple remain together." Walter Wadlington & Raymond C. O'Brien, Family Law in Perspective 73 (2001).

cruelty to a child See child abuse under ABUSE.

cruelty to a child- See child abuse under ABUSE.

cruelty to animals A malicious or criminally negligent act that causes an animal to suffer pain or death.

cruelty to children See child abuse under ABUSE.

crummey power The right of a beneficiary of a Crummey trust to withdraw gifts made to the trust up to a maximum amount (often the lesser of the annual exclusion or the value of the gift made to the trust) for a certain period after the gift is made. The precise characteristics of a Crummey power are established by the settlor of a Crummey trust. Typically, the power is exercisable for 30 days after the gift is made and permits withdrawals up to $5,000 or 5% ofthe value of the trust. A beneficiary may allow the power to lapse without making any demand for distribution. See Crummey trust under TRUST; annual exclusion under EXCLUSION.

crummey trust See TRUST.

cry de pais (kri da pay). [Law French]. The cry of the country. The hue and cry after an offender, as raised by the country (i.e., the people). Also spelled cri de pais. See HUE AND CRY (1).

cryer See CRIER.

csaas abbr. CHILD-SEXUAL-ABUSE-ACCOMMODATION SYNDROME.

cse agency abbr. CHILD-SUPPORT-ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.

csrees abbr. COOPERATIVE STATE RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND EXTENSION SERVICE.

csv See cash surrender value under VALUE (2).

ct. cl abbr. Court of Claims. See UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS.

cucking stool See CASTIGATORY.

cui ante divortium (ki [or kwi or kwee] an-tee da-vor-shee-am). [Law Latin "to whom before divorce"] . A writ of entry enabling a divorced woman to recover land that she had held in fee but that her husband had sold without her permission during the marriage. The name of this writ derives from the words within it: cui ipsa ante divortium inter eos celebratum, contradicere non potuit ("whom she, before the divorce between them, could not gainsay"). The writ was abolished in 1833. Also termed sur cui ante divortium.

cui bono For whose advantage?; Who benefits? The exclamation may be used to ask who benefited from the results of a crime, usu. to cast suspicion without offering evidence of guilt. Despite the literal meaning, the term is more often used to mean "what's the good of it?" or "what benefits are there?"

cui in vita (ki [or kwi or kwee] in-vi-ta). [Law Latin "to whom in the life"]. A writ of entry enabling a woman to recover land that she had held in fee but that her deceased husband had sold without her permission. - It is so called from the words ofthe writ: cui ipsa in vita sua contradicere non poluit ("whom she, in his lifetime, could not gainsay"). Also termed sur cui in vita. "Cui in vita, is a writ of entry, which a Widow hath against him, to whom her Husband alienated her Lands or Tenements in his life time, which must specifie, that During his fife, she could not withstand it." Thomas Blount, NomoLexicon: A Law-Dictionary (1670).

cujus haeredibus maxime prospicitur (k[y]oo-jas ha-red-i-bas mak-sa-mee proh-spis-i-tar). [Latin]. Whose heirs are chiefly regarded. "Cujus haeredibus maxime prospicitur .... This is a rule of construction to be attended to in ascertaining from the terms of a destination, in whom the fee of a property is vested, the ordinary rule being, that he is the fiar whose heirs are preferred. Thus, a conveyance to 'A and Bjointly, and the heirs of B,' gives A merely ajoint right of liferent, and gives B the fee. Under such a destination, B is so abso· lutely the fiar that his rights cannot be impaired by any acts, even onerous, of A, who is held, as we have said, to be a liferenter." John Trayner, Trayner's Latin Maxims 121 (4th ed. 1894).

cujus contrarium est verum (k[y]oo-jas kan-trair-ee-am est veer-am). [Latin]. The contrary of which is the truth.

culpa (kal-pa). [Latin]. 1. Roman & civil law. Fault, neglect, or negligence; unintentional wrong. See NEGLI GENCE. Cf. DlLIGENTIA; CASUS (1); DOLUS (1). 2. Roman law. Conduct that made a party to a contract, or quasicontract, liable to the other party.