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scold A person who regularly breaks the peace by scolding people, increasing discord, and generally being a public nuisance to the neighborhood. This behavior was formerly punishable in various ways, including having an iron bridle fitted to the persons mouth. - Also termed common scold; objurgatrix. See BRANKS.

scolding bridle See BRANKS.

scope note In a digest, a precis appearing after a title and showing concisely what subject matter is included and what is excluded. "In the Century and Decennial Digests, though not in the various digests of the Key-Number Series, there is printed immediately following each topic title a couple of paragraphs which are called the Scope-Note. The first paragraph of this scope-note shows very briefly the character of the subject-matter included under the title. The second paragraph shows the Exclusions - i.e., what related matter has been excluded in order to conform to the plan of the Digest and directs the reader to the proper title under which such related matter may be found. Consequently a little study of the scope-note will of ttimes repay the searcher for a few moments time onsumed in so doing." William M. Lile et aI., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 116 (3d ed. 1914).

scope of a patent The limits ofa patents protection, as defined by the allowed claims.

scope of authority Agency. The range of reasonable power that an agent has been delegated or might foreseeably be delegated in carrying out the principals business. See SCOPE OF EMPLOYMENT; RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR.

scope of business The range ofactivities that are reasonably necessary to operate a commercial venture successfully, as determined by the nature of the venture and the activities of others engaged in the same occupation in the same area.

scope of employment The range of reasonable and foreseeable activities that an employee engages in while carrying out the employers business; the field of action in which a servant is authorized to act in the masterservant relationship. See RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR. Cf. COURSE OF EMPLOYMENT; ZONE OF EMPLOYMENT.

scope-of-work clause A contractual provision that highlights in summary fashion what work is to be performed under the contract.

scorched-earth defense Corporations. An antitakeover tactic by which a target corporation sells its most valuable assets or divisions in order to reduce its value after acquisition and thus try to defeat a hostile bidders tender offer. Cf. CROWN-JEWEL DEFENSE; PAC-MAN DEFENSE.

scot A payment; esp., a customary tax.

scot and lot 1. The customary payment of a share of taxes based on ones ability. 2. A municipal tax on the right to vote.

scotal (skot-al). An extortionary practice by which forest officers forced people to patronize the officers alehouses, often in exchange for the officers ignoring forest offenses. This practice was prohibited in 1217 by the Charter of the Forest, ch. 7. Also spelled scotale (skot-ayl).

Scotch marriage See MARRIAGE (1).

Scotch verdict See NOT PROVEN.

scottare (ska-tair-ee), vb. [Law Latin]. To pay a tax.

SCPA abbr. SEMICONDUCTOR CHIP PROTECTION ACT.

scrambling possession 1. A wrongful possession that the rightful possessor has not appeared to tolerate. Cf. peaceable possession. 2. Possession that is uncertain because it is in dispute.• With scrambling possession, the dispute is over who actually has posseSSion - not over whether a party s possession is lawful.

scrambling possession See POSSESSION.

scrap value See salvage value under VALUE (2).

scratch-and-dent loan See LOAN.

scratching the ticket A party members rejection of a candidate on a regular party ticket by canceling the ca ndidates name or by voting for one or more nominees of the opposing political party.

scrawl See SCROLL (3).

screening committee 1. See nominating committee. 2. See resolutions committee.

screening committee See COMMITTEE.

screening grand jury A grand jury whose primary function is to decide whether to issue an indictment.

screening grand jury See GRAND JURY.

screening mechanism See ETHICAL WALL.

screen-scraping, Intellectual property. The practice of extracting data directly from one website and displaying it on another website. The source websites database is not used only the display. Screen-scraping may infringe the extracted website-owners copyright in the contents. screen-scrape, vb.

scriba (skri-ba), n. [Latin] Roman law. A court or office clerk; a scribe; a secretary. In England, the scriba regis was the kings secretary. Cf. NOTARIUS.

scribe See SECRETARY (3).

scribere est agere (skri-ba-ree est aj-a-ree). [Latin]. To write is to act. "But now it seems clearly to be agreed. that, by the common law and the statute of Edward III, words spoken amount only to a high misdemeanor, and no treason. For they may be spoken in heat, without any intention .... If the words be set down in writing. it argues more deliberate intention; and it has been held that writing is an overt act of treason; for scribere est agere. But even in this case the bare words are not the treason, but the deliberate act of writing them." 4 William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of Eng/and 80 (1769).

Scribes See AMERICAN SOCIETY OF WRITERS ON LEGAL SUBJECTS.

scrip 1. A document that entitles the holder to receive something of value. See LAND SCRIP. 2. Money, esp. paper money, that is issued for temporary use.

scrip dividend See DIVIDEND.

scrip dividend A dividend paid in certificates entitling the holder to ownership of capital stock to be issued in the future. This type ofdividend may signal that the corporation's cash flow is poor. - Also termed liability dividend.

script 1. An original or principal writing. 2. Handwriting.

scripto (skrip-toh). [Latin]. By writing.

scripto vel juramento (skrip-toh vel juur-a-men-toh). [Law Latin]. By writ or oath. The phrase appeared in reference to the mode of proof required in certain cases.

scriptum indentatum (sicrip-tam in-den-tay-tam). [Law Latin "indented writing"]. An indenture.

scrivarius Law Latin. A notary public.

scrivener (skriv-[a]-nar). A writer; esp., a professional drafter of contracts or other documents.

scrivener s error See clerical error under ERROR (2).

scrivener s exception An exemption from the attorney-client privilege whereby the privilege does not attach if the attorney is retained solely to perform a ministerial task for the client, such as preparing a statutory-form deed.

scrivener's error See clerical error.

scrnet-roll (skroo-at-rohl). The record of bail accepted in a habeas corpus case.

scroll 1. A roll of paper, esp. one containing a writing; a list. 2. A draft or outline to be completed at a later time. 3. A written mark; esp., a character affixed to a signature in place of a seal. - Also termed (in sense 3) scrawl.

Scroopss Inn See SERJEANTS INN.

scrutator (skroo-tay-tar), n. [Latin fr. scrutari "to search]. A bailiff Of officer who enforces the kings water rights, as by supervising wreckage, flotsam, and jetsam; a customs officer.

scutage (skyoo-tij), n. [fro Latin scutum "a shield"]. 1. A monetary payment levied by the king on barons as a substitute for some or all of the knights to be supplied to the king by each baron. This payment seems to date from the 12th century, Henry II (1154-1189) having levied five scutages in the first 11 years of his reign. 2. A fee paid by a tenant-in-chiefby knight-service in lieu of serving in a war. 3. A tax on a knights estate to help furnish the army. Also termed escuage. "Scutage ... Shield-money, in mediaeval feudal law, a payment in lieu of military service, paid by a tenantin-chief in respect of the service of knights which he owed to the Crown. personal obligation to serve could not be discharged by scutage but only by fine. Payment of scutage, though known in France and Germany, was most highly developed in England where it became a general tax on knights estates at rates which by the thirteenth century were standardized. King John demanded frequent and heavy scutages and Magna Carta forbade the levying of scutage Without the consent of a general council. Scutage was diVided between the King and the tenants-in-chief who gave personal service in the campaign. It became obsolete by the fourteenth century." David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 1121 (1980).

scutagio habendo See DE SCUTAGIO HABENDO.

scyra (shy-ra), n. [Law Latin "shire"]. 1. A county; shire. 2. A countys inhabitants.

se defendendo (see def-en-den-doh), adv. [Law Latin] In self-defense; in defending oneself <homicide se defendendo>. "Homicide se defendendo is of two kinds. (1) Such, as tho it excuseth from death, yet it excuseth not the forfeiture of goods, ... (2) Such as wholly acquits from all kinds of forfeiture." 1 Hale P.c. 478.

se te fecerit securum (see tee fes-ar-it si-kyoor-am). [Latin] See SI FECERIT TE SECURUM.

sea 1. The ocean <on the sea>. 2. A large landlocked part of the ocean; a large body of salt water smaller than a regular ocean <the Mediterranean Sea>. 3. The ocean swell <a rough sea>. 4. An extremely large or extended quantity <a sea of documents>.

sea brief See SEA LETTER.

sea lane A designated course or regularly used route for ships, esp. in restricted waters such as harbors and straits, Although sea lanes have obvious safety advantages, they were long resisted by sea captains, who saw them as a threat to their freedom to navigate.

sea law See MARITIME LAW.

sea letter A manifest issued during a war by authorities of a port where a neutral vessel is fitted, certifying the vessels nationality, specifying the nature of and destination of the vessels cargo, and allOWing the vessel to sail under the neutral flag of its owner. The last sea letter was issued at the Port of New York in 1806, and the use of sea letters was discontinued by proclamation of President James Madison. Also spelled sea-letter. Also termed sea brief; sea pass; passport. "Our laws require masters of vessels, on entering a port for traffic, to lodge with the consul their registers, sea-letters, and passports ...." Theodore D. Woolsey, Introduction to the Study of International Law 161-62 (5th ed. 1878).

sea pass See SEA LETTER.

sea reeve (see reev). An officer appointed to watch the shore and enforce a lords maritime rights, including the right to wreckage.

sea rover 1. A person who roves the sea for plunder; a pirate. 2. A pirate vessel.

seabed The sea floor; the ground underlying the ocean, over which nations may assert sovereignty, esp. if underlying their territorial waters.

seagoiug vessel See VESSEL.

seal 1. A fastening that must be broken before access can be obtained; esp., a device or substance that joins two things, usu. making the seam impervious. - Also termed common-law seal. 2. A piece of wax, a wafer, or some other substance affixed to the paper or other material on which a promise, release, or conveyance is written, together with a recital or expression of intention by which the promisor, releasor, or grantor manifests that a piece of wax, wafer, or other substance is a seal. The purpose of a seal is to secure or prove authenticity. 3. A design embossed or stamped on paper to authenticate, confirm, or attest; an impression or sign that has legal consequence when applied to an instrument. "The use ofthe seal in England seems to have begun after the Norman Conquest, spreading from royalty and a few of the nobility to those of lesser rank. Originally a seal often onsisted of wax bearing the imprint of an individualized signet ring, and in the seventeenth century Lord Coke said that wax without impression was not a seal. But in the United States the courts have not required either wax or impression. Impressions directly on the paper were recognized early and are still common for notarial and corporate seals, and gummed wafers have been widely used. In the absence of statute decisions have divided on the effectiveness of the written or printed word seal, the printed initials L.S: (locus Sigilli, meaning place of the seal), a scrawl made with a pen (often called a scroll) and a recital of sealing. Most states in which the seal is still recognized now have tatutes giving effect to one or more such devices." Restatement (Second) of Contracts § 96 emt. a (1979). "The time-honoured form of seal was a blob of wax at the foot of the document, bearing an imprint of some kind, often a crest or motto.

seal 1. To authenticate or execute (a document) by use ofa seaL 2. To close (an envelope, etc.) tightly; to prevent access to (a document, record, etc.).

seal of cause The seal of a burgh court, by which a royal burgh could, consistently with its charter powers, create a subordinate corporation by charter. The seal of cause was most commonly used to create charitable corporations and craft guilds.

seal of the state See great seal (2).

seal of the state See great seal (2) under SEAL.

seal of the United States See great seal (1).

seal of the United States See great seal (1) under SEAL.

sealed contract See contract under seal under CONTRACT.

sealed and delivered See SIGNED, SEALED, AND DELIVERED.

sealed bid See BID (2).

sealed bid A bid that is not disclosed until all submitted bids are opened and considered simulta-neously.

sealed contract See contract under seal.

sealed instrument At common law and under some statutes, an instrument to which the bound party has affixed a personal seal, usu. recognized as providing indisputable evidence of the validity of the underlying obligations. Many states have abolished the common-law distinction between sealed and unsealed instruments. The UCC provides that the laws applicable to sealed instruments do not apply to negotiable instruments or contracts for the sale of goods. UCC § 2-203. Cf. contract under seal under CONTRACT. "At common law, the seal served to render documents indisputable as to the terms of the underlying obligation, thereby dispensing with the necessity of witnesses; the sealed instrument was considered such reliable evidence that it actually became the contract itself - called a specialty the loss of which meant loss of all rights of the obligee against the obligor. The seal also had many other consequences at common law, some of which have been retained in jurisdictions which still recognize the seal .... In states where the seal is still recognized, its primary legal significance is often the application of a longer statute of limitations to actions on sealed instruments." 69 Am. Jur. 2d Seals § 2, at 617-18 (1993).

sealed instrument At common law and under some statutes, an instrument to which the bound party has affixed a personal seal, usu. recognized as providing indisputable evidence of the validity ofthe underlying obligations. The common-law distinction between sealed and unsealed instruments has been abolished by many states, and the UCC proVides that the laws applicable to sealed instruments do not apply to contracts for the sale of goods or negotiable instruments. UCC § 2-203. See contract under seal under CONTRACT. "At common law, the seal served to render documents indisputable as to the terms of the underlying obligation, thereby dispensing with the necessity of witnesses; the sealed instrument was considered such reliable evidence that it actually became the contract itself called a specialty the loss of which meant loss of all rights of the obligee against the obligor. The seal also had many other consequences at common law, some of which have been retained in jurisdictions which still recognize the seal. In states where the seal is still recognized, its primary legal significance is often the application of a longer statute of limitations to actions on sealed instruments." 69 Am. Jur. 2d Seals § 2, at 617-18 (1993). "In medieval England a wax seal may have performed [the functions of a formality] tolerably well, But in the United States few people owned or used a seal and the ritual deteriorated to the point that wax was dispensed with and printing houses decorated the signature lines of their standard forms with the printed letters L.S. for locus sigilli (place of the sea\), Perfunctory invocation of the rules for sealed documents called into question the seal s utility in making promises enforceable," E, Allan Farnsworth, Changing Your Mind: The Law of Regretted Decisions 46 (l998).

sealed testament See mystic will under WILL.

sealed verdict See VERDICT.

sealed will See mystic will under WILL.

sealed-container rule Products liability. The principle that a seller is not liable for a defective product if the seller receives the product from the manufacturer and sells it without knowing of the defect or having a reasonable opportunity to inspect the product.

sealed-record statute See CONFIDENTIALITY STATUTE.

sealing of records The act or practice of officially preventing access to particular (esp. juvenile-criminal) records, in the absence of a court order. Cf. EXPUNGEMENT OF RECORD.

seaman Under the Jones Act and the Longshore and Harbor Workers Compensation Act, a person who is attached to a navigating vessel as an employee below the rank of officer and contributes to the function of the vessel or the accomplishment of its mission. Seamens are covered under the Jones Act and the general maritime law. Also termed crew member; mariner; member ofa crew. See JONES ACT. Cf. STEVEDORE. The Jones Act plaintiff must be a seaman who is injured (or killed) in the course of his employment. The course of ... employment requirement at least excluded passengers, guests, trespassers, pirates (unless of course the pirate was suing his own employer) and so on. Who else might be excluded (or included) was, as a matter of initial construction, impossible to say. After a half-century of litigation the answer to the riddle is not apparent. The Supreme Court has alternated between giving the term seaman an exceedingly broad construction and giving it a much narrower one. Consequently defendants have been encouraged to argue, in all but the most obvious cases, that plaintiff is not aJones Act seaman and that the action must be dismissed. Thus there has always been, there continues to be, and presumably there will go on being a substantial volume of depressing litigation of this type." Grant Gilmore & Charles L. Black Jr., The Law ofAdmiralty § 6-21, at 328 (2d ed. 1975). The traditional seaman is a member of the crew of a merchant vessel .. , . However, vessels are not limited in their functions to the transportation of goods over water. The performance by a vessel of some other mission, such as operating as a cruise ship, necessitates the presence aboard ship of employees who do not man, reef and steer the vessel .... Exploration for oil and gas on navigable waters has led to further expansion of the concept of a seaman.

seaman s will See soldiers will under WILL.

search 1. Criminal procedure. An examination of a persons body, property, or other area that the person would reasonably be expected to consider as private, conducted by a law-enforcement officer for the purpose of finding evidence of a crime. Because the Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches (as well as seizures), a search cannot ordinarily be conducted without probable cause. "It must be recognized that whenever a police officer accosts an indiVidual and restrains his freedom to walk away, he has seized that person, And it is nothing less than sheer torture of the English language to suggest that a careful exploration of the outer surfaces of a persons clothing all over his or her body in an attempt to find weapons is not a search. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 16, 88 S.Ct. 1868, 1877 (1968) (Warren, j).

search book A lawbook that contains no statements of the law but instead consists of lists or tables of cases, statutes, and the like, used simply to help a resean:her find the law. Most indexes, other than index-digests, are search books.

search committee A committee charged with finding a suitable choice from several options, such as candidates for employment or places for a meeting.

search committee See COMMITTEE.

search incident to arrest See protective search under SEARCH.

search incident to arrest See protective search.

search of patentability See PATENTABILITY SEARCH.

search report A list of prior-art documents cited by the patent examiner during the patent applications preliminary examination.

search warrant A judges written order authorizing a law-enforcement officer to conduct a search of a specified place and to seize evidence. See Fed. R. Crim. P. 41. - Also termed search-and-seizure warrant. See WARRANT (1).

search-and-seizure warrant See SEARCH WARRANT.

search-warrant affidavit An affidavit,usu. by a police officer or other law-enforcement agent, that sets forth facts and circumstances supporting the existence of probable cause and asks the judge to issue a search warrant.

search-warrant affidavit See AFFIDAVIT.

Sears-Compco doctrine The principle that Congress, by passing copyright, trademark, and patent laws, has preempted some state-law protection of information that is not protected by those statutes. Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Stiffel Co., 376 U.S. 225, 84 S.Ct. 784 (1964); Compco Corp. v. Day-Brite Lighting, Inc., 376 U.S. 234, 84 S.Ct. 779 (1964). The doctrine reflects a congressional policy decision that public access to information outweighs private economic incentives to collect and disseminate it. It limits how far states may protect against misappropriation.

seasonable adj. Within the time agreed on; within a reasonable time <seasonable performance of the contract>.

seasonal employment An occupation possible only during limited parts of the year, such as a summercamp counselor, a baseball-park vendor, or a shopping-mall Santa.