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state-sponsored terrorism See TERRORISM.

stateway A governmental policy or law. This term is formed on the analogy of folkway.

statim (stay-tim). [Latin]. Immediately; at the earliest possible time when an act might lawfully be completed.

station 1. Social position or status. See STATUS. 2. A place where military duties are performed or military goods are stored. 3. A headquarters, as of a police department. 4. A place where both freight and passengers are received for transport or delivered after transport. 5. Civil law. A place where ships may safely travel.

Stationers Company An association of stationers and their successors, formed in London in 1403 and granted a royal charter in 1557, entrusted, by order of the Privy Council, with censorship ofthe press. This company was the holder of the first rights we associate today with copyright.

Stationers Hall The hall of the Stationers Company, established in London in 1553, at which every person claiming a copyright was reqUired to register as a condition precedent to filing an infringement action. "Accordingly Entered at Stationers Hall on the title page of books was a form of warning to pirates that the owner of the copyright could and might sue. This requirement disappeared with the Copyright Act, 1911." David M. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 1182 (1980).

Stationery Office A government office established in 1786 as a department of the treasury, to supply government offices (including Parliament) with stationery and books, and to print and publish government papers. Also termed Her Majestys Stationery Office.

stationhouse 1. A police station or precinct. 2. The lockup at a police precinct.

stationhouse bail See cash bail. 2. The process by which a person is released from custody either on the undertaking of a surety or on his or her own recognizance. 3. Release of a prisoner on security for a future court appearance; esp., the delivery of a person in custody to a surety <the court refused bail for the accused serial killer>. 4. One or more sureties for a criminal defendant <the attorney stood as bail for her client>. See BAILER (1). "As a noun, and in its strict sense, bail is the person in whose custody the defendant is placed when released from jail, and who acts as surety for defendant's later appear-ance in court .... The term is also used to refer to the undertaking by the surety, into whose custody defendant is placed, that he will produce defendant in court at a stated time and place." 8 c.J,S. Bail § 2 (1988).

stationhouse bail See cash bail under BAIL (1).

station-in-life test An analysis performed by a court to determine the amount of money reasonably needed to maintain a particular persons accustomed lifestyle. The elements were first set forth in Canfield vs. Security-First Natl Bank, 87 P.2d 830, 840 (Cal. 1939). The court takes into account the persons station in society and the costs of the persons support in that station, including housing and related expenses, medical care, further education, and other reasonably necessary expenses, but not including luxuries or extravagant expenditures. See NECESSARIES (1), (2).

statist (stay-tist). 1. Archaic. A statesman; a politician. 2. A statistician.

statistical-decision theory A method for determining whether a panel of potential jurors was selected from a fair cross section of the community, by calculating the probabilities of selecting a certain number of jUroL from a particular group to analyze whether it is statistically probable that the jury pool was selected by mere chance. This method has been criticized because a pool of potential jurors is not ordinarily selected by mere chance; potential jurors are disqualified for many legitimate reasons. See FAIR-CROSS-SECTION REQUIREMENT; ABSOLUTE DISPARITY; COMPARATIVE DISPARITY; DUREN TEST.

statuliber (stach-a-li-bar), n. [Latin] Roman law. A person whose freedom under a will is made conditional or postponed; a person who will be free at a particular time or when certain conditions are met. - Also written statu liber (stay-t[y]00 li-bar). "The statuliber is one who has freedom arranged to take effect on completion of a period or fulfillment of a condition. Men become statuliberi as a result of an express condition, or by the very nature of the case. The meaning of express condition presents no problem. The status arises from the very nature of the case when men are manumitted for the purpose of defrauding a creditor; for so long as it is uncertain whether the creditor will use his right, the men remain statuliberi, since fraud is taken in the lex Aelia Sentia to involve actual damage." Digest of justinian 40.7.1 (Paul, ad Sabinum 5).

status 1. A persons legal condition, whether personal or proprietary; the sum total of a persons legal rights, duties, liabilities, and other legal relations, or any particular group of them separately considered <the status of a landowner>. 2. A persons legal condition regarding personal rights but excluding proprietary relations <the status of a father> <the status of a wife>. 3. A persons capacities and incapacities, as opposed to other elements of personal status <the status of minors>. 4. A persons legal condition insofar as it is imposed by the law without the persons consent, as opposed to a condition that the person has acquired by agreement <the status of a slave>. By the status (or standing) of a person is meant the position that he holds with reference to the rights which are recognized and maintained by the law - in other words, his capacity for the exercise and enjoyment of legal rights." James Hadley, Introduction to Roman Law 106 (1881). "The word status itself originally signified nothing more than the position of a person before the law. Therefore, every person (except slaves, who were not regarded as persons, for legal purposes) had a status. But, as a result of the modern tendency towards legal equality formerly noticed, differences of status became less and less frequent, and the importance of the subject has greatly diminished, with the result that the term status is now used, at any rate in English Law, in connection only with those comparatively few classes of persons in the community who, by reason of their conspicuous differences from normal persons, and the fact that by no decision of their own can they get rid of these differences, require separate consideration in an account of the law. But professional or even political differences do not amount to status;

status crime See CRIME.

status crime A crime of which a person is guilty by being in a certain condition or of a specific character. An example of a status crime is vagrancy. Also termed status offense; personal-condition crime.

status de manerio (stay-tas dee ma-neer-ee-oh). [Law Latin "the state of a manor"]. The assembly of tenants to attend the lords court.

status of irremovability A paupers right not to be removed from a parish after residing there for one year. Cf. SETTLEMENT (6).

status offender See OFFENDER.

status offender A youth who engages in conduct that - though not criminal by adult standards - is considered inappropriate enough to bring a charge against the youth in juvenile court; a juvenile who commits a status offense. Cf. youthful offender; JUVENILE DELINQUENT.

status offense 1. See status crime under CRIME. 2. A minor s violation of the juvenile code by doing some act that would not be considered illegal if an-adult did it, but that indicates that the minor is beyond parental controL Examples include running away from home, truancy, and incorrigibility. See JUVENILE DELINQUENCY.

status offense See OFFENSE (1).

status quo (stay-tas or stat-as kwoh). [Latin "statt: in which"]. The situation that currently exists.

status quo ante (stay-tas kwoh an-tee). [Latin "state in which previously"]. The situation that existed before something else (being discussed) occurred.

status, law of See LAW OF STATUS.

STAT-USA A unit in the U.S. Department of Commerce responsible for disseminating economics and trade information compiled by other federal agencies to businesses and individuals through subscription services and federal depository libraries. STAT-USA is an agency within the Departments Economics and Statistics Administration.

status-offense jurisdiction The power of the court to hear matters regarding noncriminal conduct committed by a juvenile. See status offense under OFFENSE (I). Cf. delinquency jurisdiction.

status-offense jurisdiction See JURISDICTION.

statutable (stach-a-ta-bal), adj. 1. Prescribed or authorized by statute. 2. Conforming to the legislative requirements for quality, size, amount, or the like. 3. (Of an offense) punishable by law. See STATUTORY.

statute A law passed by a legislative body; specif., legislation enacted by any lawmaking body, including legislatures, administrative boards, and municipal courts. The term act is interchangeable as a synonym. For each of the subentries listed below, act is sometimes substituted for statute. - Abbr. S.; stat. "[W]e are not justified in limiting the statutory law to those rules only which are promulgated by what we commonly call legislatures. Any positive enactment to which the state gives the force of a law is a statute, whether it has gone through the usual stages of legislative proceedings, or has been adopted in other modes of expressing the will of the people or other sovereign power of the state. In an absolute monarchy, an edict of the ruling sovereign is statutory law. Constitutions, being direct legislation by the people, must be included in the statutory law, and indeed they are examples of the highest form that the statute law can assume. Generally speaking, treaties also are statutory law, because in this country, under the provisions of the United States Constitution, treaties have not the force of law until so declared by the representatives of the people." William M. Lile et aI., Brief Making and the Use of Law Books 8 (3d ed. 1914).

statute book A bound collection of statutes, usu. as part of a larger set of books containing a complete body of statutory law, such as the United States Code Annotated.

statute fair A fair during which the fixed labor rates were announced and laborers of both sexes offered themselves for hire. Also termed mop fair.

statute law See STATUTORY LAW.

statute merchant 1. (cap.) One of two 13th-century statutes establishing procedures to better secure and recover debts by, among other things, providing for a commercial bond that, if not timely paid, resulted in swift execution on the debtors lands, goods, and body. 13 Edw. I, ch. 6 (1283); 15 Edw. I, ch. 6 (1285). These statutes were repealed in 1863. Also termed pocket judgment. 2. The commercial bond so established. Cf. STATUTE STAPLE. "It is not a little remarkable that our common law knew no process whereby a man could pledge his body or liberty for payment of a debt .... Under Edward I, the tide turned. In the interest of commerce a new form of security, the so-called statute merchant: was invented, which gave the creditor power to demand the seizure and imprisonment of his debtors body." 2 Frederick Pollock & Frederic W. Maitland, The History of English Law Before the Time of Edward /596-97 (2d ed. 1899).

statute mile See MILE (1).

Statute of Accumulations A statute forbidding the accumulation, beyond a certain period, of property settled by deed or will. 39 & 40 Geo. 3, ch. 98 (1800).

Statute of Allegiance de Facto A statute requiring subjects to give allegiance to the actual (de facto) king, and protecting them in so doing. 11 Hen. 7, ch. 1.

Statute of Amendments and Jeofails (jef-aylz). One of several 15th- and 16th-century statutes allowing a party who acknowledges a pleading error to correct it. 1 Hen. 5, ch. 5 (1413); 32 Hen. 8, ch. 30 (1540); 37 Hen. 8, ch. 6 (1545). See JEOFAIL.

Statute of Anne English law. 1. The Copyright Act of 1709, which first granted copyright protection to book authors. 8 Anne, ch. 19 (1709). 2. The statute that modernized the English bankruptcy system and first introduced the discharge of the debtors existing debts. 4 Anne, ch. 17 (1705).

statute of bread and ale See ASSISA PANIS ET CEREVISlAB.

statute of descent and distribution See STATUTE OF DISTRIBUTION.

statute of distribution See STATUTE OF DISTRIBUTION.

statute of distribution A state law regulating the distribution of an estate among an intestates heirs and relatives. Historically, the statute specified separate, and often different, patterns for distributing an intestates real property and personal property. Generally, land descended to the heirs and personalty descended to the next of kin. Also termed statute of descent and distribution.

Statute of Elizabeth English law. A 1571 penal statute that contained provisions against conveyances made to defraud creditors. 13 Eliz., ch. 5. The fundamental provisions of this statute formed the basis for modern laws against fraudulent conveyances.

statute of frauds 1. (cap.) A 1677 English statute that declared certain contracts judicially unenforceable (but not void) if they were not committed to writing and Signed by the party to be charged. The statute was entitled An Act for the Prevention of Frauds and Perjuries" (29 Car. 2, ch. 3). Also termed Statute ofFrauds and Perjuries. The best known, and until recently, most important. Act prescribing written formalities for certain contracts only required that those contracts should be evidenced in writing, or to put it another way, that the contract would be unenforceable in a Court (but not \loid) in the absence of writing. This was the Statute of Frauds 1677, sections 4 and 17 of which required written evidence of a somewhat curious list of contracts. Today, all that is left of these provisions is that part of section 4, which requires contracts of guarantee to be evidenced in writing, and section 40 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (replacing another part of section 4), which deals with contracts of sale of an interest in land." P.S. Atiyah. An Introduction to the Law of Contract 141 (3d ed. 1981). 2. A statute (based on the English Statute of Frauds) deSigned to prevent fraud and perjury by requiring certain contracts to be in writing and signed by the party to be charged .• Statutes of frauds traditionally apply to the following types of contracts: (1) a contract for the sale or transfer of an interest in land, (2) a contract that cannot be performed within one year of its making, (3) a contract for the sale of goods valued at $500 or more, (4) a contract of an executor or administrator to answer for a decedents debt, (5) a contract to guarantee the debt or duty of another, and (6) a contract made in consideration of marriage. UCC § 2-201. Abbr. S/F; SOF. "[Tlhe primary theory of statutes of frauds, past and present, is that they are means to the end of preventing successful courtroom perjury.

statute of frauds See STATUTE OF FRAUDS.

Statute of Frauds and Perjuries See STATUTE OF FRAUDS (1).

Statute of Gloucester (glos-tr). English law. A 1278 statute providing for the award of costs in legal actions. 6 Edw., ch. 1.

statute of jeofails (jef-aylz). A law permitting a litigant to acknowledge an error in a pleading and correct or amend the pleading without risking dismissal of the claim. See JEOFAIL.

statute of limitations 1. A law that bars claims after a specified period; speci£., a statute establishing a time limit for suing in a civil case, based on the date when the claim accrued (as when the injury occurred or was discovered). The purpose of such a statute is to require diligent prosecution of known claims, thereby providing finality and predictability in legal affairs and ensuring that claims will be resolved while evidence is reasonably available and fresh. Also termed nonclaim statute; limitations period. "Statutes of limitations, like the equitable doctrine of laches, in their conclusive effects are designed to promotejustice by preventing surprises through the revival of claims that have been allowed to slumber until evidence has been lost, memories have faded, and witnesses have disappeared." Order of R.R. Telegraphers v. Railway Express Agency, 321 U.S. 342, 348-49,64 S.Ct. 582, 586 (1944). 2. A statute establishing a time limit for prosecuting a crime, based on the date when the offense occurred. -Abbr. S/L; SOL. Cf. STATUTE OF REPOSE. "The purpose of a statute of limitations is to limit exposure to criminal prosecution to a certain fixed period of time following the occurrence of those acts the legislature had decided to punish by criminal sanctions. Such a limitation is designed to protect individuals from having to defend themselves against charges when the basic facts have become obscured by the passage of time and to minimize the danger of official punishment because of acts in the fardistant past. Such a time limit may also have the salutary effect of encouraging law enforcement officials promptly to investigate suspected criminal activity." Toussie v. United States, 397 U.S. 112,90 S.Ct. 858 (1970).

Statute of Monopolies A 1624 act of the English Parliament banning the Crowns practice of granting monopolies with the single exception ofletters patent, which gave an inventor the exclusive right to make and use the invention for 14 years. 21 Jac. 1, ch. 3.

statute of mortmain See MORTMAIN STATUTE.

statute of repose A statute barring any suit that is brought after a specified time since the defendant acted (such as by designing or manufacturing a product), even if this period ends before the plaintiff has suffered a resulting injury. C£. STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS. "A statute of repose ... limits the time within which an action may be brought and is not related to the accrual of any cause of action; the injury need not have occurred, much less have been discovered. Unlike an ordinary statute of limitations which begins running upon accrual of the claim, the period contained in a statute of repose begins when a specific event occurs, regardless of whether a cause of action has accrued or whether any injury has resulted." 54 c.j.S. Limitations of Actions § 4, at 20-21 (1987).

Statute of Uses An English statute of 1535 that converted the equitable title held by a cestui que use (i.e., a beneficiary) to a legal one in order to make the cestui que use liable for feudal dues, as only a legal owner (the feoffee to uses) could be. 27 Hen. 8, ch. 10. This statute was the culmination of a series of enactments designed by the Tudors to stop the practice of creating uses in land that deprived feudal lords of the valuable incidents of feudal tenure. The statute discouraged the granting of property subject to anothers use by deeming the person who enjoys the use to have legal title with the right of absolute ownership and possession. So after the statute was enacted, if A conveyed land to B subject to the use of C, then C became the legal owner of the land in fee simple. Ultimately, the statute was circumvented by the courts recognition of the use of equitable trusts in land-conveyancing. See CESTUI QUE USE; GRANT TO USES; USE (4). "The Statute of 27 H.8. hath advanced Uses, and hath established Surety for him that hath the Use against the Feoffees: for before the Statute the Feoffees were Owners of the Land, but now it is destroyed, and the cestuy que use is the Owner of the same: before the Possession ruled the Use, but since the Use governeth the Possession." William Noy, A Treatise of the Principal Grounds and Maxims of the Laws of This Nation 73 (4th ed. 1677; repro C. Sims ed., 1870).

Statute of Westminster the First See WESTMINSTER THE FIRST, STATUTE OF.

statute of wills 1. (cap.) An English statute (enacted in 1540) that established the right of a person to devise real property by will. - Also termed Wills Act. 2. A state statute, usu. derived from the English statute, providing for testamentary disposition and if certain requirements for valid execution in that jurisdiction are met.

Statute of Winchester See WINCHESTER, STATUTE OF.

Statute of York See YORK, STATUTE OF.

statute roll A roll upon which a statute was formally entered after receiving the royal assent.

statute staple 1. A 1353 statute establishing procedures for settling disputes among merchants who traded in staple towns. The statute helped merchants receive swift judgments for debt. C£. STATUTE MERCHANT. 2. A bond for commercial debt. A statute staple gave the lender a possessory right in the land of a debtor who failed to repay a loan. See STAPLE. "A popular form of security after 1285 ... was the ... statute staple - whereby the borrower could by means of a registered contract charge his land and goods without giving up possession; if he failed to pay, the lender became a tenant of the land until satisfied .... The borrower under a statute or recognizance remained in possession of his land, and it later became a common practice under the common-law forms of mortgage likewise to allow the mortgagor to remain in possession as a tenant at will or at sufferance of the mortgagee." J.H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History 354 (3d ed. 1990).

statute-making See LEGlSLATION (1).

Statutes at Large An official compilation of the acts and resolutions that become law from each session of Congress, printed in chronological order.

statuti (sta-t[y]oo-ti), n. pI. [Latin] Roman law. Licensed officials, esp. advocates, whose names are inscribed in registers of matriculation, forming part of the college of advocates. Cf. SUPERNUMERARll.

statuto mercatorio See DE STATUTO MERCATORIO.

statuto stapulae See DE STATUTO STAPULAE.

statutory (stach-a-tor-ee), adj. 1. Of or relating to legislation <statutory interpretation>. 2. Legislatively created <the law of patents is purely statutory>. 3. Conformable to a statute <a statutory act>.

statutory action An action governed by statutory law rather than equitable, civil, or common law.

statutory action See ACTION (4).

statutory agent An agent deSignated by law to receive litigation documents and other legal notices for a nonresident corporation .o In most states, the secretary of state is the statutory agent for such corporations.

statutory agent See AGENT (2).

statutory arson See ARSON (2).

statutory bar A patent law provision that denies patent protection to inventors who wait too long to apply. This "loss of right" may occur when an inventor publishes an article about the work, sells it, offers it for sale, or makes public use of the invention. The inventor has one year after the disclosure to apply for a patent. See BAR (7). Cf. GRACE PERIOD (2).

statutory bond A bond that literally or substantially meets the requirements of a statute.

statutory bond 1. See BOND (2). 2. See BOND (3).

statutory bond- A bond given in accordance with a statute.

statutory burglary See BURGLARY (2).

statutory construction See STATUTORY CONSTRUCTION.

statutory construction 1. The act or process of interpreting a statute. 2. Collectively, the principles developed by courts for interpreting statutes. Also termed statutory interpretation. See CONSTRUCTION (2). [T]here is not, and probably never can be, anything meriting the description of a coherent body of case-law on statutory interpretation as a whole as distinct from the interpretation of a particular statute." Rupert Cross, Statutory Interpretation 39 (1976).

statutory contract See CONTRACT.

statutory contract A contract for which a statute prescribes certain terms. Statutes often govern the contracts made by public entities, but also some by private persons. For example, a statute may define and set minimum standards for terms in home-improvement contracts.

statutory crime A crime punishable by statute. Cf. common-law crime.

statutory crime See CRIME.

statutory damages Damages provided by statute (such as a wrongful death and survival statute), as distinguished from damages provided under the common law.

statutory damages See DAMAGES.

statutory dedication A dedication for which the necessary steps are statutorily prescribed, all of which must be substantially followed for an effective dedication.

statutory dedication See DEDICATION.

statutory deed A warranty-deed form prescribed by state law and containing certain warranties and covenants even though they are not included in the printed form.

statutory deed See DEED.

statutory disclaimer See DISCLAIMER.

statutory disclaimer A patent applicant's amendment of a specification to relinquish one or more claims to the invention. 35 USCA § 253. Before the statute was enacted, a Single invalid claim was grounds for denying a patent. Also termed patent disclaimer. See SPECIFICATION (3).

statutory double patenting Attempting to patent an invention that is the same subject matter as another invention by the same inventor, when the first invention has already been patented or has a pending patent application. Any double patenting is grounds for invalidating a patent claim or rejecting a claim in a patent application. 35 USCA § lO1. Also termed same-invention double patenting.

statutory double patenting See DOUBLE PATENTING.

statutory double patenting rejection Rejection of a patent application on the ground that the invention is the same subject matter as an already-patented invention by the same inventor .• This rejection is based on 35 USCA § 101. Also termed same-invention double patenting rejection.

statutory double-patenting rejection See REJECTION.

statutory employee Workers' compensation. An employee who is covered, or required to be covered, by the employer's workers' compensation insurance and who therefore has no independent tort claim against the employer for unintentional injuries suffered on the job. See statutory employer under EMPLOYER.

statutory employee See EMPLOYEE.

statutory employer Workers' compensation. One who employs a statutory employee. See statutory employee under EMPLOYEE.

statutory employer See EMPLOYER.

statutory exception See EXCEPTION (2).